29:1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month,1 the word of the Lord came to me: 29:2 “Son of man, turn toward2 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 29:3 Tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘Look, I oppose you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
the great monster3 lying in the midst of its streams,
who has said, “My Nile is my own, I made it for myself.”4
29:4 I will put hooks in your jaws,
and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales.
I will haul you up from the midst of your streams,
and all the fish of your streams will stick to your scales.
29:5 I will leave you in the wilderness,
along with all the fish of your streams;
you will fall in the open field,
and will not be gathered up or buried.5
I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the skies.
29:6 Then all those living in Egypt will know that I am the Lord
because they were a reed staff for the house of Israel;
29:7 when they grasped you with their hand,6 you broke and ripped open7 their shoulders;
and when they leaned on you, you splintered and caused their legs to be unsteady.8
29:8 “‘Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am bringing a sword9 against you, and I will kill10 every man and beast. 29:9 The land of Egypt will become a desolate ruin. Then they will know that I am the Lord. Because he said, “The Nile is mine and I made it for myself,” 29:10 I oppose you and your streams. I will make the land of Egypt an utter desolate ruin from Migdol11 to Syene,12 as far as the border with Ethiopia. 29:11 No human foot will pass through it, and no animal’s foot will pass through it; it will be uninhabited for forty years. 29:12 I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of desolate lands; for forty years her cities will lie desolate in the midst of ruined cities. I will scatter Egypt among the nations and disperse them among foreign countries.
29:13 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: At the end of forty years13 I will gather Egypt from the peoples where they were scattered. 29:14 I will restore the fortunes of Egypt, and will bring them back14 to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin; there they will be an insignificant kingdom. 29:15 It will be the most insignificant of the kingdoms; it will never again exalt itself over the nations. I will make them so small that they will not rule over the nations. 29:16 It will never again be Israel’s source of confidence; Israel will remember how they sinned by turning to Egypt for help.15 Then they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.’”
29:17 In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month,16 the word of the Lord came to me: 29:18 “Son of man, King Nebuchadnezzar17 of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre.18 Every head was rubbed bald and every shoulder rubbed bare; yet he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the work he carried out against it. 29:19 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadnezzar19 of Babylon. He will carry off her wealth, capture her loot, and seize her plunder; it will be his army’s wages. 29:20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his compensation for attacking Tyre20, because they did it for me, declares the Sovereign Lord. 29:21 On that day I will make Israel powerful,21 and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
A Lament Over Egypt