Ezekiel 29:1-21

In the tenth year of our exile, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, YAHWEH spoke to me, saying, “Son of man, turn toward Hophra king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. Tell them what I, Lord YAHWEH, say: “ ‘Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt— the great monster wallowing in its waterways. You boasted: “I made the Nile River for myself, and I own it!” I will put hooks through your jaws, and make the fish of the Nile stick to your scales. Then I will drag you out of your waterways with all your fish clinging to your scales. I will leave you and all your fish on the ground to die in the desert. You will die in the open field, and I will feed you to the wild animals and the birds of heaven, and no one will collect your bones or bury them. Then all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am YAHWEH. “ ‘The Lord says to Egypt: You have been no help whatsoever to my people, Israel; you are nothing more than a crutch of flimsy reeds! Wherever they grasped you, you broke in their hands and splinters pierced their hands. Whenever they leaned on you, you collapsed, and sent them sprawling. “ ‘So, Lord YAHWEH says to you: I will bring war against you to eliminate both people and animals. The land of Egypt will become an empty desert, and they will know that I am YAHWEH. Because you boasted, “The Nile is mine, I made it. It’s all mine,” therefore, I am your enemy and the enemy of your waterways. I will reduce Egypt to a desolate, empty desert, from Migdol in the north to Syene in the south, as far as the border of Ethiopia. No person or animal will pass through it. For forty years it will remain uninhabited. I will turn Egypt into the most desolate of lands, and for forty years its cities will be the most desolate of ruined cities. And I will scatter your people among the nations and disperse them among foreign lands. “ ‘However, Lord YAHWEH says this: After forty years, I will gather the Egyptians back from the nations where I scattered them. I will bring the Egyptian captives back and restore them to the way they were before in their homeland of Pathros. There they will be an insignificant kingdom. Egypt will be the weakest kingdom of all and no longer dominate other nations. For I will reduce it so that it will never again rule over the nations. It will never again be strong enough for the people of Israel to trust in. Its fate will be a reminder of Israel’s sin when they put their confidence in Egypt to help them. Then they will know that I am Lord YAHWEH.’ ” In the twenty-seventh year of our exile, on the first day of the first month, YAHWEH spoke to me, saying: “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken his army and launched an attack against Tyre and inflicted a heavy toll upon his soldiers. Their helmets have rubbed their heads bare, and their heavy loads made their shoulders raw and chafed, yet neither Nebuchadnezzar nor his army gained any reward from the campaign he led against Tyre. I, Lord YAHWEH, will hand Egypt over to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He will carry off its riches and loot the wealth of Egypt to pay the wages of his army. I am giving him Egypt as a reward for the labor he has undertaken on my behalf. I, Lord YAHWEH, have spoken! “At that time, I will raise up a new day of power for the people of Israel. And Ezekiel, I will open your mouth, and when you speak, the people will listen to you. Then they will know that I am YAHWEH.”