Top of Page
Page Style
the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 3 Speak, and say: ‘This is what the Lord God says:
“Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt,
you great monster who lurks in the midst of his river,
who says, ‘The Nile is my own;
I made it for myself’.
4 But I will put hooks in your jaws
and make the fish of your river stick to your scales.
I will pull you up from the midst of your river,
with all the fish of your river sticking to your scales.
5 I will fling you into the wilderness,
you and all the fish of your river.
You will fall on the open field;
you will not be picked up or gathered.
I will give you to the beasts of the earth
and to the birds of the air for food.
6 “Then all the inhabitants of Egypt
will know that I am the Lord,
for they have been a staff made of reeds
to the house of Israel.
7 When they grasped you with the hand,
you splintered, tearing open their shoulders;
when they leaned on you, you snapped,
leaving them with their backs wrenched.
8 ‘Therefore this is what the Lord God says: “I am going to bring a sword against you, and I will cut off man and beast from you. 9 The land of Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
“Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine; I have made it’. 10 Behold therefore, I am against you and against your rivers. I will make the land of Egypt completely wasted and desolate from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. 11 No foot of man will pass through it, and no foot of beast will pass through it, and it will be uninhabited forty years. 12 I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among desolate lands; and her cities will be desolate for forty years among ruined cities. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them throughout the countries”.
13 ‘Yet this is what the Lord God says: “At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations where they were scattered. 14 I will bring back the exiles of Egypt and cause them to return to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom. 15 Egypt will be the lowest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself above the other nations. I will continue to diminish them so they cannot rule over the other nations. 16 No longer will Egypt be a source of confidence for the house of Israel, for they will remember their past iniquity when they turned to her for help. Then they will know that I am the Lord God” ’.”
17 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 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labour strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder rubbed bare; yet he and his army received no reward from Tyre for the campaign they had waged against it. 19 Therefore this is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold, I am going to give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He will carry off her wealth, looting and plundering her to pay for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt to pay him for his labour, because they worked for Me’, says the Lord God.
21 ‘On that day I will cause a horn to sprout up for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth in their midst. Then they will know that I am the Lord’.”