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Ezekiel 29
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Ezekiel 29
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 29
Egypt the Crocodile. 1 In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month,[a] the word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, turn your face toward Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.[b](A) 3 Say to him: Thus says the Lord God:
Pay attention! I am against you,
Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
Great dragon[c] crouching
in the midst of the Nile,
Who says, “The Nile belongs to me;
I made it myself!”(B)
4 [d]I will put hooks in your jaws
and make all the fish of your Nile
Cling to your scales;
I will drag you up from your Nile,
With all the fish of your Nile
clinging to your scales.(C)
5 I will hurl you into the wilderness,
you and all the fish of your Nile.
You will fall into an open field,
you will not be picked up or gathered together.
To the beasts of the earth
and the birds of the sky
I give you as food.(D)
6 (E)Then all the inhabitants of Egypt
will know that I am the Lord.
Because you were a staff of reeds[e]
for the house of Israel:
7 When they took hold of you, you would splinter,
throwing shoulders out of joint.
When they leaned on you, you would break,
pitching them down headlong.
8 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
Look! I am bringing the sword against you
to cut off from you people and animals.
9 The land of Egypt shall become a desolate waste;
then they shall know that I am the Lord.
Because you said, “The Nile belongs to me;
I made it!”
10 Beware! I am against you
and against your Nile.
I will turn the land of Egypt into ruins,
into a dry, desolate waste,
From Migdol to Syene,[f]
up to the border of Ethiopia.(F)
11 No foot shall pass through it,
no human being or beast cross it;
it will remain uninhabited for forty years.
12 I will make the land of Egypt the most desolate
among desolate lands;
Its cities, the most deserted
among deserted cities for forty years;
I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations
and disperse them throughout other lands.(G)
13 But thus says the Lord God:
At the end of forty years
I will gather the Egyptians
from among the peoples
where they are scattered;
14 I will restore Egypt’s fortunes,
bringing them back to the land of Pathros,[g]
the land of their origin.
But there it will be a lowly kingdom,
15 lower than any other kingdom,
no longer able to set itself above the nations.
I will make them few in number,
so they cannot rule other nations.
16 No longer shall they be security
for the house of Israel,
But a reminder of its iniquity
in turning away to follow them.
Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.(H)
Wages for Nebuchadnezzar. 17 In the twenty-seventh year on the first day of the first month,[h] the word of the Lord came to me: 18 Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has made his army wage a hard campaign against Tyre;[i] their heads grew bald, their shoulders rubbed raw, yet neither he nor his army received compensation from Tyre for all the effort they expended against it.(I) 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God:(J) See! I am giving to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the land of Egypt! He will carry off its wealth, plundering and pillaging whatever he can find to provide pay for his army. 20 As payment for his toil I give him the land of Egypt—oracle of the Lord God.
21 On that day I will make a horn[j] sprout for the house of Israel, and I will let you again open your mouth in their midst; then they shall know that I am the Lord.(K)
Footnotes
- 29:1 The date is calculated to be January 7, 587 B.C. The siege of Jerusalem had begun a year earlier; cf. 24:1.
- 29:2 Egypt was allied with Judah against the Babylonians.
- 29:3 Dragon: Hebrew reads tannim, usually translated “jackals,” here a byform of tannin, the mythical dragon, or sea monster, representing chaos (cf. Is 27:1; 51:9; Jer 51:34; Ps 91:13; Jb 7:12), and the crocodile native to the Nile. Nile: the many rivulets of the Nile that branch out into the Delta.
- 29:4–5 Ezekiel’s repetition of detail creates a vivid picture of Egypt’s destruction: God hauls the crocodile (Pharaoh) and the fish clinging to it for protection (the Egyptian populace) out of the Nile and lands them in an open field, where their corpses are torn apart by wildlife rather than being properly buried (cf. Dt 28:26; 2 Kgs 9:36–37; Jer 34:20; Ez 39:17–20).
- 29:6 Staff of reeds: Pharaoh is like a reed that looks sturdy but breaks under pressure. For a similar image, cf. 2 Kgs 18:21 (Is 36:6).
