Ezekiel 29:2-20

² “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. ³ Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the midst 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 midst of your rivers, with all the fish of your rivers which stick to your scales. ⁵ I’ll cast you forth 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 All the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am Yahweh, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. ⁷ When 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 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off man and animal from you. ⁹ The 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 therefore, 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 No 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 midst 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 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered; ¹⁴ and 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 It 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 It 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 It came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ¹⁸ Son 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 Therefore 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 spoil, 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.