Ezekiel 32:1-16

In the twelfth year of our captivity, on the first day of the twelfth month, YAHWEH spoke to me, saying, “Son of man, give a solemn warning to Pharaoh king of Egypt. Say to him: “ ‘You are like a young lion prowling among the nations, or like a sea monster lurking in your lagoons! You churn up the water with your trampling and muddy their streams. Lord YAHWEH says to you: I will throw my net over you using a large group of nations. They will drag you to shore in my net, and I will leave you high and dry. I will fling you onto the open field and abandon you on the ground. I will gather all the birds of the air to feast on your flesh, and all the beasts of the earth will gorge themselves on you. I will scatter bits and pieces of your flesh on the hills and fill the valleys with your rotting corpse. I will drench the land with your oozing blood until it fills the ravines and spreads to the base of the mountains. When I snuff you out, I will hide the skies and darken the stars. I will cover the sun with clouds and turn off the moonlight. Heaven’s bright lights above you I will darken and shroud your land in darkness. I, Lord YAHWEH, have spoken. “ ‘I will trouble the hearts of many peoples when I spread the news of your destruction to nations and lands unknown to you. What I do to you will stun many nations. When I brandish my sword before them all, their kings will shudder with horror at your fate. On the day they see you fall, each will tremble in terror, fearing your fate might become theirs! “ ‘For Lord YAHWEH says to Egypt: The king of Babylon is coming to attack you! I will cause your great army to fall by the swords of mighty warriors. They are the most barbaric of nations. They will slice the pride of Egypt into pieces, and all your people will be destroyed. I will also slaughter your livestock grazing beside the plentiful waters. No person or animal will muddy the water in the watering places with their feet and hooves. Then I will settle their waters and make their rivers flow as smoothly as oil. I, Lord YAHWEH, have spoken. “ ‘When I reduce Egypt to a desolate wasteland and strip the land of all it contains, when I annihilate all who live there, then they will acknowledge that I am YAHWEH. “ ‘This is the funeral song that people will sing in mourning for Egypt. Women of other nations will sing in lament for it. They will utter a lamentation for the land of Egypt and all its many people. I, Lord YAHWEH, decree it!’ ”