¶¹In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Son of man, set² thy face against Pharaoh³ king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all⁴ Egypt:

Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am⁵ against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great⁶ dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river⁷ is mine own, and I have made it for myself.

But I will put⁸ hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish⁹ 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.

And I will leave¹⁰ thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields¹¹; 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.

And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know¹² that I am the LORD, because they have been a staff¹³ of reed to the house of Israel.

When they took¹⁴ hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst¹⁵ break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.

¶ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will¹⁶ bring a sword upon thee, and cut¹⁷ off man and beast out of thee.

And the land¹⁸ of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD: because¹⁹ he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.

¶ Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will²⁰ make the land of Egypt utterly waste²¹ and desolate, from the tower of Syene²² even unto the border of Ethiopia.

No foot of man²³ shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty²⁴ years.

And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in²⁵ 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 scatter²⁶ the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.

Yet thus saith the Lord GOD; At the²⁷ end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:

And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros²⁸, into the land of their habitation³⁰; and they shall be there a base kingdom.

It shall be the basest³¹ of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule³² over the nations.

And it shall be no more the confidence³³ of the house of Israel, which bringeth³⁴ their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but³⁵ they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

¶³⁶And 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,

Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar³⁷ king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great³⁸ service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet³⁹ had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it:

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will⁴⁰ 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.

¶ I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour⁴² wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord GOD.

In that day will I cause⁴³ the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening⁴⁴ of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know⁴⁵ that I am the LORD.