1. On January 7, during the tenth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the lord:
2. “Son of man, turn and face Egypt and prophesy against Pharaoh the king and all the people of Egypt.
3. Give them this message from the Sovereign lord:“I am your enemy, O Pharaoh, king of Egypt—you great monster, lurking in the streams of the Nile.For you have said, ‘The Nile River is mine;I made it for myself.’
4. I will put hooks in your jawsand drag you out on the landwith fish sticking to your scales.
5. I will leave you and all your fishstranded in the wilderness to die.You will lie unburied on the open ground,for I have given you as food to the wild animals and birds.
6. All the people of Egypt will know that I am the lord,for to Israel you were just a staff made of reeds.
7. When Israel leaned on you,you splintered and brokeand stabbed her in the armpit.When she put her weight on you,you collapsed, and her legs gave way.
8. “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign lord says: I will bring an army against you, O Egypt, and destroy both people and animals.
9. The land of Egypt will become a desolate wasteland, and the Egyptians will know that I am the lord.“Because you said, ‘The Nile River is mine; I made it,’