A Lament for Egypt
1
The word of the LORD came to me:
3
3For the day is near, 4the day of the LORD is near; it will be 5a day of clouds, a time of doom fora the nations.
4
6A sword shall come upon Egypt, 7and anguish shall be in 8Cush, when the slain fall in Egypt, and 9her wealthb is carried away, and 10her foundations are torn down.
5
11Cush, and 12Put, and Lud, and 13all Arabia, and Libya,c and the people of the land that is in league,d shall fall with them by the sword.
6
"Thus says the LORD: 14Those who support Egypt shall fall, and 15her proud might shall come down; 16from Migdol to Syene they shall fall within her by the sword, declares the Lord GOD.
7
17And they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries, and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste.
8
18Then they will know that I am the LORD, when 19I have set fire to Egypt, and 20all her helpers are broken.
9
"On that day 21messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting 22people of Cush, and 23anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt's doom;e for, behold, it comes!
10
"Thus says the Lord GOD: 24"I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11
He and his people with him, 25the most ruthless of nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land, 26and they shall draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.
12
And 27I will 28dry up the Nile and will sell the land into the hand of 29evildoers; 30I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it, by the hand of 31foreigners; 32I am the LORD; I have spoken.
13
"Thus says the Lord GOD: 33"I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images in 34Memphis; 35there shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt; so 36I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14
I will make 37Pathros a desolation and will set fire to 38Zoan 39and will execute judgments on 40Thebes.
15
And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt, and cut off the multitudef of Thebes.
16
And I will set fire to Egypt; Pelusium shall be in great agony; Thebes shall be breached, and 41Memphis shall face enemiesg by day.
17
The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword, and the womenh shall go into captivity.
18
At 42Tehaphnehes 43the day shall be dark, when I break there the yoke bars of Egypt, and 44her proud might shall come to an end in her; she shall be covered by a cloud, and her daughters shall go into captivity.
Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon
20
47In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
21
48"Son of man, 49I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, 50it has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword.
22
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and 51will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand.
24
And 53I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put 54my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him 55like a man mortally wounded.
25
I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. 56Then they shall know that I am the LORD, 57when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt.
26
And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the LORD."
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)