Eze 29:1-31:2 | ESV | STEP | In the tenth year , in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month , the word of the Lord came to me:

1 ^aIn the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^b“Son of man, ^cset your face against ^dPharaoh king of Egypt, ^eand prophesy against him and ^fagainst all Egypt; 3 speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God:

^g“Behold, I am against you,
Pharaoh king of Egypt,
^hthe great dragon that lies
in the midst of his streams,
ⁱthat says, ‘My Nile is my own;
I made it for myself.’
4 I will ^jput 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.
5 ^kAnd I will cast you out into the wilderness,
you and all the fish of your streams;
you shall fall ^lon the open field,
and ^mnot be brought together or gathered.
To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens
ⁿI give you as food.
6 Then all the inhabitants of Egypt ^oshall know that I am the Lord.

“Because you ^{▼▼Hebrew they} have been ^qa staff of reed to the house of Israel, 7 ^rwhen 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. ^{▼▼Syriac (compare Psalm 69:23); Hebrew to stand} 8 Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^tBehold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast, 9 and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. ^uThen they will know that I am the Lord.

^v“Because you ^{▼▼Hebrew he} said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’ 10 therefore, ^xbehold, I am against you and ^yagainst your streams, and ^zI will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, ^aafrom Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. 11 ^abNo foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. 12 ^acAnd 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. ^adI will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.

13 “For thus says the Lord God: At the end of forty years ^aeI will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered, 14 and ^afI will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to ^agthe land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. 15 It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, ^ahand never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. 16 And it shall never again be ^aithe reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. ^ajThen they will know that I am the Lord God.”

17 ^akIn the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 ^al“Son of man, ^amNebuchadnezzar 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. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^anBehold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; ^aoand he shall carry off its wealth ^{▼▼Or multitude} ^aqand despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20 ^arI have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, declares the Lord God.

21 “On that day ^asI will cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel, and ^atI will open your lips among them. ^auThen they will know that I am the Lord.”

Ezekiel 30

A Lament for Egypt

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^av“Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God:

^aw“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’
3 ^axFor the day is near,
^aythe day of the Lord is near;
it will be ^aza day of clouds,
a time of doom for ^{▼▼Hebrew lacks doom for} the nations.
4 ^bbA sword shall come upon Egypt,
^bcand anguish shall be in ^bdCush,
when the slain fall in Egypt,
and ^beher wealth ^{▼▼Or multitude; also verse 10} is carried away,
and ^bgher foundations are torn down.
5 ^bhCush, and ^biPut, and Lud, and ^bjall Arabia, and Libya, ^{▼▼With Septuagint; Hebrew Cub} and the people of the land that is in league, ^{▼▼Hebrew and the sons of the land of the covenant} shall fall with them by the sword.

6 “Thus says the Lord:
^bmThose who support Egypt shall fall,
and ^bnher proud might shall come down;
^bofrom Migdol to Syene
they shall fall within her by the sword,
declares the Lord God.
7 ^bpAnd they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries,
and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste.
8 ^bqThen they will know that I am the Lord,
when ^brI have set fire to Egypt,
and ^bsall her helpers are broken.
9 “On that day ^btmessengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting ^bupeople of Cush, and ^bvanguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt’s doom; ^{▼▼Hebrew the day of Egypt} for, behold, it comes!

10 “Thus says the Lord God:

^bx“I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt,
by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, ^bythe most ruthless of nations,
shall be brought in to destroy the land,
^bzand they shall draw their swords against Egypt
and fill the land with the slain.
12 And ^caI will ^cbdry up the Nile
and will sell the land into the hand of ^ccevildoers;
^cdI will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it,
by the hand of ^ceforeigners;
^cfI am the Lord; I have spoken.
13 “Thus says the Lord God:

^cg“I will destroy the idols
and put an end to the images in ^chMemphis;
^cithere shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt;
so ^cjI will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14 I will make ^ckPathros a desolation
and will set fire to ^clZoan
^cmand will execute judgments on ^cnThebes.
15 And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,
the stronghold of Egypt,
and cut off the multitude ^{▼▼Or wealth} of Thebes.
16 And I will set fire to Egypt;
Pelusium shall be in great agony;
Thebes shall be breached,
and ^cpMemphis shall face enemies ^{▼▼Or distress} by day.
17 The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword,
and the women ^{▼▼Or the cities; Hebrew they} shall go into captivity.
18 At ^csTehaphnehes ^ctthe day shall be dark,
when I break there the yoke bars of Egypt,
and ^cuher proud might shall come to an end in her;
she shall be covered by a cloud,
and her daughters shall go into captivity.
19 Thus ^cvI will execute judgments on Egypt.
^cwThen they will know that I am the Lord.”

Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon

20 ^cxIn the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 21 ^cy“Son of man, ^czI have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, ^dait has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. 22 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and ^dbwill break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23 ^dcI will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. 24 And ^ddI will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put ^demy sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him ^dflike a man mortally wounded. 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. ^dgThen they shall know that I am the Lord, ^dhwhen I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. 26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

Ezekiel 31:1-2

Pharaoh to Be Slain

1 ^diIn the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^dj“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to ^dkhis multitude:

^dl“Whom are you like in your greatness?