Study Desk

He broke down their strongholds and devastated their cities. The land and all who were in it shuddered at the sound of his roaring.

With hooks they caged him and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him into captivity so that his roar was heard no longer on the mountains of Israel.

And I said to them: "Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God."

In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to set the battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect a siege wall.

See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood.

One man commits an abomination with his neighbor's wife; another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his own father's daughter.

He will slaughter the villages of your mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works against you, build a ramp to your walls, and raise his shields against you.

He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his axes.

His multitude of horses will cover you in their dust. When he enters your gates as an army entering a breached city, your walls will shake from the noise of cavalry, wagons, and chariots.

The hooves of his horses will trample all your streets. He will slaughter your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground.

Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, "The Nile is mine; I made it for myself."

"Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder made raw. But he and his army had no wages from Tyre for the labor they expended on it.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will carry off its wealth, seize its spoil, and remove its plunder. This will be the wages for his army.

I have given him the land of Egypt as the reward for his labor, because it was done for Me, declares the Lord GOD.'

He and his people with him, the most ruthless of the nations, will be brought in to destroy the land. They will draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt. I will break his arms, both the strong one and the one already broken, and will make the sword fall from his hand.

I will strengthen the arms of Babylon's king and place My sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a mortally wounded man.

"Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: 'Who can be compared to your greatness?

Who then is like you in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden? You also will be brought down to the depths of the earth to be with the trees of Eden. You will lie among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.'"

I will cause many peoples to be appalled over you, and their kings will shudder with horror because of you when I brandish My sword before them. On the day of your downfall each of them will tremble every moment for his life.'