Ezekiel Chapter 29

A Message for Egypt

¹ The twelfth day, tenth month, tenth year, a message from the LORD came to me:

² “Son of man, turn toward Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, and prophesy against him and Egypt. ³ Say,’The Lord GOD says,

 “I’m against you, Pharaoh, Egypt’s king,

      you big crocodile that lies in your streams,

      that has said, ‘My Nile belongs to me; I made it.’

⁴ I’ll put hooks in your jaws

      and make the fish in your streams cling to your scales.

I’ll drag you out on the shore

      with fish clinging to your scales.

Ezek 29:1-4

⁵ I’ll abandon you to the wilderness,

      you and the fish in your streams.

You’ll fall in the open field

      and not be buried.

I’ll make you food for scavengers on the ground

      and buzzards from the sky.

⁶ Then you residents in Egypt will know I’m the LORD,

      because to Israel you were only a staff made out of reeds.

⁷ When he took hold of you,

         you cut his hands;

when he leaned on you,

      you broke and his loins buckled. 

Ezek 29:5-7

⁸ ‘So the Lord GOD says, “I’m going to bring a sword against you, and slay people and animals. ⁹ Because you said, ‘The Nile belongs to me, I made it,’ ¹⁰ I’m against you and your streams. Egypt will become a wasteland from Migdol to Syene to the border of Nubia. ¹¹ People and animals won’t travel through it; nobody will live there for 40 years. ¹² So I’ll make Egypt desolate among desolate lands and its cities desolate among desolate cities for 40 years. I’ll scatter the Egyptians among the nations.

¹³ ‘The Lord GOD says, “After 40 years, I’ll gather the Egyptians back from where they’ve scattered. ¹⁴ I’ll return their fortunes and make them go back to the land of Pathros and become a minor kingdom there. ¹⁵ Egypt will be low among the kingdoms and never again raise itself above them. I’ll make it too small for that. ¹⁶ Israel will never rely on it again. They’ll be reminded of their sin in going back to Egypt. They’ll know I’m the Lord GOD.”’                     

Ezek 29:8-16

¹⁷ The first day, first month, twenty-seventh year, a message from the LORD came to me:

¹⁸ “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, made his army struggle hard against Tyre. Every head became bald, and every shoulder was rubbed raw. But he and his army didn’t get enough from Tyre to pay for the struggle. ¹⁹ So I’ll give him Egypt so he can carry off its wealth, capture its spoil, and seize its plunder to pay his army. ²⁰ I’ve given him Egypt for his struggle because he acted on my behalf. ²¹ At that time, I’ll make a horn sprout for Israel and open your mouth among them. They’ll know I’m the LORD.”                 

Ezek 29:17-21