1 The worde of the Lord came againe vnto me, saying, 2 Sonne of man, prophesie, and say, Thus sayth the Lord God, Howle and cry, Wo be vnto this day. 3 For the day is neere, and the day of the Lord is at hand, a cloudie day, and it shall be the time of the heathen. 4 And the sword shall come vpon Egypt, and feare shall be in Ethiopia, when the slaine shall fall in Egypt, when they shall take away her multitude, and when her foundations shall be broken downe. 5 Ethiopia and Phut, and Lud, and all the common people, and Cub, and the men of the land, that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword. 6 Thus sayth the Lord, They also that mainteine Egypt, shall fall, and the pride of her power shall come downe: from the towre of Seueneh shall they fall by the sword, sayth the Lord God. 7 And they shall be desolate in the middes of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the middes of the cities that are wasted. 8 And they shall knowe that I am the Lord, when I haue set a fire in Egypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed. 9 In that day shall there messengers go forth from me in shippes, to make the carelesse Mores aftaide, and feare shall come vpon them, as in the day of Egypt: for loe, it commeth. 10 Thus sayth the Lord God, I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchad-nezzar King of Babel. 11 For he and his people with him, euen the terrible nations shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall drawe their swordes against Egypt, and fill the land with the slaine. 12 And I will make the riuers drye, and fell the land into the hands of the wicked, and I will make the land waste, and all that therein is by the hands of strangers: I the Lord haue spoken it. 13 Thus saith the Lord God, I will also destroy the idoles, and I will cause their idoles to cease out of Noph, and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt, and I will send a feare in the land of Egypt. 14 And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and I will execute iudgement in No. 15 And I will powre my wrath vpon Sin, which is the strength of Egypt: and I will destroy the multitude of No. 16 And I will set fire in Egypt: Sin shall haue great sorowe and No shalbe destroyed, and Noph shall haue sorowes dayly. 17 The yong men of Auen, and of Phibeseth shall fall by the sworde: and these cities shall goe into captiuitie. 18 At Tehaphnehes the day shall restraine his light, when I shall breake there the barres of Egypt: and when the pompe of her power shall cease in her, the cloude shall couer her, and her daughters shall goe into captiuitie. 19 Thus will I execute iudgements in Egypt, and they shall knowe that I am the Lord. 20 And in the eleuenth yeere, in the first moneth, and in the seuenth day of the moneth, the worde of the Lord came vnto me, saying, 21 Sonne of man, I haue broken the arme of Pharaoh King of Egypt: and lo, it shall not be boud vp to be healed, neither shall they put a roule to bind it, and so make it strong, to hold the sworde. 22 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I come against Pharaoh King of Egypt, and will breake his arme, that was strong, but is broken, and I will cause the sworde to fall out of his hande. 23 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countreys. 24 And I will strengthen the arme of the King of Babel, and put my sworde in his hand, but I will breake Pharaohs armes, and he shall cast out sighings, as the sighings of him, that is wounded before him. 25 But I will strengthen the armes of the king of Babel, and the armes of Pharaoh shall fall downe, and they shall knowe, that I am the Lord, when I shall put my sworde into the hand of the King of Babel, and he shall stretch it out vpon the land of Egypt. 26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among ye countreys, and they shall knowe, that I am the Lord.
The Lord Will Punish Egypt
1 The Lord spoke to me again. 2 “Mortal man,” he said, “prophesy and announce what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying. You are to shout these words:
A day of terror is coming!
3 The day is near, the day when the Lord will act,
A day of clouds and trouble for the nations.
4 There will be war in Egypt
And great distress in Ethiopia.
Many in Egypt will be killed;
The country will be plundered
And left in ruins.
5 “That war will also kill the soldiers hired from Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, Arabia, Kub, and even from among my own people.”
6 The Lord says, “From Migdol in the north to Aswan in the south, all Egypt's defenders will be killed in battle. Egypt's proud army will be destroyed. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. 7 The land will be the most desolate in the world, and its cities will be left totally in ruins. 8 When I set fire to Egypt and all her defenders are killed, then they will know that I am the Lord.
9 “When that day comes and Egypt is destroyed, I will send messengers in ships to arouse the unsuspecting people of Ethiopia, and they will be terrified. That day is coming!”
10 The Sovereign Lord says, “I will use King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to put an end to Egypt's wealth. 11 He and his ruthless army will come to devastate the land. They will attack Egypt with swords, and the land will be full of corpses. 12 I will dry up the Nile and put Egypt under the power of evil people. Foreigners will devastate the whole country. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
13 The Sovereign Lord says, “I will destroy the idols and the false gods in Memphis. There will be no one to rule Egypt, and I will terrify all the people. 14 I will make southern Egypt desolate and set fire to the city of Zoan in the north. I will punish the capital city of Thebes. 15 I will let the city of Pelusium, Egypt's great fortress, feel my fury. I will destroy the wealth of Thebes. 16 I will set fire to Egypt, and Pelusium will be in agony. The walls of Thebes will be broken down, and the city will be flooded. 17 The young men of the cities of Heliopolis and Bubastis will die in the war, and the other people will be taken prisoner. 18 Darkness will fall on Tahpanhes when I break the power of Egypt and put an end to the strength they were so proud of. A cloud will cover Egypt, and the people of all her cities will be taken prisoner. 19 When I punish Egypt in this way, they will know that I am the Lord.”
The Broken Power of the King of Egypt
20 On the seventh day of the first month of the eleventh year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me. 21 “Mortal man,” he said, “I have broken the arm of the king of Egypt. No one has bandaged it or put it in a sling so that it could heal and be strong enough to hold a sword again. 22 Now then, this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, say: I am the enemy of the king of Egypt. I am going to break both his arms—the good one and the one already broken—and the sword will fall from his hand. 23 I am going to scatter the Egyptians throughout the world. 24 Then I will make the arms of the king of Babylonia strong and put my sword in his hands. But I will break the arms of the king of Egypt, and he will groan and die in front of his enemy. 25 Yes, I will weaken him and strengthen the king of Babylonia. When I give him my sword and he points it toward Egypt, everyone will know that I am the Lord. 26 I will scatter the Egyptians throughout the world. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”