Prophecy Against Egypt

29 ^(A)In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (B)“Son of man, ^(C)set your face against ^(D)Pharaoh king of Egypt, ^(E)and prophesy against him and ^(F)against all Egypt; ³ speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God:

⁶ Then all the inhabitants of Egypt ^(O)shall know that I am the Lord.

“Because you^[a] have been ^(P)a staff of reed to the house of Israel, ^7 (Q)when 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.^{[b] 8} Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(R)Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast, ⁹ and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. ^(S)Then they will know that I am the Lord.

^(T)“Because you^[c] said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’ ¹⁰ therefore, ^(U)behold, I am against you and ^(V)against your streams, and ^(W)I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, ^(X)from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. ^11 (Y)No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. ^12 (Z)And 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. ^(AA)I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.

¹³ “For thus says the Lord God: At the end of forty years ^(AB)I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered, ¹⁴ and ^(AC)I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to ^(AD)the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. ¹⁵ It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, ^(AE)and never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. ¹⁶ And it shall never again be ^(AF)the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. ^(AG)Then they will know that I am the Lord God.”

^17 (AH)In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ^18 (AI)“Son of man, ^(AJ)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her. ¹⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(AK)Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; ^(AL)and he shall carry off its wealth^{[d] (AM)}and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. ^20 (AN)I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, declares the Lord God.

²¹ “On that day ^(AO)I will cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel, and ^(AP)I will open your lips among them. ^(AQ)Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

A Lament for Egypt

30 The word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (AR)“Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God:

^5 (BB)Cush, and ^(BC)Put, and Lud, and ^(BD)all Arabia, and Libya,^[g] and the people of the land that is in league,^[h] shall fall with them by the sword.

⁹ “On that day ^(BL)messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting ^(BM)people of Cush, and ^(BN)anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt's doom;^[i] for, behold, it comes!

¹⁰ “Thus says the Lord God:

¹³ “Thus says the Lord God:

Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon

^20 (CL)In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ^21 (CM)“Son of man, ^(CN)I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, ^(CO)it has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. ²² Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and ^(CP)will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. ^23 (CQ)I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. ²⁴ And ^(CR)I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put ^(CS)my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him ^(CT)like a man mortally wounded. ²⁵ I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. ^(CU)Then they shall know that I am the Lord, ^(CV)when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. ²⁶ And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

Pharaoh to Be Slain

31 ^(CW)In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (CX)“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to ^(CY)his multitude:

¹⁰ “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because ^(DP)it^[n] towered high and set its top among the clouds,^[o] and ^(DQ)its heart was proud of its height, ¹¹ I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. ^12 (DR)Foreigners, ^(DS)the most ruthless of nations, have cut it down and left it. ^(DT)On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs have been broken in all ^(DU)the ravines of the land, and ^(DV)all the peoples of the earth have gone away from its shadow and left it. ^13 (DW)On its fallen trunk dwell all the birds of the heavens, and on its branches are all the beasts of the field. ^14 (DX)All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to towering height or set their tops among the clouds,^[p] and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height. For they are all given over to death, ^(DY)to the world ^(DZ)below, among the children of man,^[q] with those who go down to the pit.

¹⁵ “Thus says the Lord God: On the day ^(EA)the cedar^[r] went down to Sheol I caused mourning; I closed the deep over it, and restrained its rivers, and many waters were stopped. I clothed Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. ^16 (EB)I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall, ^(EC)when I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit. ^(ED)And all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, ^(EE)were comforted in the world below. ¹⁷ They also went down to Sheol with it, ^(EF)to those who are slain by the sword; yes, ^(EG)those who were its arm, ^(EH)who lived under its shadow among the nations.

^18 (EI)“Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness ^(EJ)among the trees of Eden? ^(EK)You shall be brought down with ^(EL)the trees of Eden to the world below. ^(EM)You shall lie among the uncircumcised, ^(EN)with those who are slain by the sword.

^(EO)“This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.”

A Lament over Pharaoh and Egypt

32 ^(EP)In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (EQ)“Son of man, ^(ER)raise a lamentation over ^(ES)Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:

⁹ “I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries that you have not known. ^10 (FF)I will make many peoples appalled at you, and the hair of their kings shall bristle with horror because of you, when ^(FG)I brandish my sword before them. ^(FH)They shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall.

