1In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the LORD’s word came to me, saying,

2“Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.

3Speak and say, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the middle of his rivers, that has said, ‘My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.’

4I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will make the fish of your rivers stick to your scales. I will bring you up out of the middle of your rivers, with all the fish of your rivers which stick to your scales.

5I’ll cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. You’ll fall on the open field. You won’t be brought together or gathered. I have given you for food to the animals of the earth and to the birds of the sky.

6“‘“All the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am the LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

7When they took hold of you by your hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders. When they leaned on you, you broke and paralysed all of their thighs.”

8“‘Therefore the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off man and animal from you.

9The land of Egypt will be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am the LORD. “‘“Because he has said, ‘The river is mine, and I have made it,’

10therefore, behold, I am against you and against your rivers. I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from the tower of Seveneh even to the border of Ethiopia.

11No foot of man will pass through it, nor will any animal foot pass through it. It won’t be inhabited for forty years.

12I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the middle of the countries that are desolate. Her cities amongst the cities that are laid waste will be a desolation forty years. I will scatter the Egyptians amongst the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.”

13“‘For the Lord GOD says: “At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered.

14I will reverse the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth. There they will be a lowly kingdom.

15It will be the lowest of the kingdoms. It won’t lift itself up above the nations any more. I will diminish them so that they will no longer rule over the nations.

16It will no longer be the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to memory, when they turn to look after them. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.”’”

17It came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the LORD’s word came to me, saying,

18“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet he had no wages, nor did his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it.

19Therefore the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He will carry off her multitude, take her plunder, and take her prey. That will be the wages for his army.

20I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he served, because they worked for me,’ says the Lord GOD.

21“In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth amongst them. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”