Ezekiel 29
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 29
Against Egypt.[a] 1 In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, this word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man set your face against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against the whole of Egypt. 3 Speak to him and say: Thus says the Lord:
Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh,
king of Egypt,
you great crocodile
lurking in the streams of the Nile,
you who claimed, “The Nile is mine;
it is I who made it.”
4 I will put hooks through your jaws
and cause the fish of your Nile
to stick to your scales.
Then I will draw you up
from the midst of its tributaries,
with all the fish of those channels
clinging to your scales.
5 I will fling you into the desert,
you and all the fish of your tributaries.
You will fall upon the open field
and not be taken up or buried.
I will give you as food
to the animals of the earth
and the birds of the air.
6 Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know
that I am the Lord.
The support they gave the Israelites
was no greater than a staff of reed.
7 When they grasped you,
you splintered in their hands.
Whenever they leaned on you, you broke,
causing all their limbs to give way.
8 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: I will bring a sword against you and cut off from your presence both man and animal. 9 The land of Egypt will become a desolate waste, and the inhabitants will know that I am the Lord.
Because you said, “The Nile is mine; I was the one who made it,” 10 therefore I am against you and your tributaries. I will make the land of Egypt a ruin and a desolate waste, from Migdol[b] to Syene, and even beyond to the frontiers of Ethiopia. 11 No human foot shall pass through it, nor shall any animal foot do so. It shall remain uninhabited for forty years. 12 I shall make Egypt the most desolate of countries, and its cities will be the most deserted of all those that have been laid waste for forty years. Moreover, I intend to scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them over foreign lands.
13 However, thus says the Lord God: After forty years have passed, I will gather the Egyptians back from the peoples among whom they were scattered. 14 I shall restore the fortunes of Egypt and resettle her people in the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they will become a lowly kingdom.
15 Egypt will be the most insignificant of kingdoms and never again will exalt itself above the nations. I will make them few in number so that it will never again rule over the nations. 16 Egypt will no longer be a nation for the house of Israel to trust in, but will rather be for Israel a reminder of its guilt when they turned to Egypt for help. Thus they will know that I am the Lord God.
17 Nebuchadnezzar’s Payment. In the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, this word of the Lord came to me: 18 Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has led his army in an exhausting campaign against Tyre. Everyone’s head was rubbed bare and the skin of every shoulder was raw, yet neither he nor his army derived any profit from the campaign he led against Tyre.
19 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: I now intend to hand over the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He shall carry off its wealth, despoil and plunder it, and amass the wages for his army. 20 As regards payment for his toil, I have given him the land of Egypt because he and his army did it for me, says the Lord God.
21 On that day, I will make a horn sprout up for the house of Israel, and I will empower you to speak out in their midst. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 29:1 After being defeated at Carchemish in 605 B.C., Egypt was no longer able to support the small Syro-Palestinian states in an effective way against the growing power of Babylon (see 2 Ki 24:7). Despite this, and despite the repeated warnings of the prophet Jeremiah, the kings of Judah did not stop flirting with the pharaoh and calling on his army for help (see Jer 37:1-10). A bad choice, since Egypt had lost its rank as a great power, and the kings only draw down upon themselves the harsh vengeance of the king of Babylon (see 2 Ki 25:1f). Jeremiah (Jer 44:26f; 46) and Ezekiel (Ezek 16:26; 17:7; 23:3; 27:7; and the chapters that follow here) were keenly critical of this policy of alliance with Egypt. In these oracles, the irony is often bitter, but the poetry is splendid.
- Ezekiel 29:10 Migdol: a northern Egyptian city; Syene was in the far south.
