Prophecy Against Egypt
1 1In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
2
2"Son of man,
3set your face against
4Pharaoh king of Egypt,
5and prophesy against him and
6against all Egypt;
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speak, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD:
7"Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
8the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams,
9that says, 'My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.'
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I will
10put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales; and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams, with all the fish of your streams that stick to your scales.
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11And I will cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your streams; you shall fall
12on the open field, and
13not be brought together or gathered. To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens
14I give you as food.
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Then all the inhabitants of Egypt
15shall know that I am the LORD. "Because you have been
16a staff of reed to the house of Israel,
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17when they grasped you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to shake.
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Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
18Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast,
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and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste.
19Then they will know that I am the LORD.
20"Because you said, 'The Nile is mine, and I made it,'
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therefore,
21behold, I am against you and
22against your streams, and
23I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation,
24from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush.
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25No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years.
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26And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste.
27I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.
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"For thus says the Lord GOD: At the end of forty years
28I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered,
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and
29I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to
30the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom.
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It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms,
31and never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations.
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And it shall never again be
32the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid.
33Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD."