Prophecy Against Egypt

1 ⁱIn the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^j“Son of man, ^kset your face against ^lPharaoh king of Egypt, ^mand prophesy against him and ⁿagainst all Egypt; 3 speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God:

6 Then all the inhabitants of Egypt ^vshall know that I am the Lord.

“Because you¹ have been ^wa staff of reed to the house of Israel, 7 ^xwhen they grasped you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to shake.² 8 Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^yBehold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast, 9 and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. ^vThen they will know that I am the Lord.

^z“Because you³ said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’ 10 therefore, ^zbehold, I am against you and ^aagainst your streams, and ^aI will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, ^bfrom Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. 11 ^cNo foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. 12 ^dAnd I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. ^eI will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.

13 “For thus says the Lord God: At the end of forty years ^fI will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered, 14 and ^gI will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to ^hthe land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. 15 It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, ⁱand never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. 16 And it shall never again be ^jthe reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. ^kThen they will know that I am the Lord God.”

17 ^lIn the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 ^m“Son of man, ⁿNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^oBehold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; ^pand he shall carry off its wealth^{4 q}and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20 ^rI have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, declares the Lord God.

21 “On that day ^sI will cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel, and ^tI will open your lips among them. ^uThen they will know that I am the Lord.”

A Lament for Egypt

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^v“Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God:

5 ^bCush, and ^ePut, and Lud, and ^fall Arabia, and Libya,⁷ and the people of the land that is in league,⁸ shall fall with them by the sword.

9 “On that day ^mmessengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting ^bpeople of Cush, and ^aanguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt’s doom;⁹ for, behold, it comes!

10 “Thus says the Lord God:

13 “Thus says the Lord God:

Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon

20 ⁱIn the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 21 ^j“Son of man, ^kI have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, ^lit 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 ^mwill break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23 ⁿI will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. 24 And ^oI will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put ^pmy sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him ^qlike a man mortally wounded. 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. ^rThen they shall know that I am the Lord, ^swhen 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.”

Pharaoh to Be Slain

1 ^tIn the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^u“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to ^vhis multitude:

10 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because ^kit¹⁴ towered high and set its top among the clouds,¹⁵ and ^lits heart was proud of its height, 11 I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. 12 ^mForeigners, ^mthe most ruthless of nations, have cut it down and left it. ⁿOn the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs have been broken in all ^othe ravines of the land, and ^pall the peoples of the earth have gone away from its shadow and left it. 13 ^qOn its fallen trunk dwell all the birds of the heavens, and on its branches are all the beasts of the field. 14 ^rAll this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to towering height or set their tops among the clouds,¹⁶ and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height. For they are all given over to death, ^sto the world ^tbelow, among the children of man,¹⁷ with those who go down to the pit.

15 “Thus says the Lord God: On the day ^uthe cedar¹⁸ went down to Sheol I caused mourning; I closed the deep over it, and restrained its rivers, and many waters were stopped. I clothed Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. 16 ^vI made the nations quake at the sound of its fall, ^uwhen I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit. ^wAnd all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, ^xwere comforted in the world below. 17 They also went down to Sheol with it, ^yto those who are slain by the sword; yes, ^zthose who were its arm, ^awho lived under its shadow among the nations.

18 ^b“Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness ^wamong the trees of Eden? ^cYou shall be brought down with ^wthe trees of Eden to the world below. ^dYou shall lie among the uncircumcised, ^ywith those who are slain by the sword.

^b“This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.”

Instructions for the Church

1 ^bDo not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, ^cyounger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.

3 Honor widows ^dwho are truly widows. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn ^eto show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for ^fthis is pleasing in the sight of God. 5 She ^gwho is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and ^hcontinues in supplications and prayers night and day, 6 but ⁱshe who is self-indulgent is ^jdead even while she lives. 7 ^kCommand these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. 8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for ^lmembers of his household, he has ^mdenied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

9 Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been ⁿthe wife of one husband,¹ 10 and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has ⁿshown hospitality, ^ohas washed the feet of the saints, has ^pcared for the afflicted, and has ^qdevoted herself to every good work. 11 But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when ^rtheir passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry 12 and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. 13 Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also ^sgossips and ^tbusybodies, saying what they should not. 14 So I would have ^uyounger widows marry, bear children, ^vmanage their households, and ^wgive the adversary no occasion for slander. 15 ^xFor some have already strayed after Satan. 16 If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those ^ywho are truly widows.

17 Let the elders ^zwho rule well be considered worthy of ^adouble honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, ^b“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, ^c“The laborer deserves his wages.” 19 Do not admit a charge against an elder except ^don the evidence of two or three witnesses. 20 As for those who persist in sin, ^erebuke them in the presence of all, ^fso that the rest may stand in fear. 21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels ^gI charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, ^hdoing nothing from partiality. 22 ⁱDo not be hasty in the ^jlaying on of hands, nor ^ktake part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure. 23 (No longer drink only water, but ^luse a little wine ^mfor the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.) 24 The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. 25 So also good works are conspicuous, and ⁿeven those that are not cannot remain hidden.