The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,
1
The Lord spoke to me again.
2 Son of man, be a prophet, and say, These are the words of the Lord: Give a cry, Aha, for the day!
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"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 For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near, a day of cloud; it will be the time of the nations.
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The day is near, the day when the Lord will act, A day of clouds and trouble for the nations.
4 And a sword will come on Egypt, and cruel pain will be in Ethiopia, when they are falling by the sword in Egypt; and they will take away her wealth and her bases will be broken down.
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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 Ethiopia and Put and Lud and all the mixed people and Libya and the children of the land of the Cherethites will all be put to death with them by the sword.
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"That war will also kill the soldiers hired from Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, Arabia, Kub, and even from among my own people."
6 This is what the Lord has said: The supporters of Egypt will have a fall, and the pride of her power will come down: from Migdol to Syene they will be put to the sword in it, says the Lord.
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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 And she will be made waste among the countries which have been made waste, and her towns will be among the towns which are unpeopled.
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The land will be the most desolate in the world, and its cities will be left totally in ruins.
8 And they will be certain that I am the Lord, when I have put a fire in Egypt and all her helpers are broken.
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When I set fire to Egypt and all her defenders are killed, then they will know that I am the Lord.
9 In that day men will go out quickly to take the news, causing fear in untroubled Ethiopia; and bitter pain will come on them as in the day of Egypt; for see, it is coming.
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"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 This is what the Lord has said: I will put an end to great numbers of the people of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon.
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The Sovereign Lord says, "I will use King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to put an end to Egypt's wealth.
11 He and the people with him, causing fear among the nations, will be sent for the destruction of the land; their swords will be let loose against Egypt and the land will be full of dead.
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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 And I will make the Nile streams dry, and will give the land into the hands of evil men, causing the land and everything in it to be wasted by the hands of men from a strange country: I the Lord have said it.
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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 This is what the Lord has said: In addition to this, I will give up the images to destruction and put an end to the false gods in Noph; never again will there be a ruler in the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
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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 And I will make Pathros a waste, and put a fire in Zoan, and send my punishments on No.
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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 loose my wrath on Sin, the strong place of Egypt, cutting off the mass of the people of No.
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I will let the city of Pelusium, Egypt's great fortress, feel my fury. I will destroy the wealth of Thebes.
16 And I will put a fire in Egypt; Syene will be twisting in pain, and No will be broken into, as by the onrush of waters.
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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 On and Pi-beseth will be put to the sword: and these towns will be taken away prisoners.
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The young men of the cities of Heliopolis and Bubastis will die in the war, and the other people will be taken prisoner.
18 And at Tehaphnehes the day will become dark, when the yoke of Egypt is broken there, and the pride of her power comes to an end: as for her, she will be covered with a cloud, and her daughters will be taken away prisoners.
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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 And I will send my punishments on Egypt: and they will be certain that I am the Lord.
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When I punish Egypt in this way, they will know that I am the Lord."
20 Now in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
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On the seventh day of the first month of the eleventh year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me.
21 Son of man, the arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, has been broken by me, and no band has been put round it to make it well, no band has been twisted round it to make it strong for gripping the sword.
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"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 For this cause the Lord has said: See, I am against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and by me his strong arm will be broken; and I will make the sword go out of his hand.
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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 And I will send the Egyptians in flight among the nations and wandering through the countries.
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I am going to scatter the Egyptians throughout the world.
24 And I will make the arms of the king of Babylon strong, and will put my sword in his hand: but Pharaoh's arms will be broken, and he will give cries of pain before him like the cries of a man wounded to death.
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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 And I will make the arms of the king of Babylon strong, and the arms of Pharaoh will be hanging down; and they will be certain that I am the Lord, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and it is stretched out against the land of Egypt.
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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 And I will send the Egyptians in flight among the nations and wandering through the countries; and they will be certain that I am the Lord.
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I will scatter the Egyptians throughout the world. Then they will know that I am the Lord."
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.