Babylon’s Victory

²⁰ On the seventh day of the first month of the eleventh year of our captivity,^[a] a message came to me from the Lord. It had this to say: ²¹ “Son of Man, I’ve broken the arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Look! It hasn’t been set in a splint for healing or wrapped with a bandage so it could be strong enough to hold a sword! ²² Therefore this is what the Lord God says:

‘I’m coming to attack Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and I’m going to break both of his arms, the strong one and the wounded one. That will make him drop his sword. ²³ I’m going to scatter Egypt throughout the surrounding^[b] nations and disperse them throughout the world. ²⁴ I’m going to strengthen the military might^[c] of the king of Babylon, put my own sword in his hand, and break Pharaoh’s strength.^[d] Then Pharaoh^[e] will groan like a dying man right in front of the king of Babylon.^{[f] 25} When I strengthen the military might of Babylon, the military might of Pharaoh will fail, and then they will learn that I am the Lord when I place my own sword in the hand of the king of Babylon. He will attack the land of Egypt. ²⁶ When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the world, they will learn that I am the Lord.’”