Ezekiel 29

1. In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day 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.

3. Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I, even I, am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon who lies in the midst of his rivers, who has said, ‘My river is mine, and I have made it for myself.’

4. But I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales, and I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, and all the fish of your rivers shall stick to your scales.

5. And I will throw you into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. You shall fall on the open fields; you shall not be removed nor gathered. I have given you for food to the beasts of the field and to the birds of heaven.

6. And all the people of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

7. When they took you by your hand, you broke and tore off all their shoulder. And when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to be a stand.”

8. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and cut off man and beast from you.

9. And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD because he has said, ‘The river is mine, and I have made it.’

10. Behold, therefore I am against you and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste, and desolate, from Migdol to Syene, even to the border of Ethiopia.

11. No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, and you shall not live in it forty years.

12. And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the desolate countries; and her cities shall be deserted forty years among the cities that are laid waste. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will scatter them through the lands.”

13. Yet thus says the Lord GOD, “At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the people where they were scattered.

14. And I will bring back the captives of Egypt, and will cause them to return to the land of Pathros, into their homeland. And they shall be a lowly kingdom there.

15. It shall be the lowest of the kingdoms, and shall no more exalt itself above the nations. For I will make them so few, that they shall no more rule over the nations.

16. And it shall never again be the hope of the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity when they turned to follow them. And they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.” ’ ”

17. And it came to pass in the twentyseventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

18. “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled. Yet neither he nor his army had any wages for Tyre, for the service that he had served against it.

19. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he shall carry off her wealth, and take her spoil, and seize her plunder. And it shall be the wages for his army.

20. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor with which he served against it because they worked for Me,’ says the Lord GOD.

21. ‘In that day I will make a horn spring up to the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth to prophesy in their midst. And they shall know that I am the LORD.’ ”