Study Desk

'For this is what the Lord GOD says: "At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered.

"Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre; every head had a bald spot and every shoulder was rubbed raw. But he and his army acquired no wages from Tyre for the labor that he had performed against it."

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "Behold, I am going to give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her wealth and capture her spoils and seize her plunder; and it will be wages for his army.

"I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor which he performed, because they acted for Me," declares the Lord GOD.

"On that day I will make a horn sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

"Son of man, prophesy and say, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Wail, 'Woe for the day!'

"For the day is near, Indeed, the day of the LORD is near; It will be a day of clouds, A time of doom for the nations.

"On that day messengers will go out from Me in ships to frighten carefree Cush; and trembling will come on them as on the day of Egypt; for behold, it is coming!"

"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.

'So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; For its roots extended to many waters.

so that all the trees by the waters will not be exalted in their stature, nor put their tops among the clouds, nor will any of their well-watered mighty ones stand straight in their height. For they have all been turned over to death, to the earth beneath, among mankind, with those who go down to the pit."

'This is what the Lord GOD says: "On the day when it went down to Sheol I caused mourning; I closed the deep over it and held back its rivers. And its many waters were stopped up, and I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away on account of it.

"And I will make many peoples appalled at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and they will tremble again and again, every person for his own life, on the day of your fall."

For the Lord GOD says this: "The sword of the king of Babylon will attack you.

"Son of man, lament for the hordes of Egypt and bring it down, her and the daughters of the mighty nations, to the netherworld, with those who go down to the pit;

"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.

"Nor do they lie beside the fallen heroes of the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war and whose swords were placed under their heads; but the punishment for their wrongdoing rested on their bones, though the terror of these heroes was once in the land of the living.

'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.