A Prophecy against Pharaoh

1In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, the word of YHWH 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, thus says the Lord YHWH:

Behold, I am against you,

O Pharaoh king of Egypt,

O great monster stretching out

in the midst of his rivers,

who has said, ‘Unto me is my River,

and I—have made it for myself!’

4And I will put hooks in your jaws,

and the fish of your rivers I will cause to cling

on your scales;

and I will bring you up from the midst of your rivers,

and all the fish of your rivers

to your scales will cling.

5And I will leave you in the desert—

you and all the fish of your rivers;

you will fall on the face of the ground,

and you will not be gathered up

and you will not be gathered together,

for the beasts of the land

and for the birds of the heavens

I will give you as food!

6And all those dwelling in Egypt will know

that I am YHWH,

because they have been a staff of a reed

to the house of Israel.

7In their grabbing hold of you with the hand,

you broke and would tear every shoulder of theirs;

and in their leaning on you,

you broke and wrenched all their backs.†

The Desolation of Egypt

8Therefore, thus says the Lord YHWH: Behold, I am bringing upon you a sword, and I will cut off from you man and beast. 9And the land of Egypt will become a desolation and a ruin, and they will know that I am YHWH.

Because he said, ‘The River is unto me, and I have made it,’ 10therefore, behold, I am against you and against your rivers, and I will give the land of Egypt as a ruin, a desolate wasteland, from Migdol to Syene and to the border of Cush.† 11The foot of man will not pass through it, and the foot of beast will not pass through it, and it will not be inhabited forty years.

12And I will give the land of Egypt to be a desolation in the midst of desolate lands, and her cities, among the cities laid waste, will be a desolation forty years; and I will disperse Egypt among the nations, and I will scatter them among the lands.

13For thus says the Lord YHWH: At the end of forty years I will gather Egypt from the peoples among whom they were scattered there, 14and I will turn back the captivity of Egypt,† and will return them 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 lift itself again over the nations—and I will diminish them; they will no longer rule over the nations. 16And it will be no longer the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing to mind the iniquity in their turning after them; and they will know that I am the Lord YHWH.”

Egypt the Reward of Nebuchadnezzar

17And it came to pass, in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first of the month, that the word of YHWH came to me, saying: 18“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused to labor his army with great labor against Tyre—every head having been made bald and every shoulder rubbed bare. And wages did not were unto him and unto his army from Tyre for the labor with which they labored over it.

19Therefore thus says the Lord YHWH: Behold, I am giving to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon the land of Egypt; and he will carry away her wealth, and he will draw out her plunder, and he will spoil her loot—and it will be the wages for his army. 20As his wage that he has labored over, I have given to him the land of Egypt, because they worked for Me, a declaration of the Lord YHWH.

21On that day I will cause to spring forth a horn for the house of Israel, and unto you I will give an opening of your mouth in their midst, and they will know that I am YHWH.”