Ezekiel 29:1-16

Judgment of Egypt

¹In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. ³Speak and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says:

“Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,

The great monster that lies in the midst of his canals,

That has said, ‘My Nile is mine, and I myself have made it.’

4“I will put hooks in your jaws

And make the fish of your canals cling to your scales.

And I will bring you up out of the midst of your canals,

And all the fish of your canals will cling to your scales.

5“I will abandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your canals;

You will fall on the open field; you will not be brought together or gathered.

I have given you for food to the animals of the earth and to the birds of the sky.

6“Then all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am the Lord,

Because they have been only a staff made of reed to the house of Israel.

7“When they took hold of you with the hand,

You broke and tore all their hands;

And when they leaned on you,

You broke and made all their hips shake.”

⁸‘Therefore the Lord God says this: “Behold, I am going to bring upon you a sword, and I will cut off from you human and animal life. ⁹The land of Egypt will become a desolation and place of ruins. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

“Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I have made it,’ ¹⁰therefore, behold, I am against you and against your canals, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene and as far as the border of Cush. ¹¹A human foot will not pass through it, nor will the foot of an animal pass through it, and it will not be inhabited for forty years. ¹²So I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of deserted lands. And her cities, in the midst of cities that are laid waste, will be desolate for forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands.”

¹³‘For this is what the Lord God says: “At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered. ¹⁴And I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin, and there they will be a lowly kingdom. ¹⁵It will be the lowest of the kingdoms, and it will not raise itself above the nations again. And I will make them small so that they will not rule over the nations. ¹⁶And it will no longer be a kingdom on which the house of Israel relies, bringing to mind the guilt of their having turned to Egypt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.” ’ ”