- 29:10 From Migdol to Syene: from the northeastern to the southern limits of Egypt. Syene is the modern Aswan, at the first cataract of the Nile; Ethiopia (Heb. kush) is the territory south of Aswan.
- 29:14 Pathros: an Egyptian word for upper, i.e., southern, Egypt, above Memphis/Thebes. As silt filled the Delta region and richer land became available there, the population spread north, creating the tradition of a migration from the south (Is 11:11; Jer 44:1, 15).
- 29:17 In the twenty-seventh year on the first day of the first month: April 26, 571 B.C. This is the latest date attached to any of Ezekiel’s prophecies.
- 29:18–19 Nebuchadnezzar’s thirteen-year siege (587–574 B.C.) ended with Tyre’s surrender on the condition that the Babylonian army would not loot and pillage (pace 26:3–14). According to Ezekiel, Nebuchadnezzar and his army should collect their wages for serving as God’s instrument in Tyre’s punishment, by plundering and controlling Egypt.
- 29:21 A horn: God will give Israel renewed strength. For horn as a symbol of strength, cf. Dt 33:17; Ps 92:11; 132:17. Ezekiel suggests that the Babylonian conquest of Egypt precedes Israel’s restoration, an event he expects to witness and acknowledge when God removes his muteness.
Ezekiel 29
New International Version
Ezekiel 29
New International Version
A Prophecy Against Egypt
Judgment on Pharaoh
29 In the tenth year, in the tenth month on the twelfth day, the word of the Lord came to me:(A) 2 “Son of man, set your face against(B) Pharaoh king of Egypt(C) and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.(D) 3 Speak to him and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘I am against you, Pharaoh(E) king of Egypt,
you great monster(F) lying among your streams.
You say, “The Nile(G) belongs to me;
I made it for myself.”
4 But I will put hooks(H) in your jaws
and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales.
I will pull you out from among your streams,
with all the fish sticking to your scales.(I)
5 I will leave you in the desert,
you and all the fish of your streams.
You will fall on the open field
and not be gathered(J) or picked up.
I will give you as food
to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the sky.(K)
6 Then all who live in Egypt will know that I am the Lord.
“‘You have been a staff of reed(L) for the people of Israel. 7 When they grasped you with their hands, you splintered(M) and you tore open their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke and their backs were wrenched.[a](N)
8 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will bring a sword against you and kill both man and beast.(O) 9 Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
“‘Because you said, “The Nile(P) is mine; I made it,(Q)” 10 therefore I am against you(R) and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt(S) a ruin and a desolate waste(T) from Migdol(U) to Aswan,(V) as far as the border of Cush.[b](W) 11 The foot of neither man nor beast will pass through it; no one will live there for forty years.(X) 12 I will make the land of Egypt desolate(Y) among devastated lands, and her cities will lie desolate forty years among ruined cities. And I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries.(Z)
13 “‘Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations where they were scattered. 14 I will bring them back from captivity and return them to Upper Egypt,(AA) the land of their ancestry. There they will be a lowly(AB) kingdom.(AC) 15 It will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself above the other nations.(AD) I will make it so weak that it will never again rule over the nations. 16 Egypt will no longer be a source of confidence(AE) for the people of Israel but will be a reminder(AF) of their sin in turning to her for help.(AG) Then they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.(AH)’”
Nebuchadnezzar’s Reward
17 In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month on the first day, the word of the Lord came to me:(AI) 18 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar(AJ) king of Babylon drove his army in a hard campaign against Tyre; every head was rubbed bare(AK) and every shoulder made raw.(AL) Yet he and his army got no reward from the campaign he led against Tyre. 19 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king(AM) of Babylon, and he will carry off its wealth. He will loot and plunder(AN) the land as pay for his army.(AO) 20 I have given him Egypt(AP) as a reward for his efforts because he and his army did it for me, declares the Sovereign Lord.(AQ)
21 “On that day I will make a horn[c](AR) grow for the Israelites, and I will open your mouth(AS) among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.(AT)”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 29:7 Syriac (see also Septuagint and Vulgate); Hebrew and you caused their backs to stand
- Ezekiel 29:10 That is, the upper Nile region
- Ezekiel 29:21 Horn here symbolizes strength.
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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