1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 "Son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: Wail, "Alas for the day!"
3 For a day is near, the day of the LORD is near; a day of clouds it will be, a time for the nations.
4 A sword will come against Egypt, and Cush will writhe in anguish when the slain fall in Egypt, when her riches are carried off and her foundations torn down.
5 Cush, Put and Lud, all the foreign mix, Cub, and the sons of the land of the covenant will fall with them by the sword.
6 "'Thus says the LORD: Those who prop up Egypt will fall, and her proud strength will come down; from Migdol to Syene they will fall in her by the sword, declares the Lord GOD.
7 They will lie desolate among desolate lands, and her cities will be among ruined cities.
8 Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I set Egypt on fire and all who help her are shattered.
9 On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten complacent Cush, and anguish will come on them on the day of Egypt; it is surely coming!
10 "'Thus says the Lord GOD: I will put a stop to the hordes of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his army with him, the most brutal of the nations, will be brought in to ruin the land; they will draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.
12 I will turn the streams into dry ground and sell the land into the hands of evil men; by the hands of foreigners I will lay waste the land and everything in it. I, the LORD, have spoken.
13 "'Thus says the Lord GOD: I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images in Memphis; there will no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt, and I will put fear into the land of Egypt.
14 I will lay waste Pathros, set Zoan on fire and carry out judgments on Thebes.
15 I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium, Egypt's fortress, and cut off the hordes of Thebes.
16 I will set Egypt on fire; Pelusium will writhe in agony, Thebes will be breached, and Memphis will face foes in broad daylight.
17 The young men of Aven and Pi-beseth will fall by the sword, and the cities themselves will go into captivity.
18 At Tahpanhes the day will turn dark when I break the yokes of Egypt there and her proud strength comes to an end in her; a cloud will cover her, and her daughters will go into captivity.
19 So I will carry out judgments on Egypt, and they shall know that I am the LORD.'"
20 In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh 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, and it has not been bound up for healing or wrapped in a bandage to make it strong enough to hold a sword.
22 So thus says the Lord GOD: I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt. I will break his arms, the strong one and the one already broken, and make the sword drop from his hand.
23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the lands.
24 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand, but Pharaoh's arms I will break, and he will groan before him like a man mortally wounded.
25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, while Pharaoh's arms drop down. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I put my sword in 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 disperse them through the lands. Then they shall know that I am the LORD."