Ezekiel 30:1-26

YAHWEH spoke to me again, saying, “Son of man, prophesy and announce what I, Lord YAHWEH, say to Egypt: “ ‘Weep and wail, for the day of disaster is here! Yes, the day is near, the day of YAHWEH is near! It will be a day dark with clouds, a time of trouble for the nations.’ “War will come upon Egypt, and terror will invade the land of Ethiopia. Egypt’s foundations will be leveled, multitudes will be slaughtered, and her riches will be carried away. Egypt and all her allies, Ethiopia, Libya, and Lydia, all Arabia, and Kub —they will all fall by the sword!” YAHWEH says, “Egypt’s allies will fall, and the pride of Egypt’s might will crumble. They will fall by the sword from Migdol in the north to Syene in the south. I, YAHWEH, have spoken. “They will be the most desolate in the midst of wasted countries, and their cities the most ruined among ruined cities. Then they will know that I am YAHWEH when I set fire to Egypt and shatter all who support her. “At that time, I will dispatch messengers by river ships to terrify the unsuspecting Ethiopians. They will panic on the day of Egypt’s doom. Judgment is sure to come! Lord YAHWEH says: I will use the armies of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to destroy the huge population of Egypt. I will bring him and his savage armies to ravage the country. They will wage war against Egypt and fill the country with corpses. I will dry up the waterways of the Nile and hand over the country to evil men. I will cause the land to be destroyed and everything in it, at the hand of foreigners. I, YAHWEH, have spoken.” Lord YAHWEH says: “I will demolish the idols and destroy the false gods from Noph. Egypt will be left without a ruler and a plague of fear will sweep over Egypt. I will make southern Egypt deserted, burn Zoan to the ground, and punish Thebes. I will pour out my fury on Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt. I will wipe out the great population of Thebes. I will set Egypt on fire! Pelusium will be seized with great agony! The walls of Thebes will be torn down, and Noph will face distress daily from her enemies. And the cities of Heliopolis and Bubastis will go into captivity and their young soldiers will fall by the sword. At Tahpanhes, I will turn day to darkness when I shatter Egypt’s strength and silence the boast of her might. I will blanket Egypt with dark clouds, and her people will go into captivity. That is how I will punish Egypt, and then they will acknowledge that I am YAHWEH.” In the eleventh year of our captivity, on the seventh day of the first month, YAHWEH spoke to me, saying: “Son of man, I have broken the powerful arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Behold, you can see that no one has set the bone to make it heal. No one has wrapped it to help it heal and get strong enough to hold a sword again. Therefore, Lord YAHWEH says, ‘Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt; I will break both his arms, the strong one and the broken one, and I will make him drop the sword from his hand. I will scatter the Egyptians to the wind and disperse them among the nations. I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand. I will break Pharaoh’s arms, and he will moan in pain like a dying man before the Babylonian king. I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but I will make the arms of Pharaoh hang limp. And they will know that I am YAHWEH when I put my sword into the hands of the king of Babylon and he wields it against Egypt. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among foreign lands. And then the people of Egypt will acknowledge that I am YAHWEH.’ ”