Egypt’s Doom

1The word of the Lord came to me: 2“Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says:

Wail,a “Woe because of that day! ”

3For a day is near;

a day belonging to the Lord is near.a

It will be a day of clouds,b

a time of doomA for the nations.

4A sword will come against Egypt,

and there will be anguish in Cush

when the slain fall in Egypt,

and its wealth is taken away,

and its foundations are demolished.

5Cush, Put, and Lud,a

and all the various foreign troops,A

plus LibyaB and the men of the covenant land

will fall by the sword along with them.

6This is what the Lord says:

Those who support Egypt will fall,

and its proud strength will collapse.

From Migdol to Syene

they will fall within it by the sword.

This is the declaration of the Lord God.

7They will be desolate

amongA desolate lands,

and their cities will lie

among ruinedB cities.a

8They will know that I am the Lord

when I set fire to Egypta

and all its allies are shattered.

9On that day, messengers will go out from me in shipsa to terrify confident Cush. Anguish will come over them on the day of Egypt’s doom.A For indeed it is coming.

10“ ‘This is what the Lord God says:

I will put an end to the hordesA of Egypt

by the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

11He along with his people,

ruthless men from the nations,

will be brought in to destroy the land.

They will draw their swords against Egypt

and fill the land with the slain.a

12I will make the streams dry

and sell the land to evil men.a

I will bring desolation

on the land and everything in it

by the hands of foreigners.

I, the Lord, have spoken.

13“ ‘This is what the Lord God says:

I will destroy the worthless idols

and put an end to the false gods in Memphis.a

There will no longer be

a prince from the land of Egypt.

And I will instill fear in that land.

14I will make Pathrosa desolate,

set fire to Zoan,

and execute judgments on Thebes.

15I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,

the stronghold of Egypt,

and will wipe out the hordes of Thebes.

16I will set fire to Egypt;

Pelusium will writhe in anguish,

Thebes will be breached,

and Memphis will face foes in broad daylight.A

17The young men of OnA and Pi-beseth

will fall by the sword,

and those citiesB will go into captivity.

18The day will be darkA in Tehaphnehes,

when I break the yoke of Egypt there

and its proud strength

comes to an end in the city.

A clouda will cover Tehaphnehes,B

and its surrounding villages will go into captivity.

19So I will execute judgments against Egypt,

and they will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

Pharaoh’s Power Broken

20In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 21“Son of man, I have broken the arma of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Look, it has not been bandaged — no medicine has been applied and no splint put on to bandage it so that it can grow strong enough to handle a sword. 22Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Look! I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt. I will break his arms, both the strong one and the one already broken, and will make the sword fall from his hand. 23I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them among the countries.a 24I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king and place my sworda in his hand. But I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him as a mortally wounded man. 25I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king, but Pharaoh’s arms will fall. They will know that I am the Lord when I place my sword in the hand of Babylon’s king and he wields it against the land of Egypt. 26When I disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them among the countries, they will know that I am the Lord.”