A Lament for Egypt

1The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

2Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD: Howl ye, Woe worth the day!

3For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near, a day of clouds; it shall be the time of the heathen.

4And a sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt; and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.

5Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud, and all the mingled people, and Cub, and the children of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.

6Thus saith the LORD: They also that uphold Egypt shall fall, and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Seveneh shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord GOD.

7And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted.

8And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and all her helpers are destroyed.

9In that day shall messengers go forth from before me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid; and there shall be anguish upon them, as in the day of Egypt; for, lo, it cometh.

10Thus saith the Lord GOD: I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.

11He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land; and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.

12And I will make the rivers dry, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men; and I will make the land desolate, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I the LORD have spoken it.

13Thus saith the Lord GOD: I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the images to cease from Noph; and there shall be no more a prince out of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.

14And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set a fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No.

15And I will pour my fury upon Sin, the strong hold of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No.

16And I will set a fire in Egypt; Sin shall be in great anguish, and No shall be broken up: and Noph shall have adversaries in the day time.

17The young men of Aven and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword: and these cities shall go into captivity.

18At Tehaphnehes also the day shall withdraw itself, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt, and the pride of her power shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.

19Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

The Broken Arms of Pharaoh

20And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 21Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it hath not been bound up to apply healing medicines, to put a roller to bind it, that it be strong to hold the sword. 22Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. 23And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. 24And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man. 25And I will hold up the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt. 26And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries; and they shall know that I am the LORD.