Ezekiel 29-30

Common English Bible

Against Egypt

29 In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the Lord’s word came to me: ²Human one, face Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, and prophesy against him and against all of Egypt. ³Speak and say, The Lord God proclaims:

I’m against you, Pharaoh, Egypt’s king,
    great crocodile lurking
    in the Nile’s canals,
        who says, “The Nile is all mine;
        I made it for myself!”
⁴I will set hooks in your jaws;
    I will make the fish from the Nile’s canals cling to your scales.
I will drag you out of the Nile’s canals,
    and also all the fish from the Nile’s canals
    clinging to your scales.
⁵        I will fling you out into the desert,
        and also all the fish from the Nile’s canals.
You will fall on the open ground,
    and won’t be gathered or retrieved.

I’ve given you to the beasts of the earth
and the birds in the sky for food.
⁶Everyone living in Egypt will know that I am the Lord.

Because they were a flimsy crutch for the house of Israel— ⁷when they took you in hand, you would splinter and make their shoulders sore; when they leaned on you, you would break, bringing them to their knees— ⁸now the Lord God proclaims: I’m bringing a sword against you, and I will cut off from you human and beast. ⁹The land of Egypt will be turned into a wasteland and ruins. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Because you^[a] said, “The Nile is mine; I made it,” ¹⁰I’m against you and against the Nile’s canals. I will make the land of Egypt into an utter ruin, a wasteland, from Migdol to Syene and as far as its boundary with Cush. ¹¹No foot, animal or human, will walk across it, and it won’t be inhabited for forty years. ¹²I will make the land of Egypt the most desolate of wastelands and its cities the most devastated of ruined cities. It will be a wasteland for forty years, and the Egyptians will be scattered among the nations and dispersed throughout the lands.

¹³The Lord God proclaims: At the end of forty years, I will gather the Egyptians from among the nations where they are scattered. ¹⁴I will improve their circumstances and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. Egypt will be a lowly kingdom there. ¹⁵Out of all the kingdoms, it will be the lowliest. It will never again exalt itself over the nations, and I will make it small to keep it from ruling the nations. ¹⁶The house of Israel will never again bring guilt on itself by faithlessly turning to Egypt for help, for they will know that I am the Lord God.

¹⁷In the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, the Lord’s word came to me: ¹⁸Human one, Babylon’s King Nebuchadrezzar made his army labor very hard against Tyre. Every head was scraped bald, and every shoulder was rubbed raw, yet he got nothing from Tyre for himself or for his army for any of his efforts against it. ¹⁹So now the Lord God proclaims: I’m going to give the land of Egypt to Babylon’s King Nebuchadrezzar. He will carry off its wealth, he will plunder and loot it, and it will be the wages for his army. ²⁰I will give him the land of Egypt as payment for his laboring for me. This is what the Lord God says.

²¹On that day I will give new strength^[b] to the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

30 The Lord’s word came to me: ²Human one, prophesy and say, The Lord God proclaims:

Howl! Horror for the day!
³    The day is coming,
    the day of the Lord comes,
        a day of clouds: the nations’ time has come.
⁴A sword will come into Egypt,
        and trembling will overcome Cush,
    when the slain fall in Egypt,
    its wealth carried away,
    and its foundations razed.
⁵Cush, Put, and Lud,
    all Arabia and Cub,
    and the people from the allied country^[c] with them
    will fall by the sword.

⁶The Lord proclaims:
When Egypt’s helpers fall,
its proud strength will decline.
From Migdol to Syene
they will fall by the sword.
This is what the Lord God says.

⁷Of all the lands laid waste, it will be the most desolate; of all cities, the most ruined. ⁸They will know that I am the Lord. On the day that I set fire to Egypt and all its helpers are broken, ⁹messengers in ships will go out from me to startle the complacent Cushites. Anguish will overcome them on Egypt’s day. It’s certainly coming.

¹⁰The Lord God proclaims:
    I will bring an end to the hordes of Egypt
    through the power of Babylon’s King Nebuchadrezzar.
¹¹He and his people with him,
    the most terrible of the nations,
    will be brought in to destroy the land.
    They will draw their swords against Egypt
        and fill the land with the slain.
¹²I will dry up the Nile canals;
    I will sell the land to evildoers.
With the help of foreigners
    I will lay waste to the land and everything in it.
        I, the Lord, have spoken.

¹³The Lord God proclaims:
I will destroy the idols
    and bring an end to the images in Memphis.
Never again will there be a prince from the land of Egypt;
    so I will kindle fear in the land of Egypt.
¹⁴        I will turn Pathros into a desolation,
        set fire to Zoan,
        and execute judgments in Thebes.
¹⁵I will pour out my anger on Pelusium,
    the stronghold of Egypt,
    and I will cut down pompous Thebes.
¹⁶I will set Egypt on fire;
    Pelusium will writhe in travail,
    Thebes will be split open,
    Memphis assaulted in broad daylight.
¹⁷The elite troops of On and Pi-beseth
    will fall by the sword,
    and the cities themselves will go into captivity.

¹⁸At Tehaphnehes the day will go dark when I break Egypt’s yoke and bring an end to its proud strength. A cloud will cover it, and the towns around it will go into captivity. ¹⁹I will execute judgments in Egypt, and they will know that I am the Lord.

²⁰In the eleventh year, on the seventh day of the first month, the Lord’s word came to me: ²¹Human one, I’ve broken the arm of Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, and it hasn’t been set so that it might heal, nor has it been braced or wrapped up so that it might be strong enough to grasp a sword.

²²So now the Lord God proclaims: I’m against Pharaoh, and I will break his arms, both the sound one and the broken one, and I’ll make the sword fall out of his hand. ²³I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the earth. ²⁴I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and I will put my sword into his hand. When I break the arms of Pharaoh, he will groan like a dying man in his presence. ²⁵I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall. They will know that I am the Lord, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he uses it against the land of Egypt. ²⁶When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the earth, they will know that I am the Lord.