Ezekiel 29
King James Version
29 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt:
3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.
4 But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.
5 And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.
6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.
9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.
10 Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.
11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.
12 And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.
13 Yet thus saith the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:
14 And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom.
15 It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.
16 And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord God.
17 And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
18 Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it:
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.
20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God.
21 In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Ezekiel 29
International Standard Version
Prophecy against Egypt
29 In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, a message came to me from the Lord, who had this to say:
2 “Son of Man, turn your attention to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and the entire nation of Egypt. 3 Tell him that this is what the Lord God says:
‘Watch out! I’m coming to get[a] you,
Pharaoh, king of Egypt!
You big monster!
You lay in wait in the middle of your waterways[b] and say,
“My waterways belong to me!
I made them for myself!”
4 ‘So I’m going to plant a hook in your jaw
and make the fish in your waterways grab hold of your scales.
I’ll bring you up out of the middle of your waterways,
along with all of the fish from your waterways that cling to your scales,
5 Then I’ll fling you out into the desert,
you and all those fish in your waterways.
You’ll fall out in the open fields;
you’ll never be reunited.
I’m giving you to the wild beasts of the earth
and to the birds of the sky,
and they will dine on you!
6 ‘Then everyone living in Egypt
will know that I am the Lord,
because they have been an unreliable ally[c]
to the house of Israel.
7 When they reached out to you for support,
you tore their hands
and dislocated all of their shoulders.
When they tried to lean on you,
they couldn’t control their own bowels.’[d]
8 “Therefore this is what the Lord God says: ‘Look out! I’m bringing violent death[e] in your direction! I’m going to kill every person and animal, 9 and the land of Egypt will be turned into a desolate ruin. Then you will know that I am the Lord. Because Egypt said, “The Nile is mine. I made it!” 10 therefore watch out! I’m coming to get[f] you! I’m going to attack your waterways, and then I’m going to make the land of Egypt a total wasteland from the Aswan[g] fortress to the border of Ethiopia![h] 11 Neither man nor beast will walk through that area. It won’t even be inhabited for 40 years. 12 I’ll see to it that Egypt becomes a devastated land in the midst of devastated lands. Her cities deep inside her territories will be laid waste and desolate for 40 years. I will scatter Egypt among the nations and disperse them throughout the land.’”
Restoration of Egypt after Judgment
13 “Because this is what the Lord says: ‘At the end of 40 years I’ll gather the Egyptians from the people among whom they have been scattered. 14 I’ll restore the economy[i] of Egypt and return them to the land of Pathros,[j] from which they originated, and there they will remain an insignificant kingdom, 15 the least significant of kingdoms. It will never again dominate other nations. I will make them so small that they will never again rule any nation. 16 Egypt will never again be a source of confidence to the nation[k] of Israel. Instead, Egypt will serve as a reminder of when they sinned by turning to Egypt for help. Then they’ll know that I am the Lord God.’”
Egypt Given to Nebuchadnezzar
17 On the first day of the first month of the twenty-seventh year of our captivity,[l] a message came to me from the Lord, who had this to say:
18 “Son of Man, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made his army work very hard to attack Tyre. They tore their hair out and rubbed their shoulders raw! Despite all of that work trying to capture Tyre, neither he nor his army got paid from Tyre for all that! 19 Therefore this is what the Lord God says: ‘I’m going to give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He’s going to carry off her wealth, confiscate her war implements, and use it all to pay wages for his army! 20 I’ve given him the land of Egypt as a reward for attacking Tyre for me,’ declares the Lord God. 21 ‘When that day comes about, I’ll strengthen Israel’s military might, and I will give you an audience in their midst. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 29:3 Lit. I’m against
- Ezekiel 29:3 Or Nile; i.e. the Nile River, and so throughout the chapter
- Ezekiel 29:6 Lit. been a staff made of reeds
- Ezekiel 29:7 Lit. all of their loins became unstable; so LXX; i.e. an involuntary physiological response from terror in the aftermath of their military defeat
- Ezekiel 29:8 Lit. bringing a sword
- Ezekiel 29:10 Lit. I’m against
- Ezekiel 29:10 Lit. Syene, an Egyptian frontier town near the southern border with Ethiopia
- Ezekiel 29:10 Lit. Cush; the Heb. name means black
- Ezekiel 29:14 Lit. fortunes
- Ezekiel 29:14 I.e. southern Egypt
- Ezekiel 29:16 Lit. house
- Ezekiel 29:17 The Heb. lacks of our captivity
Ezekiel 29
English Standard Version
Prophecy Against Egypt
29 (A)In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 (B)“Son of man, (C)set your face against (D)Pharaoh king of Egypt, (E)and prophesy against him and (F)against all Egypt; 3 speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God:
(G)“Behold, I am against you,
Pharaoh king of Egypt,
(H)the great dragon that lies
in the midst of his streams,
(I)that says, ‘My Nile is my own;
I made it for myself.’
4 I will (J)put hooks in your jaws,
and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales;
and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams,
with all the fish of your streams
that stick to your scales.
5 (K)And I will cast you out into the wilderness,
you and all the fish of your streams;
you shall fall (L)on the open field,
and (M)not be brought together or gathered.
To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens
(N)I give you as food.
6 Then all the inhabitants of Egypt (O)shall know that I am the Lord.
“Because you[a] have been (P)a staff of reed to the house of Israel, 7 (Q)when they grasped you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to shake.[b] 8 Therefore thus says the Lord God: (R)Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast, 9 and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. (S)Then they will know that I am the Lord.
(T)“Because you[c] said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’ 10 therefore, (U)behold, I am against you and (V)against your streams, and (W)I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, (X)from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. 11 (Y)No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. 12 (Z)And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. (AA)I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.
13 “For thus says the Lord God: At the end of forty years (AB)I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered, 14 and (AC)I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to (AD)the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. 15 It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, (AE)and never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. 16 And it shall never again be (AF)the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. (AG)Then they will know that I am the Lord God.”
17 (AH)In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 (AI)“Son of man, (AJ)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: (AK)Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; (AL)and he shall carry off its wealth[d] (AM)and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20 (AN)I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, declares the Lord God.
21 “On that day (AO)I will cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel, and (AP)I will open your lips among them. (AQ)Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 29:6 Hebrew they
- Ezekiel 29:7 Syriac (compare Psalm 69:23); Hebrew to stand
- Ezekiel 29:9 Hebrew he
- Ezekiel 29:19 Or multitude
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