1 In the tenth year, in the tenth {month}, in the twelfth {day} of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt:
3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I {am} against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river {is} mine own, and I have made {it} for myself.
4 But 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.
5 And I will leave thee {thrown} into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven. {open...: Heb. face of the field}
6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I {am} the LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.
9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I {am} the LORD: because he hath said, The river {is} mine, and I have made {it}.
10 Behold, therefore I {am} against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste {and} desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia. {utterly...: Heb. wastes of waste} {from...: or, from Migdol to Syene} {Syene: Heb. Seveneh}
11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.
12 And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries {that are} desolate, and her cities among the cities {that are} laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.
13 Yet thus saith the Lord GOD; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:
14 And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return {into} the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom. {habitation: or, birth} {base: Heb. low}
15 It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.
16 And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth {their} iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I {am} the Lord GOD.
17 And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first {month}, in the first {day} of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
18 Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head {was} made bald, and every shoulder {was} peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it:
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. {take her spoil...: Heb. spoil her spoil, and prey her prey}
20 I have given him the land of Egypt {for} his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord GOD. {for his...: or, for his hire}
21 In 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} the LORD.