A Prophecy against Pharaoh 1 UDB Almost ten years after the Babylonians had taken us Israelites to their land, on the twelfth day of the tenth month of that year, Yahweh gave me another message. He said to me, BSB BSB: In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 UDB "Son of man, turn toward Egypt and proclaim the terrible things that will happen to the king of Egypt and all his people. BSB BSB: “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.
3 UDB Give the king this message from me, for I am Yahweh the Lord: 'Know this, Pharaoh, king of Egypt that I, Yahweh, am your enemy. You are like a great monster that lies in the streams of the Nile River. You are so bold to say that the Nile River is yours, and that you made it for yourself. BSB BSB: Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it myself.’
4 UDB But it will be as though I will put hooks in your jaws and drag you out onto the land, with fish sticking to your scales. BSB BSB: But I will put hooks in your jaws and cause the fish of your streams to cling to your scales. I will haul you up out of your rivers, and all the fish of your streams will cling to your scales.
5 UDB I will leave you and all those fish to die in the desert; you will fall to the ground, and no one will pick up your corpse to bury you, because I declare that your body will be food for the wild animals and birds. BSB BSB: I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field and will not be taken away or gathered for burial. I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air.
6 UDB When that happens, all the people of Egypt will know that it is I, Yahweh, who have the power to do what I say that I will do. The Israelite people have trusted that you would help them. But you have been like a reed pole in their hands. BSB BSB: Then all the people of Egypt will know that I am the LORD. For you were only a staff of reeds to the house of Israel.
7 UDB And when they leaned on that pole, it broke and tore open their shoulders. When they leaned on you, you were like a pole that broke in their hand, and as a result you caused their legs to be wrenched and that made it impossible for them to stand.' BSB BSB: When Israel took hold of you with their hands, you splintered, tearing all their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke, and their backs were wrenched.
The Desolation of Egypt 8 UDB Therefore Yahweh the Lord says, 'I will bring Egypt's enemies to attack them with their swords; they will kill Egypt's people and animals. BSB BSB: Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will bring a sword against you and cut off from you man and beast.
9 UDB Egypt will become an empty desert. Then the people of Egypt will know that it is I, Yahweh, who has the power to do what he says he will do, and that he will punish the people of Egypt for saying that the Nile River is theirs because they made it. BSB BSB: The land of Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the LORD. Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it,’
10 UDB I am against you and your streams, and I will ruin Egypt and make it into an empty desert, from the city of Migdol in the north to Syene in the south, as far south as the border of Cush. BSB BSB: therefore I am against you and against your rivers. I will turn the land of Egypt into a ruin, a desolate wasteland from Migdol to Syene, and as far as the border of Cush.
11 UDB For forty years no one will walk through that area, and no one will live there. BSB BSB: No foot of man or beast will pass through, and it will be uninhabited for forty years.
12 UDB Egypt will be barren, and it will be surrounded by other abandoned nations. The cities of Egypt will be empty and without people for forty years, and the surrounding lands will be the same. I will scatter the people of Egypt to countries far away.' BSB BSB: I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among desolate lands, and her cities will lie desolate for forty years among the ruined cities. And I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them throughout the countries.
13 UDB But Yahweh the Lord also says this: 'At the end of forty years, I will enable the people of Egypt to return home again. BSB BSB: For this is what the Lord GOD says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations to which they were scattered.
14 UDB I will bring back the people of Egypt whom their enemies had captured, and I will allow them to live again in the region of Pathros in the south, where they lived previously. But Egypt will continue to be a very unimportant kingdom. BSB BSB: I will restore Egypt from captivity and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom.
15 UDB It will be the least important of all the nations; it will never again be greater than the nearby countries. I will cause Egypt to be very weak, and they will never again rule over other nations. BSB BSB: Egypt will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself above the nations. For I will diminish Egypt so that it will never again rule over the nations.
16 UDB When that happens, the leaders of Israel will no longer think of asking Egypt to help them. When I punish Egypt, the Israelites will be reminded that they previously sinned by trusting that Egypt could help them. And the people of Israel will know that Yahweh the Lord has the power to do what he says he will do.'" BSB BSB: Egypt will never again be an object of trust for the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity in turning to the Egyptians. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.”
Egypt the Reward of Nebuchadnezzar 17 UDB Almost twenty-seven years after we Israelites prisoners had been taken to Babylonia, on the first day of the new year, Yahweh gave me this message: BSB BSB: In the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
18 UDB "Son of man, the army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon fought very hard against Tyre, with the result that their heads were rubbed bare under their helmets, and their shoulders became raw. But Nebuchadnezzar and his army did not get any valuable things from Tyre to reward them for their hard work in that campaign. BSB BSB: “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder made raw. But he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the labor they expended on it.
19 UDB Therefore, Yahweh the Lord says that he will enable King Nebuchadnezzar's army to conquer Egypt. They will carry away from there all the valuable things, in order that the king can give them to his soldiers. BSB BSB: Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will carry off its wealth, seize its spoil, and remove its plunder. This will be the wages for his army.
20 UDB Yahweh says that he will enable them to conquer Egypt as payment for what they did to Tyre, because Nebuchadnezzar and his army were working for him, doing what he wanted them to do, which was to destroy Tyre." BSB BSB: I have given him the land of Egypt as the reward for his labor, because it was done for Me, declares the Lord GOD.
21 UDB Yahweh said to me, "Again I will make Israel become a mighty nation. When that happens, I will make them listen to what you tell them. Then they will know that all this has happened because I, Yahweh, will have done this." BSB BSB: In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth to speak among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.