Ezechiël 29
Het Boek
Profetie over Egypte
29 Op de twaalfde dag van de tiende maand in het tiende jaar van koning Jojakins gevangenschap kreeg ik de volgende boodschap van de Here: 2 ‘Mensenzoon, kijk in de richting van Egypte en profeteer tegen de farao en al zijn onderdanen. 3 Vertel hun dat de Oppermachtige Here zegt: “Ik ben uw vijand, farao, machtige draak die u bent, liggend te midden van uw rivieren. Want u hebt gezegd: ‘De Nijl is van mij, ik heb hem voor mijzelf gemaakt!’ 4 Ik zal haken in uw kaken slaan en u op het land slepen, terwijl de vissen aan uw schubben plakken. 5 En Ik zal u met al die vissen achterlaten in de woestijn om te sterven. Men zal u niet oppakken en begraven, want Ik heb u als voedsel aan de wilde dieren en de vogels gegeven. 6 Omdat uw macht faalde toen Israël een beroep op u deed (in plaats van op Mij te vertrouwen), zult u allemaal te weten komen dat Ik de Here ben. 7 Israël steunde op u, maar als een rieten stok klapte u onder haar gewicht in elkaar, zodat haar schouder werd opengehaald en zij wankelde van de pijn.” 8 Daarom zegt de Oppermachtige Here: “Ik zal een leger tegen u in het veld brengen, Egypte, en zowel mens als dier vernietigen. 9 Egypte zal een verlaten woestenij worden en de Egyptenaren zullen weten dat Ik, de Here, dat heb gedaan. 10 Omdat u zei: ‘De Nijl is van mij! Ik heb hem gemaakt!’, heb Ik Mij tegen u en uw rivier gekeerd. Daarom zal Ik het land Egypte, van Migdol tot aan Syene en tot aan de zuidelijke grens met Ethiopië, volledig verwoesten. 11 Veertig jaar lang zal er niemand doorheen trekken, mens noch dier. Het zal volledig onbewoond zijn. 12 Ik zal Egypte tot een verwoest land te midden van verwoeste landen maken. Haar steden zullen er veertig jaar lang als ruïnes bijliggen. Haar inwoners zal Ik naar andere landen verbannen.” 13 Maar de Oppermachtige Here zegt dat Hij na verloop van die veertig jaar de Egyptenaren weer zal terugbrengen naar hun vaderland vanuit de landen waarnaar Hij hen had verbannen. 14 “En Ik zal Egypte opnieuw voorspoed geven en haar inwoners laten terugkeren naar hun geboortestreek Pathros, in het zuiden van Egypte. Maar ze zullen een onbelangrijk koninkrijk vormen. 15 Ze zullen het onbelangrijkste van alle volken zijn en zich nooit meer boven andere volken verheffen. Ik zal Egypte zo zwak maken dat zij nooit meer over andere volken kan heersen. 16 Israël zal dan niet langer op Egypte vertrouwen. Elke keer dat het in haar opkomt hulp te vragen, zal zij zich haar zonde herinneren toen zij dat indertijd deed. Dan zal Israël weten dat alleen Ik God ben.”’
17 In het zevenentwintigste jaar van koning Jojakins gevangenschap, op de eerste dag van de eerste maand, kreeg ik de volgende boodschap van de Here: 18 ‘Mensenzoon, het leger van koning Nebukadnezar van Babel voerde een hevige strijd tegen Tyrus. De hoofden van de soldaten waren kaal en hun schouders waren ontveld en deden pijn door het dragen van zware manden met aarde en door de ladingen stenen die nodig waren voor het beleg. Maar de strijd heeft Nebukadnezar geen enkel voordeel gebracht. 19 “Daarom,” zegt de Oppermachtige Here, “zal Ik Egypte aan koning Nebukadnezar van Babel geven. Hij zal haar rijkdommen buitmaken en haar volledig leegplunderen om zijn leger te kunnen betalen. 20 Ja, Ik heb hem het land Egypte als beloning gegeven, omdat hij de afgelopen dertien jaar voor Mij bij Tyrus heeft gewerkt,” zegt de Here. 21 “En er zal een dag komen dat Ik de glorie van het Israël van vroeger zal laten herleven en dan zal Ik u te midden van hen weer vrijuit laten spreken. Egypte zal dan ook erkennen dat Ik de Here ben.”’
Ezekiel 29
King James Version
29 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt:
3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.
4 But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.
5 And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.
6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.
9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.
10 Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.
11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.
12 And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.
13 Yet thus saith the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:
14 And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom.
15 It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.
16 And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord God.
17 And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
18 Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it:
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.
20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God.
21 In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
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