¹ In the tenth year, in the tenth [month], in the twelfth [day] of the month, the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt;

³ speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lieth in the midst of his rivers, that hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.

⁴ And I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales; and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, with all the fish of thy rivers which stick unto thy scales.

⁵ And I will cast thee forth into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open field; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered; I have given thee for food to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens.

⁶ And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

⁷ When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and didst rend all their shoulders; and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.

⁸ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and will cut off from thee man and beast.

⁹ And the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. Because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it;

¹⁰ therefore, behold, I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from the tower of Seveneh even unto the border of Ethiopia.

¹¹ No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.

¹² And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be a desolation forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.

¹³ For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples whither they were scattered;

¹⁴ and I will bring back the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth; and they shall be there a base kingdom.

¹⁵ It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it any more lift itself up above the nations: and I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.

¹⁶ And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to remembrance, when they turn to look after them: and they shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁷ And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first [month], in the first [day] of the month, the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

¹⁸ Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it.

¹⁹ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.

²⁰ I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he served, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord Jehovah.

²¹ In that day will I cause a horn to bud forth unto the house of Israel, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.

¹² He said therefore, "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.

¹³ He called ten servants of his, and gave them ten mina coins, and told them, 'Conduct business until I come.'

¹⁴ But his citizens hated him, and sent an envoy after him, saying, 'We don't want this man to reign over us.'

¹⁵ "It happened when he had come back again, having received the kingdom, that he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by conducting business.

¹⁶ The first came before him, saying, 'Lord, your mina has made ten more minas.'

¹⁷ "He said to him, 'Well done, you good servant! Because you were found faithful with very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.'

¹⁸ "The second came, saying, 'Your mina, Lord, has made five minas.'

¹⁹ "So he said to him, 'And you are to be over five cities.'

²⁰ Another came, saying, 'Lord, behold, your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief,

²¹ for I feared you, because you are an exacting man. You take up that which you didn't lay down, and reap that which you didn't sow.'

²² "He said to him, 'Out of your own mouth will I judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I didn't lay down, and reaping that which I didn't sow.

²³ Then why didn't you deposit my money in the bank, and at my coming, I might have earned interest on it?'

²⁴ He said to those who stood by, 'Take the mina away from him, and give it to him who has the ten minas.'

²⁵ "They said to him, 'Lord, he has ten minas!'

²⁶ 'For I tell you that to everyone who has, will more be given; but from him who doesn't have, even that which he has will be taken away from him.