Word against Egypt

29 On the twelfth day of the tenth month in the tenth year, the Word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “Son of man, look toward Pharaoh king of Egypt, and speak against him and against all Egypt. ³ Tell them, ‘The Lord God says, “I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt. You are the big animal that lies in his rivers and says, ‘The Nile is mine. I made it.’ ⁴ I will put hooks in your mouth. I will make the fish of your rivers stick to your hard skin. And I will pull you up out of your rivers, with the fish that stick to your hard skin. ⁵ Then I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your rivers. You will fall on the open field, and not be gathered or buried. I will feed you to the wild animals of the earth and to the birds of the sky. ⁶ Then all the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord. They have been only a weak piece of river grass to the people of Israel. ⁷ When they took hold of you with their hands, you broke and tore all their shoulders. When they rested on you, you broke and hurt their backs.” ⁸ So the Lord God says, “I will bring a sword against you and kill your people and animals. ⁹ And the land of Egypt will be destroyed and laid waste. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

“Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’ ¹⁰ I am against you and against your rivers. I will destroy Egypt and make it nothing but waste from Migdol to Syene and even to the land of Ethiopia. ¹¹ No foot of man or animal will pass through it, and no one will live there for forty years. ¹² I will make the land of Egypt a waste among the lands which are laid waste. Her cities will be a waste for forty years among cities that are laid waste. I will divide the Egyptians among the nations and spread them out among the lands.”

¹³ ’For the Lord God says, “At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations where they were divided. ¹⁴ I will bring them back to Egypt and let them live in Pathros, the land they came from. And there they will be a small nation. ¹⁵ It will be the least of the nations, and will never lift itself up above other nations again. I will make them so small that they will never rule over the nations. ¹⁶ It will never again be a hope for the people of Israel. They will remember their sin in turning to Egypt for help in the past. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.”’”

King Nebuchadnezzar Will Take Egypt

¹⁷ On the first day of the first month in the twenty-seventh year, the Word of the Lord came to me saying, ¹⁸ “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army work hard against Tyre. Every head lost its hair, and skin was rubbed off every shoulder. But he and his army did not receive anything from Tyre to pay for the work he had done against it.” ¹⁹ So the Lord God says, “I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry away her riches. He will take all her good things, and they will be pay for his army. ²⁰ I have given him the land of Egypt for the work he has done, because he and his army worked for Me,” says the Lord God.

²¹ “On that day I will make the people of Israel strong, and give you the power to speak among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

The Lord Will Punish Egypt

30 The Word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “Son of man, speak in My name and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Cry in a loud voice, ‘It is bad for that day!’ ³ For the day is near. The day of the Lord is near. It will be a day of clouds, a time of trouble for the nations. ⁴ A sword will come against Egypt, and Ethiopia will be very troubled. When the people are killed in Egypt, her riches will be taken away, and her country destroyed. ⁵ Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all of Arabia, Libya, and the people of Israel living there, all who have an agreement with Egypt will be killed by the sword.”’”

⁶ ‘The Lord says, “Those who help Egypt will be killed in battle. The pride of her power will come down. From Migdol to Syene they will be killed by the sword,” says the Lord God. ⁷ “They will be a waste among the lands that are laid waste. And her cities will be among the destroyed cities. ⁸ Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I start a fire in Egypt and all those who help her are destroyed. ⁹ On that day I will send men in ships to bring fear to Ethiopians who think they are safe. They will be troubled and afraid as when Egypt is destroyed, for their day is coming!” ¹⁰ The Lord God says, “I will put an end to Egypt’s riches by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. ¹¹ He and his people show the least pity of all the nations, and they will be brought in to destroy the land. They will use their swords against Egypt and fill the land with dead bodies. ¹² And I will dry up the Nile River and sell the land to sinful men. I will destroy the land and everything in it, by the hand of strangers. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

¹³ ‘The Lord God says, “I will also destroy the false gods and put an end to the objects of worship in Memphis. There will no longer be a leader in the land of Egypt, so I will put fear in the land. ¹⁴ I will destroy Pathros, start a fire in Zoan, and punish Thebes. ¹⁵ I will be angry with Pelusium, the strong city of Egypt. And I will destroy the riches of Thebes. ¹⁶ I will start a fire in Egypt. Pelusium will suffer much. Thebes will be broken open. And Memphis will not have rest from troubles and fear. ¹⁷ The young men of On and Pi-beseth will be killed in battle, and the women will be taken away. ¹⁸ At Tehaphnehes the day will be dark when I break the power of Egypt. The pride of her strength will come to an end. A cloud will cover her, and her daughters will be taken away. ¹⁹ So I will punish Egypt, and they will know that I am the Lord.’”

Word against Pharaoh

²⁰ On the seventh day of the first month in the eleventh year, the Word of the Lord came to me saying, ²¹ “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And it has not been wrapped so that it could heal and be strong enough to hold the sword. ²² So the Lord God says, ‘I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong one and the one already broken. And I will make the sword fall from his hand. ²³ I will divide the Egyptians among the nations and spread them out among the lands. ²⁴ For I will give strength to the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand, and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, so that he will cry in pain in front of him like a dying man in battle. ²⁵ I will give strength to the arms of the king of Babylon, but Pharaoh’s arms will fall. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I give My sword to the king of Babylon and he uses it against the land of Egypt. ²⁶ I will make the Egyptians go to the different nations and spread them out among the lands. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”

Egypt Is Like a Cedar Tree

31 On the first day of the third month in the eleventh year, the Word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his people, ‘Who can be compared with you in greatness? ³ Look at Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches and many leaves. It was very high, and its top was among the heavy branches. ⁴ The waters made it grow, and the water under the ground made it grow high. Its rivers flowed all around its base, and spread water to all the trees of the field. ⁵ So it was higher than all the trees of the field. And it grew many long and spreading branches because it had so much water. ⁶ All the birds of the air made their nests in its branches. And under its branches all the animals of the field gave birth. All great nations lived in its shadow. ⁷ It was beautiful in its greatness with its spreading branches, for its roots went down to much water. ⁸ The cedars in God’s garden could not compare with it. The fir trees and the chestnut trees could not compare with its branches. No tree in God’s garden was like it in beauty. ⁹ I made it beautiful with its many branches. And all the trees that were in Eden were jealous of it.

¹⁰ ‘So the Lord God says, “Because it has grown high with its top among the heavy branches, its heart has become proud, ¹¹ I will give it over to a powerful ruler of the nations, and he will punish it. Because of its sin, I will drive it out. ¹² Rulers from other nations will cut it down and leave it. Its branches will fall on the mountains and in all the valleys. Its spreading branches will be broken in all the deep valleys of the land. All the people of the earth will go away from its shadow and leave it. ¹³ All the birds of the air will live on its broken pieces. And all the animals of the field will be on its fallen branches. ¹⁴ This will be so that no trees by the water will grow high with their tops among the heavy branches. No trees that drink water will ever grow so high. For they have all been given over to death. They will go to the earth below, among men who die and go down to the grave.”

¹⁵ ‘The Lord God says, “When it goes down to the place of the dead, I will make the waters under the ground cover it in sorrow. I will stop its rivers of water and fill Lebanon with sorrow over it. All the trees of the field will waste away because of it. ¹⁶ I will make the nations shake in fear at the sound of its fall when I send it to the place of the dead with those who go down to the grave. Then all the well-watered trees of Eden, the best of Lebanon, will be comforted in the earth below. ¹⁷ And those who lived under its shadow among the nations will go down to the place of the dead with it, to those who were killed by the sword.

¹⁸ “Which of the trees of Eden can be compared with you in beauty and greatness? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth below. You will lie among the sinful, with those who were killed by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his people!”’ says the Lord God.”

