1 THE word of the LORD came to me, saying,

2 Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the LORD God: Howl and cry, Oh, for the day!

3 For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near; a cloudy day; a time of reckoning for the nations.

4 And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great terror shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her wealth, and her foundations shall be uprooted.

5 Ethiopians, Putians and Lybians and all Arabia and Chub and the men of the land that is in league with them shall fall with them by the sword.

6 Thus says the LORD God: Those also who help Egypt shall fall; and the strength of her greatness shall be broken; from the tower of Sona shall they fall in it by the sword, says the LORD God.

7 And 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 lie waste.

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

9 On that day shall messengers go forth from me in haste to destroy Ethiopia which dwells in tranquillity, and there shall be confusion among them on the day of Egypt; for lo, it is coming.

10 Thus says the LORD God: I will also deliver the wealth of Egypt into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

11 Even to him and to the mighty men that are with him, who are coming to destroy the land; and they shall draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.

12 And I will make the rivers dry, and deliver the land into the hand of the wicked; and I will lay the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of the strangers; I the LORD have spoken it.

13 Thus says the LORD God: I will also destroy the idols, and I will make an end to the images out of Memphis; and there shall be no more a prince in the land of Egypt.

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

15 And I will pour out my fury upon Seen, the strength of Egypt; and I will destroy the riches of No.

16 And I will set fire in Egypt; Seen shall be terrified, and No shall be breached, and Memphis shall fall.

17 The young men of Mapibest shall be weak, and they shall fall by the sword; and the remnant shall go into captivity.

18 And in Tahpanhes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the sceptre of Egypt; and the pomp of her strength shall cease from her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.

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

20 In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

21 Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, neither shall it be treated with ointment nor shall it be bound, and shall not heal so that he may hold the sword.

22 Therefore, thus says the LORD God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and I will break his strong arms, and I will cause the sword to fall from his hands.

23 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and will disperse them through the countries.

24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword into his hands; and he shall cut off Pharaoh's arms, and Pharaoh shall groan before him with the groanings of a mortally wounded man.

25 And I will strengthen 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 hands of the king of Babylon, and he will draw it out against the land of Egypt.

26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am the LORD.