1On the twelfth day of the tenth month in the tenth year, the LORD spoke his word to me. He said, 2"Son of man, turn to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.

3Tell him, 'This is what the Almighty LORD says: I'm against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt. You are like a monster crocodile lying in the Nile River. You say, "The Nile River is mine. I made it for myself."

4" 'I will put hooks in your jaws and make the fish in the Nile River stick to your scales. I will pull you out of your river with all the fish in the Nile sticking to your scales.

5I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish from the Nile. You will fall in an open field. No one will pick you up or bury you. I will feed you to wild animals and birds.

6Then all those living in Egypt will know that I am the LORD. Egypt, you have become like a [broken] walking stick to the nation of Israel.

7When Israel grabbed you, you splintered and tore up their shoulders. When they leaned on you, you broke, and they wrenched their backs.

8" 'This is what the Almighty LORD says: I am going to attack you with a sword. I will kill people and animals. 9Egypt will become a wasteland and a pile of rubble. Then you will know that I am the LORD. You said, "The Nile River is mine. I made it." 10That is why I'm against you and the Nile River. I will turn Egypt into a pile of rubble. It will become a wasteland, from Migdol to Syene, all the way to the border of Sudan. 11No human or animal will walk through it, and no one will live there for 40 years. 12I will make Egypt the most desolate country in the world. For 40 years Egypt's cities will lie in ruins. They will be ruined more than any other city. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and force them into other countries.

13" 'This is what the Almighty LORD says: After 40 years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations where they have been scattered. 14I will bring back the Egyptian captives and return them to Pathros, the land they came from. There they will be a weak kingdom. 15They will be the weakest kingdom, and they will never rule the nations again. I will make them so weak that they will never rule the nations again. 16The nation of Israel will never trust Egypt again. The people of Israel will remember how wrong they were whenever they turned to Egypt [for help]. Then they will know that I am the Almighty LORD.'"

17On the first day of the first month in the twenty-seventh year, the LORD spoke his word to me. He said, 18"Son of man, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made his army fight hard against Tyre. Every soldier's head was worn bald, and every soldier's shoulder was rubbed raw. Yet, he and his army got no reward for their hard-fought battle against Tyre. 19This is what the Almighty LORD says: I'm going to give Egypt to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He will carry off its wealth, take its prized possessions, and loot it. That will be the pay for his army. 20I have given him Egypt as pay for what he has done. Nebuchadnezzar and his army worked for me, declares the Almighty LORD.

21"On that day I will make the people of Israel strong again, and I will give you, Ezekiel, something to say among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD."