Study Desk

Never a World Power Again In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day, God 's Message came to me: "Son of man, confront Pharaoh king of Egypt. Preach against him and all the Egyptians. Tell him, ‘ God , the Master, says: "‘Watch yourself, Pharaoh, king of Egypt. I'm dead set against you, You lumbering old dragon, lolling and flaccid in the Nile, Saying, "It's my Nile. I made it. It's mine." I'll set hooks in your jaw; I'll make the fish of the Nile stick to your scales. I'll pull you out of the Nile, with all the fish stuck to your scales. Then I'll drag you out into the desert, you and all the Nile fish sticking to your scales. You'll lie there in the open, rotting in the sun, meat to the wild animals and carrion birds. Everybody living in Egypt will realize that I am God . "‘Because you've been a flimsy reed crutch to Israel so that when they gripped you, you splintered and cut their hand, and when they leaned on you, you broke and sent them sprawling—Message of God , the Master—I'll bring war against you, do away with people and animals alike, and turn the country into an empty desert so they'll realize that I am God .

"‘But,' says God , the Master, ‘that's not the end of it. After the forty years, I'll gather up the Egyptians from all the places where they've been scattered. I'll put things back together again for Egypt. I'll bring her back to Pathros where she got her start long ago. There she'll start over again from scratch. She'll take her place at the bottom of the ladder and there she'll stay, never to climb that ladder again, never to be a world power again. Never again will Israel be tempted to rely on Egypt. All she'll be to Israel is a reminder of old sin. Then Egypt will realize that I am God , the Master.'"

In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, God 's Message came to me: "Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has worn out his army against Tyre. They've worked their fingers to the bone and have nothing to show for it.

"Therefore, God , the Master, says, ‘I'm giving Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He'll haul away its wealth, pick the place clean. He'll pay his army with Egyptian plunder. He's been working for me all these years without pay. This is his pay: Egypt. Decree of God , the Master.

"‘And then I'll stir up fresh hope in Israel—the dawn of deliverance!—and I'll give you, Ezekiel, bold and confident words to speak. And they'll realize that I am God .'"

God , the Master, spoke to me: "Son of man, preach. Give them the Message of God , the Master. Wail: "‘Doomsday!' Time's up! God 's big day of judgment is near. Thick clouds are rolling in. It's doomsday for the nations. Death will rain down on Egypt. Terror will paralyze Ethiopia When they see the Egyptians killed, their wealth hauled off, their foundations demolished, And Ethiopia, Put, Lud, Arabia, Libya —all of Egypt's old allies— killed right along with them.

"‘ God says: "‘Egypt's allies will fall and her proud strength will collapse— From Migdol in the north to Syene in the south, a great slaughter in Egypt! Decree of God , the Master. Egypt, most desolate of the desolate, her cities wasted beyond wasting, Will realize that I am God when I burn her down and her helpers are knocked flat.

"‘ God , the Master, says: "‘I'll put a stop to Egypt's arrogance. I'll use Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to do it. He and his army, the most brutal of nations, shall be used to destroy the country. They'll brandish their swords and fill Egypt with corpses. I'll dry up the Nile and sell off the land to a bunch of crooks. I'll hire outsiders to come in and waste the country, strip it clean. I, God , have said so.

"‘And now this is what God , the Master, says: "‘I'll smash all the no-god idols; I'll topple all those huge statues in Memphis. The prince of Egypt will be gone for good, and in his place I'll put fear—fear throughout Egypt! I'll demolish Pathros, burn Zoan to the ground, and punish Thebes, Pour my wrath on Pelusium, Egypt's fort, and knock Thebes off its proud pedestal. I'll set Egypt on fire: Pelusium will writhe in pain, Thebes blown away, Memphis raped. The young warriors of On and Pi-beseth will be killed and the cities exiled. A dark day for Tahpanhes when I shatter Egypt, When I break Egyptian power and put an end to her arrogant oppression! She'll disappear in a cloud of dust, her cities hauled off as exiles. That's how I'll punish Egypt, and that's how she'll realize that I am God .'"

In the eleventh year, on the seventh day of the first month, God 's Message came to me:

"Therefore, God , the Master, says, I am dead set against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will go ahead and break his other arm—both arms broken! There's no way he'll ever swing a sword again. I'll scatter Egyptians all over the world. I'll make the arms of the king of Babylon strong and put my sword in his hand, but I'll break the arms of Pharaoh and he'll groan like one who is mortally wounded. I'll make the arms of the king of Babylon strong, but the arms of Pharaoh shall go limp. The Egyptians will realize that I am God when I place my sword in the hand of the king of Babylon. He'll wield it against Egypt and I'll scatter Egyptians all over the world. Then they'll realize that I am God ."

