Ezek 29:1In the tenth year [of the captivity of King Jehoiachin by the king of Babylon], in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Ezek 29:2"Son of man, set your face toward Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.
Ezek 29:3"Speak and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, The great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers, [Boastfully] declaring, 'My Nile is my own, and I have made it for myself.'
Ezek 29:4"I will put hooks in your jaws And [I will] make the fish of your rivers stick to your scales. And I will pull you up from the midst of your rivers, And all the fish of your rivers will stick to your scales.
Ezek 29:5"I will abandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers; You will fall on the open field; and you will not be gathered up or buried. I have given you as food to the [wild] animals of the earth and the birds of the sky.
Ezek 29:6"And all the inhabitants of Egypt will know [without any doubt] that I am the LORD, Because they have been [only] a staff made of [fragile] reeds to the house of Israel.
Ezek 29:7"When they (Israel) grasped you (Egypt) by the hand, You broke and tore apart their hands; When they leaned on you, You broke and strained their backs."
Ezek 29:8¶ 'Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am going to bring a sword on you and cut off (destroy) both man and animal,
Ezek 29:9and the land of Egypt will be a desolation and a wasteland. And they will know [without any doubt] that I am the LORD. "Because you said, 'The Nile is mine and I have made it,'
Ezek 29:10¶ behold (hear this), therefore, I am against you and against your rivers (the Nile, its tributaries), and I will make the land of Egypt a complete waste and a desolation, from [northern] Migdol to [southern] Syene, even as far as the border of Ethiopia (Cush).
Ezek 29:11"No man's foot will pass through it, no animal's foot will pass through it, and it will not be inhabited for forty years.
Ezek 29:12"So I will make the land of Egypt a desolation [plundered and ruined] among desolated lands; and her cities, among cities that are laid waste, will be desolate forty years. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and [I will] disperse them through the lands."
Ezek 29:13¶ 'For thus says the Lord GOD, "At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations among whom they were scattered. [Jer 46:25, 26]
Ezek 29:14"I will reverse the fortunes of Egypt [as I will that of Israel] and cause them to return to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they will be a lowly kingdom.
Ezek 29:15"It will be the lowliest of the kingdoms, and it will never again exalt itself above the nations; I will diminish the Egyptians so they will never again rule over the nations.
Ezek 29:16"And Egypt will never again have the confidence of the house of Israel; their wickedness will be remembered whenever Israel looks toward them [for help]. Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord GOD."'"
Ezek 29:17¶ In the twenty-seventh year [after King Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon], in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Ezek 29:18"Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army work hard [at My command] against Tyre; every [soldier's] head became bald and every shoulder was worn and peeled [from carrying loads of dirt and stones for siege works]. Yet he had no wages from Tyre [in proportion to the time and labor expended during the siege], either for himself or his army, for the work that he had done against it [for Me]."
Ezek 29:19Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her wealth and capture her spoil and seize her plunder; and it shall be the wages for his army.
Ezek 29:20"I have given him the land of Egypt for the hard work which he did [against Tyre], because they did it for Me," says the Lord GOD.
Ezek 29:21¶ "In that day I will make a horn sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them, and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the LORD [when I renew their strength]."