Nebuchadnezzar will destroy the land of Egypt
1The Lord talked to me and He said: 2‘Son of man, you must prophesy and say: “The Lord God says: You must cry and say: 3“‘The day is near. The day_of_the_Lord is near.”’ It will be a dark day, a time when the Lord will punish the nations. 4Enemies will come to Egypt, and the people in the land of Cush will become afraid. The enemies will kill the people in Egypt. They will take everything in the land for themselves, and they will destroy the buildings as well as their foundations. 5The people of the lands of Cush, Libya, Lydia, Arabia, Kub and some of the people who had made an agreement with Egypt will all die in war.” ’
6The Lord says: ‘The people who are helping Egypt will die. Egypt was very proud of its soldiers, but they will die in war, from Migdol to Aswan.’ This is what the Lord God said.
7‘Egypt will become the land that is the most destroyed and empty. The cities will become ruins, and will be worse than any other cities. 8The people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord when I burn down Egypt and everyone who has helped them dies. 9The people of Cush think they are safe, but on that day I will send messengers on boats to make them afraid. They will become afraid when the day comes when I punish Egypt. Everyone must know this: That day will come.’
10The Lord God says: ‘I will use King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to kill all the soldiers of Egypt. 11I will bring Nebuchadnezzar and his men to destroy the land. They are cruel people. They will take out their swords and fight against Egypt and the land will be full of dead people. 12I will make the rivers dry and I will give the land to bad people so that they can do what they want to do. I will bring strangers into the land, and they will destroy everything in the land. I, the Lord, have spoken.’
13The Lord God says: ‘I will destroy all the idols and take away the images of gods from the city of Memphis. There will no longer be a king in Egypt and I will make them all afraid. 14I will destroy the land of Pathros, I will burn down Zoan, and I will punish the people of Thebes. 15I am angry with the people of Pelusium and I will punish them, all of them who live in the city with strong walls. I will cause all the soldiers of Thebes to die. 16I will burn Egypt, the people in the town of Pelusium will be in pain, the walls of the city of Thebes will fall down, and the enemies will attack Memphis. 17The young men from Heliopolis and Bubastis will die in war and the other people in those towns will become prisoners in Babylon. The enemies will take them away from their homes. 18In the town of Tahpanhes it will become dark in day time when I break the yoke that Egypt has put on the necks of other nations. There will be no soldiers who can make Egypt strong. A cloud will cover the city and its people will become prisoners. They will have to go away. 19I will punish Egypt, and they will know that I am the Lord.’
I will chase away the people of Egypt
20The Lord talked to me. It was in the 11th year after we had become prisoners in Babylon, in the first month, on the 7th day of the month. The Lord said to me: 21‘Son of man, I broke the arm of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. I did not tie up his arm so that it could heal. It will never become strong again and he will never again be able to hold a sword in his hand.’
22The Lord God says: ‘I have become the enemy of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. I will break both his arms, the strong arm and the broken arm. His sword will fall out of his hand. 23And I will chase the people of Egypt all over the world. They will have to go and live among other nations. 24I will make the king of Babylon's arms strong and I will put my own sword in his hand. But I will break Pharaoh's arms and he will lie down in front of the king of Babylon and cry and complain like someone who begs when his enemies have wounded him. 25I will make the arms of the king of Babylon strong but the arms of Pharaoh will fall off. The people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord when I put my own sword in the hand of the king of Babylon, and when he holds out his sword over the land of Egypt. 26I will chase the people of Egypt all over the world so that they will have to go and live among other nations. They will know that I am the Lord.’