In the eleventh year, on the first day of the third month, God 's Message came to me: "Son of man, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt, that pompous old goat: "‘Who do you, astride the world, think you really are? Look! Assyria was a Big Tree, huge as a Lebanon cedar, beautiful limbs offering cool shade, Skyscraper high, piercing the clouds. The waters gave it drink, the primordial deep lifted it high, Gushing out rivers around the place where it was planted, And then branching out in streams to all the trees in the forest. It was immense, dwarfing all the trees in the forest— Thick boughs, long limbs, roots delving deep into earth's waters. All the birds of the air nested in its boughs. All the wild animals gave birth under its branches. All the mighty nations lived in its shade. It was stunning in its majesty— the reach of its branches! the depth of its water-seeking roots! Not a cedar in God's garden came close to it. No pine tree was anything like it. Mighty oaks looked like bushes growing alongside it. Not a tree in God's garden was in the same class of beauty. I made it beautiful, a work of art in limbs and leaves, The envy of every tree in Eden, every last tree in God's garden.'"

Therefore, God , the Master, says, "‘Because it skyscrapered upward, piercing the clouds, swaggering and proud of its stature, I turned it over to a world-famous leader to call its evil to account. I'd had enough. Outsiders, unbelievably brutal, felled it across the mountain ranges. Its branches were strewn through all the valleys, its leafy boughs clogging all the streams and rivers. Because its shade was gone, everybody walked off. No longer a tree—just a log. On that dead log birds perch. Wild animals burrow under it.

"‘The Message of God , the Master: On the day of the funeral of the Big Tree, I threw the great deep into mourning. I stopped the flow of its rivers, held back great seas, and wrapped the Lebanon mountains in black. All the trees of the forest fainted and fell. I made the whole world quake when it crashed, and threw it into the underworld to take its place with all else that gets buried. All the trees of Eden and the finest and best trees of Lebanon, well-watered, were relieved—they had descended to the underworld with it—along with everyone who had lived in its shade and all who had been killed.

"‘Which of the trees of Eden came anywhere close to you in splendor and size? But you're slated to be cut down to take your place in the underworld with the trees of Eden, to be a dead log stacked with all the other dead logs, among the other uncircumcised who are dead and buried. "‘This means Pharaoh, the pompous old goat. "‘Decree of God , the Master.'"

In the twelfth year, on the first day of the twelfth month, God 's Message came to me: "Son of man, sing a funeral lament over Pharaoh king of Egypt. Tell him: "‘You think you're a young lion prowling through the nations. You're more like a dragon in the ocean, snorting and thrashing about.

"‘ God , the Master, says: "‘I'm going to throw my net over you —many nations will get in on this operation— and haul you out with my dragnet. I'll dump you on the ground out in an open field And bring in all the crows and vultures for a sumptuous carrion lunch. I'll invite wild animals from all over the world to gorge on your guts. I'll scatter hunks of your meat in the mountains and strew your bones in the valleys. The country, right up to the mountains, will be drenched with your blood, your blood filling every ditch and channel. When I blot you out, I'll pull the curtain on the skies and shut out the stars. I'll throw a cloud across the sun and turn off the moonlight. I'll turn out every light in the sky above you and put your land in the dark. Decree of God , the Master. I'll shake up everyone worldwide when I take you off captive to strange and far-off countries. I'll shock people with you. Kings will take one look and shudder. I'll shake my sword and they'll shake in their boots. On the day you crash, they'll tremble, thinking, "That could be me!"

"‘ God , the Master, says: "‘The sword of the king of Babylon is coming against you. I'll use the swords of champions to lay your pride low, Use the most brutal of nations to knock Egypt off her high horse, to puncture that hot-air pomposity. I'll destroy all their livestock that graze along the river. Neither human foot nor animal hoof will muddy those waters anymore. I'll clear their springs and streams, make their rivers flow clean and smooth. Decree of God , the Master. When I turn Egypt back to the wild and strip her clean of all her abundant produce, When I strike dead all who live there, then they'll realize that I am God .'

"This is a funeral song. Chant it. Daughters of the nations, chant it. Chant it over Egypt for the death of its pomp." Decree of God , the Master.

In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the first month, God 's Message came to me: "Son of man, lament over Egypt's pompous ways. Send her on her way. Dispatch Egypt and her proud daughter nations To the underworld, down to the country of the dead and buried. Say, ‘You think you're so high and mighty? Down! Take your place with the heathen in that unhallowed grave!'