Judgment against Pharaoh

1In the tenth year, in the tenth [month], on the twelfth of the month, the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 2Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against the whole of Egypt;

3speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which saith, My river is mine own, and I made it for myself.

4And I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales;

5and I will cast thee into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open field; thou shalt not be brought together nor gathered: I will give thee for meat to the beasts of the earth and to the fowl of the heavens.

6And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I [am] Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

7When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst give way and rend all their shoulder; and when they leaned upon thee, thou didst break, and didst make all their loins to tremble.

The Desolation of Egypt

8Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast from thee. 9And the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste: and they shall know that I [am] Jehovah, because he saith, The river is mine, and I made it. 10Therefore behold, I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt deserts of wasteness and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, even unto the border of Ethiopia. 11No foot of man shall pass through it, nor shall foot of beast pass through it, nor shall it be inhabited, forty years. 12And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of the countries that are desolated, and her cities shall be, in the midst of the cities that are laid waste, a desolation forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.

13Yet thus saith the Lord Jehovah: At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples whither they were scattered; 14and I will turn again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return to the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth, and they shall there be a base kingdom. 15It shall be the basest of kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations; and I will diminish them, so that they shall no more rule over the nations. 16And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to remembrance, when they turn after them: and they shall know that I [am] the Lord Jehovah.

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 Jehovah came unto me, saying, 18Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to do hard service against Tyre; every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he from Tyre no wages, nor his army, for the service that he had served against it. 19Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry away her multitude, and seize her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord Jehovah.

21In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them: and they shall know that I [am] Jehovah.