Prophecy Against Egypt
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1In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
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2"Son of man, 3set your face against 4Pharaoh king of Egypt, 5and prophesy against him and 6against all Egypt;
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speak, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: 7"Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, 8the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, 9that says, 'My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.'
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I will 10put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales; and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams, with all the fish of your streams that stick to your scales.
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11And I will cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your streams; you shall fall 12on the open field, and 13not be brought together or gathered. To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens 14I give you as food.
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Then all the inhabitants of Egypt 15shall know that I am the LORD. "Because youa have been 16a staff of reed to the house of Israel,
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17when they grasped you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to shake.b
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Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 18Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast,
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and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. 19Then they will know that I am the LORD. 20"Because youc said, 'The Nile is mine, and I made it,'
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therefore, 21behold, I am against you and 22against your streams, and 23I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, 24from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush.
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25No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years.
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26And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. 27I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.
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"For thus says the Lord GOD: At the end of forty years 28I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered,
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and 29I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to 30the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom.
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It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, 31and never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations.
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And it shall never again be 32the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. 33Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD."
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34In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
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35"Son of man, 36Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her.
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Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 37Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; 38and he shall carry off its wealthd39and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army.
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40I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, declares the Lord GOD.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)