Ezekiel 29

₁The Lord talked to me. It was in the 10th year after we had become prisoners in Babylon, in the 10th month, on the 12th day of the month. The Lord said to me: ₂‘Son of man, you must look towards Pharaoh and prophesy_against him and everyone in the land of Egypt. ₃You must talk to them and say: “The Lord God says: Pharaoh, king of Egypt, I am your enemy and I am against you. You are like the crocodile that lies down in its own river and says: “‘This is my river. I have made it.”’ ₄I will put iron hooks in your mouth and I will make the fish of the river hold on to your scales, ₅and I will take you and all the fish and throw you into the desert. You will fall to the ground and no one will pick up your pieces and bury you. I am giving you to the wild animals and birds, and they will eat you. ₆The people who live in Egypt will know that I am the Lord. The Israelites thought that the people of Egypt would help them, but you were like a staff made of reed for the Israelites. ₇When the Israelites wanted to use the staff, it broke and cut open their shoulders. When the Israelites wanted to lean on you, you broke and they hurt their backs.” ’

₈The Lord God says: ‘I will now send enemies to attack you and kill your people and your animals. ₉Egypt will become an empty desert, and the cities will become heaps of stones. The people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord. This will happen because Pharaoh said: “This is my river. I have made it.” ₁₀That is why I am your enemy and the enemy of your river. I will destroy Egypt. No one will be able to live there, from the town of Migdol to Aswan, as far as the border of the land of Cush. ₁₁No people or animals will walk through the land, not one, and no one will live there for 40 years. ₁₂I will make Egypt a land where no one can live, the most lonely and empty land of all. I will make the cities of Egypt ruins where no person can live. The cities will be the most ruined of all other cities. It will be only heaps of stones. There will be no one living in Egypt for 40 years. I will chase away the people of Egypt all over the world. They will go and live among other nations.’

₁₃The Lord God says: ‘But after the 40 years, I will bring the people of Egypt back again from among the nations where they have lived, ₁₄and I will bring the people of Egypt back to the land of Pathros, the land where their fathers came from. They will never be important people again. ₁₅They will be the most unimportant of all nations and they will never again think they are more important than other nations. They will be so weak that they will never again rule over other nations. ₁₆The Israelites will never again ask the people of Egypt to help them. The Israelites will remember what a big mistake it was when they asked Egypt to help them. They will know that I am the Lord.’

₁₇The Lord talked to me. It was in the 27th year after we had become prisoners in Babylon, in the first month on the first day of the month. The Lord said to me: ₁₈‘Son of man, After Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon won the war_against the city of Tyre, he made his soldiers work so hard that they lost their hair and their shoulders were hurt badly. But Nebuchadnezzar and his soldiers did not get a reward from Tyrus for their hard work.’

₁₉The Lord God says: ‘That is why I will now give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He will carry away everything in Egypt. He will take it all. This will be the reward for his soldiers. ₂₀I give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar. This will be his reward because he has worked for Me.’ This is what the Lord God said.

₂₁He also said: ‘On that day I started to make Israel strong again. I will again tell you, Ezekiel, to talk to them and they will know that I am the Lord.’