1 I n the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, Yahweh’s word 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 S peak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the middle of his rivers, that has said, ‘My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.’

4 I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will make the fish of your rivers stick to your scales; and I will bring you up out of the middle of your rivers, with all the fish of your rivers which stick to your scales.

5 I ’ll cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. You’ll fall on the open field. You won’t be brought together, nor gathered. I have given you for food to the animals of the earth and to the birds of the sky.

6 A ll the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am Yahweh, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

7 W hen they took hold of you by your hand, you broke, and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke, and paralyzed all of their thighs.”

8 T herefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off man and animal from you.

9 T he land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste; and they shall know that I am Yahweh. Because he has said, ‘The river is mine, and I have made it;’

10 t herefore, behold, I am against you, and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from the tower of Seveneh even to the border of Ethiopia.

11 N o foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of animal shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.

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

13 F or thus says the Lord Yahweh: “At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered;

14 a nd I will bring back the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth; and they shall be there a base kingdom.

15 I t shall be the base of the kingdoms; neither shall it any more lift itself up above the nations: and I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.

16 I t shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to memory, when they turn to look after them: and they shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh.”’”

17 I t came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,

18 S on 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 worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it.

19 T herefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off her multitude, and take her plunder, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.

20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he served, because they worked for me, says the Lord Yahweh.

21 I n that day will I cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will give you the opening of the mouth among them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.