Ezekiel 28:25-29:21

New King James Version

Israel’s Future Blessing

²⁵‘Thus says the Lord God: “When I have ^(A)gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am ^(B)hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob. ²⁶And they will ^(C)dwell ^[a]safely there, ^(D)build houses, and ^(E)plant vineyards; yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God.” ’ ”

Proclamation Against Egypt

29 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, ^(F)set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and ^(G)against all Egypt. ³Speak, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

^(H)“Behold, I am against you,
O Pharaoh king of Egypt,
O great ^(I)monster who lies in the midst of his rivers,
^(J)Who has said, ‘My ^[b]River is my own;
I have made it for myself.’
⁴But ^(K)I will put hooks in your jaws,
And cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales;
I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers,
And all the fish in your rivers will stick to your scales.
⁵I will leave you in the wilderness,
You and all the fish of your rivers;
You shall fall on the ^[c]open ^(L)field;
^(M)You shall not be picked up or ^[d]gathered.
^(N)I have given you as food
To the beasts of the field
And to the birds of the heavens.

⁶“Then all the inhabitants of Egypt
Shall know that I am the Lord,
Because they have been a ^(O)staff of reed to the house of Israel.
⁷^(P)When they took hold of you with the hand,
You broke and tore all their ^[e]shoulders;
When they leaned on you,
You broke and made all their backs quiver.”

⁸‘Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will bring ^(Q)a sword upon you and cut off from you man and beast. ⁹And the land of Egypt shall become ^(R)desolate and waste; then they will know that I am the Lord, because he said, ‘The River is mine, and I have made it.’ ¹⁰Indeed, therefore, I am against you and against your rivers, ^(S)and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, ^(T)from ^[f]Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Ethiopia. ¹¹^(U)Neither foot of man shall pass through it nor foot of beast pass through it, and it shall be uninhabited forty years. ¹²^(V)I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and among the cities that are laid waste, her cities shall be desolate forty years; and I will ^(W)scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries.”

¹³‘Yet, thus says the Lord God: “At the ^(X)end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered. ¹⁴I will bring back the captives of Egypt and cause them to return to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin, and there they shall be a ^(Y)lowly kingdom. ¹⁵It shall be the lowliest of kingdoms; it shall never again exalt itself above the nations, for I will diminish them so that they will not rule over the nations anymore. ¹⁶No longer shall it be ^(Z)the confidence of the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity when they turned to follow them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.” ’ ”

Babylonia Will Plunder Egypt

¹⁷And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁸“Son of man, ^(AA)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre; every head was made ^(AB)bald, and every shoulder rubbed raw; yet neither he nor his army received wages from Tyre, for the labor which they expended on it. ¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Surely I will give the land of Egypt to ^(AC)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he shall take away her wealth, carry off her spoil, and remove her pillage; and that will be the wages for his army. ²⁰I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor, because they ^(AD)worked for Me,’ says the Lord God.

²¹‘In that day ^(AE)I will cause the ^[g]horn of the house of Israel to spring forth, and I will ^(AF)open your mouth to speak in their midst. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.’ ”