에스겔 29

Pharaoh, the great monster of the Nile

¹In the tenth month of the tenth year, on its twelfth day, the word of the LORD came to me: ²Son of man, turn to face Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against the whole of Egypt. ³Speak and say, The Lord GOD says this: I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster sprawling in the midst of its streams, who says, “The Nile is mine; I made it for myself.”^{a 4}I will put hooks in your jaws and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales. I will drag you up out of your streams, with all the fish of your streams clinging to your scales. ⁵I will fling you into the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. On the open ground you will fall, and will not be gathered up or collected for burial. I will give you as food to the wild animals and the birds of the sky. ⁶Then all who live in Egypt will know that I am the LORD. For the house of Israel they were a staff made of reed. ⁷When they grasped you in their hand, you splintered and tore open all their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke and wrenched all their hips.^b

Egypt laid waste

⁸Therefore the Lord GOD says this: I am bringing a sword against you, and I will cut off from you both people and animals. ⁹The land of Egypt will become a desolate ruin. Then they will know that I am the LORD. Because Pharaoh said, “The Nile is mine; I made it,” ¹⁰therefore I am against you and against your streams. I will make the land of Egypt a wasteland of ruins and desolation, from Migdol to Syene and on to the border of Cush. ¹¹No human foot will pass through it, and no animal’s foot will cross it; it will stay uninhabited for forty years.^{c 12}I will make the land of Egypt desolate among desolate lands, and its cities will lie desolate among ruined cities for forty years. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands.

A lowly kingdom

¹³For the Lord GOD says this: When forty years are over, I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered. ¹⁴I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they will be a lowly kingdom. ¹⁵It will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again raise itself above the nations. I will make them so small that they will not rule over other nations. ¹⁶Egypt will never again be something the house of Israel trusts in. Instead it will remind them of their guilt in turning to Egypt for help. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.

Egypt as Nebuchadrezzar’s wages

¹⁷In the first month of the twenty-seventh year, on its first day, the word of the LORD came to me: ¹⁸Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon drove his army to a hard campaign against Tyre. Every head was rubbed bald and every shoulder worn raw. Yet he and his army got nothing from Tyre for all the labor he spent against it.^d

Pay for his army

¹⁹Therefore the Lord GOD says this: I am giving the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. He will carry off its wealth, plunder it and strip it of its spoil, and that will be the pay for his army. ²⁰I have given him the land of Egypt as his pay for the work he did, because they worked for me, declares the Lord GOD.

A horn for Israel

²¹On that day I will make a horn sprout for the house of Israel, and among them I will open your mouth. Then they will know that I am the LORD.