Ezekiel 29

¹ In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the word of Yahweh was addressed to me asfol ows,

² 'Son of man, turn towards Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against the whole ofEgypt.

³ Speak and say, "The Lord Yahweh says this: Look, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt- the greatcrocodile wal owing in his Niles who thought: My Nile is mine, I made it.

⁴ I shal put hooks through your jaws, make your Nile fish stick to your scales, and pul you out of yourNiles with al your Nile fish sticking to your scales.

⁵ I shal drop you in the desert, with al your Nile fish. You will fal in the wilds and not be taken up orburied. I shall give you as food to the wild animals and the birds of heaven,

⁶ and all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am Yahweh, for they have given no more support thana reed to the House of Israel.

⁷ Wherever they grasped you, you broke in their hands and cut their hands al over. Whenever theyleaned on you, you broke, making al their limbs give way.

⁸ "So, the Lord Yahweh says this: I shal send the sword against you to denude you of human andanimal.

⁹ Egypt wil become a desolate waste, and they wil know that I am Yahweh. Because he thought: TheNile is mine, I made it,

¹⁰ very well, I am against you and your Niles. I shal make Egypt a waste and a desolation, from Migdolto Syene and beyond to the frontiers of Ethiopia.

¹¹ No human foot wil pass through it, no animal foot will pass through it. For forty years it wil remainuninhabited.

¹² I shal make Egypt the most desolate of countries; for forty years its cities wil be the most desolate ofwasted cities. And I shall scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the countries.

¹³ The Lord Yahweh, however, says this: After forty years have passed, I shal gather the Egyptiansback from the nations where they were dispersed.

¹⁴ I shal bring the Egyptian captives back and re-instal them in the land of Pathros, in the country oftheir origin. There they wil constitute a modest kingdom.

¹⁵ Egypt wil be the most modest of kingdoms and no longer dominate other nations; for I shal reduce it,so that it will not rule other nations ever again.

¹⁶ It wil no longer be anything for the House of Israel to trust in, but wil be a reminder of the guilt whichlay in turning to it for help. And they will know that I am Lord Yahweh." '

¹⁷ In the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, the word of Yahweh was addressed tome as fol ows:

¹⁸ 'Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken his army in a great expedition against Tyre.Their heads have al gone bald, their shoulders are al chafed, but even so he has derived no profit, either forhimself or for his army, from the expedition mounted against Tyre.

¹⁹ Since this is so, the Lord Yahweh says this, "Look, I shall hand Egypt over to Nebuchadnezzar kingof Babylon. He wil carry off its riches, loot it, put it to the sack; that wil be the wages for his army.

²⁰ As wages for the trouble he has taken, I am giving him Egypt instead (for they have been working forme)-declares the Lord Yahweh.

²¹ "That day, I shall raise up a new stock for the House of Israel and al ow you to open your mouthamong them. And they wil know that I am Yahweh." '