Against Egypt
1 On the tenth day of the twelfth month of the tenth year the word of Yahweh came to me in these terms,
2 “Son of man, look towards Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and prophesy against all Egypt.
3 Say: This is the word of Yahweh: I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt! Huge monster wallowing in the midst of your streams saying: ‘The Nile and its canals are mine; I made them.’
4 I will put hooks in your jaws and make the fish of your rivers cling to your scales. I will drag you from your rivers with all the fish clinging to your scales.
5 I will throw you and the fish of the rivers into the desert. You will fall on the ground with no one to lift you up or bury you. I will give you as food to the wild beasts and to the birds of the air, and 6 all who live in Egypt will know I am Yahweh.
6 You have been but a staff of reed for Israel.
7 When they took hold of you, you broke in their hands; you tore open all their shoulder; when they leaned on you, you wrenched their backs.
8 That is why thus says Yahweh: I am bringing the sword against you and I will destroy both people and animals. 9 Egypt will be a wasteland and a ruins, and the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when Egypt is made a ruins and a wasteland.
9 You said: ‘The Nile is mine, I made it.’
10 Be cause of that I am coming against you in the midst of your streams. I will reduce Egypt to a lonely ruins from Migdal to Aswan and to the border of Cush.
11 Neither foot of man nor hoof of animal will tread its paths. Egypt will be unin habited for forty years;
12 I will make it one of the wastelands and for forty years its cities will be numbered among cities in ruins. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them in other lands.
13 Thus says Yahweh: After forty years I will gather the Egyptians from among the nations where they were dispersed;
14 I will bring back Egyptian captives to Pathros, the land of their birth. There they will form a small kingdom,
15 weaker than other kingdoms, no longer strong enough to dominate other nations.
16 I will de crease their number, so that they may no longer conquer other lands. No longer will Israel be tempted to trust in Egypt, nor will they sin by turning to Egypt for help. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”
17 It happened on the first day of the first month of the twenty- seventh year that the word of Yahweh came to me in these terms:
18 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon has mobilized his army for an expedition against Tyre. All are worn out, bald-headed, their shoulders raw, but neither he nor his people have received any reward for this campaign against Tyre.
19 That is why thus says Yahweh: I intend to give Egypt to Nebu chadnezzar, king of Babylon. He will carry off its riches, plunder it and let his army have the loot in place of wages.
20 Because these people have worked for me, I will give Egypt to them as a reward – word of Yahweh.
21 On that day I will lift up the nation of Israel, and as for you, I will let you speak among them again and they will know that I am Yahweh.”