A Lament over the Nation and Land of Egypt
1 And the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying},
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"Son of man, prophesy, and you must say, 'thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Wail, alas! For the day!
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For a day [is] near; indeed, a day [is] near for Yahweh. A day of cloud, a time of [the] nations it will be.
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And a sword will come in Egypt, and anguish will be in Cush, at the falling of [the] slain in Egypt. And they will take its wealth, and its foundation will be demolished.
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Cush and Put and Lud and all of Arabia and Kub and the people of the land of the treaty with them--by the sword they will fall."
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Thus says Yahweh: "And the supporters of Egypt will fall, and the majesty of its strength will go down from Migdol [to] Syene; by the sword they will fall in it," {declares}
the Lord Yahweh.
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"And they will be desolate in the midst of desolate countries, and its cities will be in the midst of ruined cities.
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And they will know that I [am] Yahweh when I put my fire in Egypt, and all of its helpers are broken.
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On that day messengers will go down from {before me} in the ships to terrify unsuspecting Cush, and anguish will be in them on the day of Egypt; for look, [it is] coming!"
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Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "And I will put an end to the crowds
of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon.
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He and his people with him, [the most] ruthless of nations, [will] be brought to destroy the land. And they will draw their swords against Egypt, and they will fill the land [with] [the] slain,
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and I will make the Nile streams dry land, and I will sell the land into [the] hand of bad [people], and I will lay waste [the] land and its fullness by [the] hand of strangers. I, Yahweh, I have spoken."
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Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "And I will destroy [the] idols, and I will put an end to [the] worthless idols from Memphis. And there will {no longer be}
a prince from the land of Egypt, and I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
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And I will lay waste Pathros, and I will set fire in Zoan, and I will execute judgments in No.
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I will pour out my rage over Sin, the stronghold of Egypt, and I will cut off the crowd of No.
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And I will set fire in Egypt, certainly Sin will writhe, and No will be breached, and Memphis [will] face enemies {daily}.
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The young men of On and Pi Beseth will fall by the sword, and they will go into captivity.
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And at Tahpanhes the day will become dark when I break the yoke of Egypt, and in it the majesty of its strength will come to an end. A cloud will cover it, and its daughters will go into captivity.
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And I will execute judgments in Egypt, and they will know that I [am] Yahweh."
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{And then} {in the eleventh} year, in the first [month], on the seventh [day] of the month, the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying},
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"Son of man, the arm of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, I have broken. And look, it has not been bound up for giving of a remedy, or for [the] placing of a splint to bind it [up] to make it strong to take hold of the sword."
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Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I [am] against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and I will break his strong arm and the broken [arm], and I will let the sword fall from his hand.
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And I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will disperse them among the countries.
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And I will strengthen the arm of the king of Babylon, and I will give my sword into his hand, and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan [with the] groaning of [the] mortally wounded {before him}.
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And I will strengthen the arm of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh will fall. And they will know that I [am] Yahweh when I give my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will stretch it out to the land of Egypt.
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And I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will disperse them into the countries, and they will know that I [am] Yahweh."