¹¹ “For thus says the Lord God: ^(FI)The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. ¹² I will cause ^(FJ)your multitude to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them ^(FK)most ruthless of nations.

^16 (FQ)This is a lamentation that shall be chanted; the daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt, and over ^(FR)all her multitude, shall they chant it, declares the Lord God.”

^17 (FS)In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month,^[u] on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ^18 (FT)“Son of man, ^(FU)wail over ^(FV)the multitude of Egypt, and ^(FW)send them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, ^(FX)to the world below, to those who have gone down to the pit:

²⁰ They shall fall amid those ^(GA)who are slain by the sword. Egypt^[v] is delivered to the sword; drag her away, and ^(GB)all her multitudes. ²¹ The mighty chiefs ^(GC)shall speak of them, ^(GD)with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: ‘They have come down, they lie still, ^(GE)the uncircumcised, ^(GF)slain by the sword.’

^22 (GG)“Assyria is there, and all her company, ^(GH)its graves all around it, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, ²³ whose graves are set in ^(GI)the uttermost parts of the pit; and her company is all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, ^(GJ)who spread terror ^(GK)in the land of the living.

^24 (GL)“Elam is ^(GM)there, and all her multitude around her grave; all of them ^(GN)slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into ^(GO)the world below, who spread their terror in the land of the living; and ^(GP)they bear their shame ^(GQ)with those who go down to the pit. ^25 (GR)They have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, ^(GS)her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are placed among the slain.

^26 (GT)“Meshech-Tubal is ^(GU)there, and all her multitude, ^(GV)her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread their terror in the land of the living. ²⁷ And ^(GW)they do not lie with the mighty, the fallen from among the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living. ²⁸ But as for you, you shall be broken ^(GX)and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.

^29 (GY)“Edom is ^(GZ)there, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.

³⁰ “The princes ^(HA)of the north are there, all of them, and all the ^(HB)Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, ^(HC)for all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and ^(HD)bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

³¹ “When Pharaoh sees them, he ^(HE)will be comforted for ^(HF)all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord God. ^32 (HG)For I spread terror ^(HH)in the land of the living; and he shall be laid to rest among ^(HI)the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.”

3 See ^(A)what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called ^(B)children of God; and so we are. The reason why ^(C)the world does not know us is that ^(D)it did not know him. ² Beloved, we are ^(E)God's children ^(F)now, and what we will be ^(G)has not yet appeared; but we know that ^(H)when he appears^{[a] (I)}we shall be like him, because ^(J)we shall see him as he is. ³ And everyone who ^(K)thus hopes in him ^(L)purifies himself as he is pure.

⁴ Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; ^(M)sin is lawlessness. ⁵ You know that ^(N)he appeared in order to ^(O)take away sins, and ^(P)in him there is no sin. ⁶ No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; ^(Q)no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. ⁷ Little children, ^(R)let no one deceive you. ^(S)Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. ^8 (T)Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was ^(U)to destroy the works of the devil. ^9 (V)No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's^[b] seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰ By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, ^(W)nor is the one who ^(X)does not love his brother.

Love One Another

¹¹ For ^(Y)this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, ^(Z)that we should love one another. ¹² We should not be like ^(AA)Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? ^(AB)Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. ¹³ Do not be surprised, brothers,^{[c] (AC)}that the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that ^(AD)we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. ^15 (AE)Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that ^(AF)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

¹⁶ By this we know love, that ^(AG)he laid down his life for us, and ^(AH)we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ¹⁷ But ^(AI)if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet ^(AJ)closes his heart against him, ^(AK)how does God's love abide in him? ¹⁸ Little children, let us not ^(AL)love in word or talk but in deed and ^(AM)in truth.

¹⁹ By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; ²⁰ for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. ²¹ Beloved, ^(AN)if our heart does not condemn us, ^(AO)we have confidence before God; ²² and ^(AP)whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and ^(AQ)do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his commandment, ^(AR)that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and ^(AS)love one another, ^(AT)just as he has commanded us. ^24 (AU)Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God,^[d] and God^[e] in him. And ^(AV)by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.