King of Egypt Is Like a Dragon

32 On the first day of the twelfth month in the twelfth year, the Word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “Son of man, sing a song of sorrow for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him, ‘You compared yourself to a young lion among the nations, yet you are like the big dragon in the seas. You go through your rivers, troubling the water with your feet and making the rivers muddy.’” ³ The Lord God says, “Now I will throw My net over you with an army of many nations. They will lift you up in My net. ⁴ And I will leave you on the land. I will throw you on the open field. I will have all the birds of the air live on you. And I will feed you to the wild animals of the earth. ⁵ I will lay your flesh on the mountains, and fill the valleys with what is left of you. ⁶ I will make the land drink your flowing blood as far as the mountains, and the deep valleys will be full of you. ⁷ When I destroy you, I will cover the heavens and make the stars dark. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. ⁸ I will make all the shining lights in the heavens dark over you, and bring darkness upon your land,” says the Lord God. ⁹ “I will trouble the hearts of many people when I destroy you among the nations, among lands you have not known. ¹⁰ I will fill many nations with fear and wonder because of you. Their kings will shake in fear for you when I wave My sword in front of them. Every man will keep shaking in fear for his own life, on the day you are destroyed.”

¹¹ For the Lord God says, “The sword of the king of Babylon will come against you. ¹² I will cause your people to be killed by the swords of powerful men who will have no pity, all of them strong rulers of the nations. They will destroy the pride of Egypt and kill all its people. ¹³ I will also destroy all its cattle from beside many waters. No foot of man or animal will fill them with mud any more. ¹⁴ I will make their waters clear and make their rivers flow like oil,” says the Lord God. ¹⁵ “When I destroy the land of Egypt and take from the land everything that was in it, and when I punish all who live there, then they will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁶ This is the song of sorrow they will sing. The women of the nations will sing it. They will sing it over Egypt and all her people,” says the Lord God.

The Place of the Dead

¹⁷ In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth of the month, the Word of the Lord came to me saying, ¹⁸ “Son of man, cry in a loud voice for the people of Egypt. Send them down with the powerful nations to the place of the dead, with those who go down to the grave. ¹⁹ Say to them, ‘Do you think you are more favored than anyone else? Go down and make your bed with the sinful.’ ²⁰ They will fall among those who are killed by the sword. The sword is ready to kill all of Egypt’s people. ²¹ From the place of the dead the powerful leaders will say of Egypt and her helpers, ‘They have come down. They lie with the sinful, with those killed by the sword.’

²² “Assyria is there, with all of her army. All around her are the graves of her dead, who have been killed by the sword. ²³ Their graves lie in the farthest parts of the place of the dead. Her army is around her grave. All who had spread fear in the land of the living are dead, killed by the sword.

²⁴ “Elam is there, with all of her people around her grave. All of them are dead, killed by the sword. They have gone to the lower parts of the earth having not gone through the religious act of the Jews. They filled the land of the living with fear, and carried their shame with those who went down to the place of the dead. ²⁵ A bed is made for her among the dead with all her people. Their graves are around her. They are all sinful people, killed by the sword. They spread fear in the land of the living, and were put to shame with those who go down to the place of the dead and are among the dead.

²⁶ “Meshech and Tubal are there, with all their people. Their graves are around them. All of them are sinful, killed by the sword, for they had spread fear in the land of the living. ²⁷ They do not lie beside the graves of the powerful men of long ago, who went down to the place of the dead with their swords of war, whose swords were laid under their heads. But the punishment for their sin rested on their bones. For the fear of these powerful men was once in the land of the living. ²⁸ You too, O Pharaoh, will be broken and lie among the sinful, with those killed by the sword.

²⁹ “Edom is there, with its kings and all its leaders. Even with all their power they are laid with those killed by the sword. They lie with the sinful, with those who go down to the place of the dead.

³⁰ “All the leaders of the north and all the Sidonians are there. Even with the fear they caused by their power, they went down with the dead in shame. They lie as sinful people with those killed by the sword. They carried their shame with those who go down to the place of the dead.

³¹ “When Pharaoh and his army see them, they will be comforted for all his people who were killed by the sword,” says the Lord God. ³² “I spread fear of him in the land of the living, yet Pharaoh and all his people will be laid among the sinful, with those killed by the sword,” says the Lord God.