EzekielChapter 29
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1It was the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month. The LORD gave me this message. He said, 2"Son of man, turn your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt. Prophesy against him and against all of Egypt. 3Speak to him. Tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says:
'Listen, I am against you,
Pharaoh king of Egypt.
You are a great monster
lying in the middle of your rivers.
You say, "The Nile is mine.
I made it myself." 4But I will put hooks in your jaws.
I will make the fish of your streams
stick to your scales.
I will pull you up out of your rivers.
All the fish of your streams
will stick to your scales. 5I will leave you in the desert,
you and all the fish of your streams.
You will fall in the open field.
No one will pick you up or bury you.
I have given you as food
to the wild animals and the birds of the sky. 6Then all the people of Egypt will know that I am the LORD.
For you were only a walking stick made of reeds
for the people of Israel. 7When Israel grabbed you with their hands,
you splintered and tore their shoulders.
When they leaned on you, you broke,
and their backs were twisted. 8So this is what the Lord GOD says: I will bring a sword against you. I will wipe out your people and your animals. 9The land of Egypt will become an empty wasteland. Then they will know that I am the LORD. You said, 'The Nile is mine. I made it.' 10So I am against you and against your rivers. I will turn the land of Egypt into a ruin. It will be an empty wasteland from Migdol to Syene, all the way to the border of Cush. 11No person or animal will walk through it. No one will live there for forty years. 12I will make the land of Egypt the emptiest of all empty lands. Her cities will lie empty for forty years, among the ruined cities. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations. I will spread them out through many countries. 13For 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. 14I will bring Egypt back from captivity. I will bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land they came from. There they will be a weak kingdom. 15Egypt will be the weakest of kingdoms. It will never again lift itself up over the nations. I will make Egypt so small that it will never again rule over the nations. 16The people of Israel will never again trust Egypt. Instead, Egypt will remind them of the sin they did when they turned to the Egyptians for help. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD." 17It was the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month. The LORD gave me this message. He said, 18"Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army work very hard against Tyre. Every head was rubbed bald. Every shoulder was rubbed raw. But he and his army got no pay from Tyre for all the work they did there. 19So this is what the Lord GOD says: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He will carry off its riches. He will take what he captures and carry away its loot. This will be the pay for his army. 20I have given him the land of Egypt as his reward for his work. For he did it for me, declares the Lord GOD. 21On that day I will make a horn grow for the people of Israel. And I will open your mouth to speak among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD."a
Notes
- a 29:21 A horn is a picture of strength.