Ezekiel 29

1In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me:

2“Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.

3Speak and say, ‘This is what Lord Yahweh says: I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, you great monster lying among your streams, who says, “My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.”

4I will put hooks in your jaws and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales. I will pull you up out of your streams, with all the fish of your streams sticking to your scales.

5I will fling you into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field; you will not be gathered up or collected. I have given you as food to the animals of the earth and the birds of the sky.

6Then all who live in Egypt will know that I am Yahweh, because they have been a staff of reed for the house of Israel.

7When they grasped you with their hand, you splintered and tore open all their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke and wrenched all their backs.

8Therefore this is what Lord Yahweh says: I am going to bring a sword against you, and I will cut off from you both people and animals.

9The land of Egypt will become a desolate ruin. Then they will know that I am Yahweh. Because he said, “The Nile is mine; I made it,”

10therefore I am against you and against your streams. I will make the land of Egypt an utter ruin and a desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush.

11No human foot will pass through it, and no animal’s foot will pass through it. It will be uninhabited for forty years.

12I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among desolate countries, and her cities will lie desolate among ruined cities for forty years. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries.

13For this is what Lord Yahweh says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered.

14I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they will be a lowly kingdom.

15It will be the lowliest of the kingdoms and will never again exalt itself above the nations. I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations.

16Egypt will never again be a source of confidence for the house of Israel, but a reminder of their guilt in turning to Egypt for help. Then they will know that I am Lord Yahweh.’”

17In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me:

18“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was rubbed bald and every shoulder rubbed raw. Yet he and his army got no wages from Tyre for the labor he spent against it.

19Therefore this is what Lord Yahweh says: I am going to give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He will carry off its wealth, seize its spoil, and take its plunder, and that will be the wages for his army.

20As his payment for the labor he performed, I have given him the land of Egypt, because they worked for me, declares Lord Yahweh.

21On that day I will make a horn sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”