A Prophecy Against Egypt
29 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 3 Speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God:
I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
the great dragon that lies in the midst of his rivers,
which has said, “My Nile is my own,
and I myself have made it.”
4 But I will put hooks in your jaws,
and will cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales,
and will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers,
and all the fish of your rivers shall stick to your scales.
5 I will abandon you to the wilderness,
you and all the fish of your rivers;
you shall fall upon the open field;
you shall not be brought together or gathered.
I have given you for food
to the beasts of the field and to the fowl of the heavens.
6 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 you by your hand, you broke and tore all their hands. And when they leaned upon you, you broke and made all their legs shake.
8 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will bring a sword upon you, and cut off man and beast out of you. 9 The land of Egypt shall become a desolation and waste. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
Because you said, “The Nile is mine, and I have made it,” 10 therefore, I am against you and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Ethiopia. 11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast pass through it, nor shall it be inhabited for forty years. 12 Thus 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 for forty years. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and will disperse them among the countries.
13 For thus says the Lord God: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples wherever they were scattered. 14 And I will turn the fortunes of Egypt and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their origin, and there they shall be a debased kingdom. 15 It shall be the basest of the kingdoms, and it shall exalt itself no more above the nations. For I will diminish them so that they shall rule over the nations no more. 16 It shall be the confidence of the house of Israel no more, bringing to mind the iniquity of their having turned to Egypt. But they shall know that I am the Lord God.
Babylonia to Plunder Egypt
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, saying: 18 Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled. Yet he and his army had no wages from Tyre for the labor that he had done against it. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he shall carry off her wealth and take her spoil and take her prey. And it shall be wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor with which he labored against it, because they acted for Me, says the Lord God.
21 On that day I will cause the horn of the house of Israel to spring forth, and I will open your mouth in their midst. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.