Study Desk

"And they will know that I am the LORD, When I set a fire in Egypt And all her helpers are broken.

'This is what the Lord GOD says: "I will also destroy the idols And make the images cease from Memphis. And there will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt; And I will put fear in the land of Egypt.

"I will make Pathros desolate, Set a fire in Zoan And execute judgments on Thebes.

"I will set a fire in Egypt; Sin will writhe in anguish, Thebes will be breached And Memphis will have distresses daily.

"In Tehaphnehes the day will be dark When I break there the yoke bars of Egypt. Then the pride of her power will cease in her; A cloud will cover her, And her daughters will go into captivity.

"Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, behold, it has not been bound up for healing or wrapped with a bandage, so that it may be strong to wield the sword.

'For I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand; and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, so that he will groan before him with the groans of a wounded man.

'Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon With beautiful branches and forest shade, And very high, And its top was among the clouds.

I will hand it over to a ruler of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. In accordance with its wickedness I have driven it out.

"Son of man, take up a song of mourning over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him, 'You compared yourself to a young lion of the nations, Yet you are like the monster in the seas; And you burst forth in your rivers And muddied the waters with your feet And fouled their rivers.'"

This is what the Lord GOD says: "Now I will spread My net over you With a contingent of many peoples, And they will lift you up in My net.

"And when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud And the moon will not give its light.

"I will also eliminate all its cattle from beside many waters; And a human foot will not muddy them anymore, And the hoofs of animals will not muddy them.

"When I make the land of Egypt a desolation, And the land is destitute of that which filled it, When I strike all those who live in it, Then they shall know that I am the LORD.

"This is a song of mourning, and they shall sing it. The daughters of the nations shall sing it. Over Egypt and over all her hordes they shall sing it," declares the Lord GOD.

"They have made a bed for her among the slain with all her hordes. Her graves are around it, they are all uncircumcised, killed by the sword (although their terror was inflicted on the land of the living), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit; they were put in the midst of the slain.

"Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, 'If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman,

then someone who hears the sound of the horn but does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head.

'But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the horn and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away for his wrongdoing; but I will require his blood from the watchman's hand.'

"Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them a warning from Me.