1The word of the LORD came to me again:
2"Son of man, prophesy and say, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: Wail! Alas for the day!'"
3"'For the day is near. The day of the LORD is near. It will be a day of cloud, a time for the nations.'"
4"'The sword will come upon Egypt, and great pain will be in Ethiopia, when the killed fall in Egypt. They will carry away her crowds of people, and her foundations will be broken down.'"
5"'Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mixed peoples, and Chub, and the men of the land that is joined with them by treaty will fall with them by the sword.'"
6"'This is what the LORD says: Those who hold Egypt up will fall, and the pride of her power will come down. From the tower of Syene they will fall in her by the sword, says the Lord GOD.'"
7"'They will be a waste among lands that are wasted, and her cities will be among the cities that lie in ruins.'"
8"'Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and all who help her are destroyed.'"
9"'On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten the Ethiopians who feel safe. Great pain will come upon them, as on the day of Egypt. Look, it is coming.'"
10"'This is what the Lord GOD says: I will put an end to the crowds of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.'"
11"'He and his people with him, the most terrifying of the nations, will be brought in to destroy the land. They will draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the killed.'"
12"'I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of wicked men. By the hand of strangers I will make the land waste, and everything in it. I the LORD have spoken it.'"
13"'This is what the Lord GOD says: I will destroy the idols, and I will put an end to the images in Noph. There will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt, and I will put fear in the land of Egypt.'"
14"'I will make Pathros a waste, and set fire to Zoan, and carry out judgments in No.'"
15"'I will pour out my fury on Sin, the strong place of Egypt, and I will cut off the crowds of No.'"
16"'I will set fire to Egypt. Sin will be in great pain, No will be broken open, and Noph will have troubles every day.'"
17"'The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth will fall by the sword, and these cities will go into captivity.'"
18"'At Tehaphnehes the day will be dark, when I break there the yokes of Egypt. The pride of her strength will end in her. A cloud will cover her, and her daughters will go into captivity.'"
19"'So I will carry out judgments in Egypt, and they will know that I am the LORD.'"
20In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
21"Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Look, it has not been bound up to be healed. No bandage has been put on to bind it, to make it strong enough to hold the sword."
22So this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Look, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt. I will break his arms, both the strong one and the one that was already broken, and I will make the sword fall out of his hand.
23I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and spread them through the lands.
24I will make the arms of the king of Babylon strong, and put my sword in his hand. But I will break Pharaoh's arms, and he will groan before him like a man wounded to death.
25I will make the arms of the king of Babylon strong, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall down. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he stretches it out over the land of Egypt.
26"I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and spread them among the lands. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'"