¹Therefore putting away all  ²malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envyings and all evil speakings,

As  ¹newborn babes, long for the  ²guileless milk  ³of the word in order that by it you may  ⁴grow  ⁵unto salvation,

If you have  ¹tasted that the Lord is  ²good.

Coming to Him, a  ¹living stone, rejected by men but with God chosen and  ²precious,

You yourselves also, as  ¹living stones, are being  ²built up as a  ³spiritual  ⁴house  ⁵into a  ⁶holy  ⁷priesthood to offer up  ⁸spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For it is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a  ¹cornerstone,  ²chosen and  ³precious; and he who believes on Him shall by no means be put to shame.”

To you therefore who believe is the  ¹preciousness; but to the unbelieving, “The stone which the  ²builders rejected, this has  ³become the head of the corner,”

And, “A stone of  ¹stumbling and a rock of offense”; who stumble at  ²the word, being disobedient, to  ³which also they were appointed.

But you are a chosen  ¹race, a  ²royal priesthood, a  ³holy nation, a people acquired for a possession, so that you may  ⁴tell out the  ⁵virtues of Him who has called you out of  ⁶darkness into His marvelous  ⁶light;

 ¹Who once were not a people but now are the people of God; who had not previously been shown mercy but have now been shown mercy.

And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, set your face toward  ¹Sidon, and prophesy against it,

And say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Indeed I am against you, O Sidon, and I will be glorified in your midst. And they will know that I am Jehovah when I have executed judgments in her, and I am sanctified in her.

And I will send pestilence into her and blood into her streets, and the wounded will fall in her midst with the sword against her from all around, and they will know that I am Jehovah.

And there will no longer be a pricking briar or a painful thorn for the house of Israel, inflicted by any of those around them who despised them. And they will know that I am the Lord Jehovah.

Thus says the Lord Jehovah, When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered and have been sanctified in them in the sight of the nations, they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob.

And they will dwell securely in it, and they will build houses and plant vineyards. They will dwell securely when I have executed judgments on all those surrounding them who despise them, and they will know that I am Jehovah their God.

In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh, the king of  ¹Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.

Speak and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah,
Indeed I am against you,
Pharaoh king of Egypt,
The great monster that lies
In the midst of his Nile streams,
That said, My Nile belongs to me;
I even made it for myself.

But I will put hooks in your jaws,
And I will cause the fish of your Nile streams to cling to your scales;
And I will bring you up out of the midst of your Nile streams,
With all the fish of your Nile streams clinging to your scales.

And I will cast you out into the wilderness,
You and all the fish of your Nile streams.
You will fall on the open field;
You will not be brought together or gathered.
To the beasts of the earth
And to the birds of the sky
I have given you as food,

That all the inhabitants of Egypt may know that I am Jehovah,
Because they have been a reed staff to the house of Israel.

When they grasped you by your hand,
You broke and tore all their shoulders;
And when they leaned upon you,
You shattered and made all their loins unsteady.

Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah, I am about to bring a sword upon you, and I will cut off from you man and beast.

And the land of Egypt will be a desolation and a waste, and they will know that I am Jehovah. Because he has said, The Nile is mine, and I made it;

Therefore, indeed, I am against you and your Nile streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, even to the border with Ethiopia.

No human foot will pass through it, not even an animal foot will pass through it; it will not be inhabited forty years.

And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolate countries, and her cities will be the most desolate among ruined cities for forty years. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the countries.

For thus says the Lord Jehovah, At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from among the peoples where they have been scattered,

And I will turn the captivity of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, into the land of their origin. And there they will be a lowly kingdom.

It will be the lowliest of the kingdoms. It will no longer lift itself up above the nations, and I will diminish them so that they will no longer rule the nations.

And it will no longer be the confidence of the house of Israel, but rather a reminder of iniquity when they turned toward them. Then they will know that I am the Lord Jehovah.

And in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon forced his army into hard labor against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder rubbed raw. Yet neither he nor his army had wages from Tyre for the labor that he had expended against it.

Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah, I am about to give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, and he will carry off her multitude and take her spoil and seize her plunder, and it will be the wages for his army.

I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he labored, because they worked for Me, declares the Lord Jehovah.

In that day I will cause a  ¹horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will give you an open mouth in their midst. Then they will know that I am Jehovah.

The word of Jehovah came to me again, saying,

Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah,
Howl! Alas for the day!

For the day has drawn near, even the day of Jehovah has drawn near;
It will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.

And a sword will come upon Egypt,
And anguish will be in Ethiopia,
When the slain will fall in Egypt;
And they will take away her multitude,
And her foundations will be broken down.

Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all Arabia,  ¹Libya, and the children of the land of the covenant will fall by the sword with them.

Thus says Jehovah,
Those who support Egypt will fall,
And the pride of her strength will come down;
They will fall by the sword within her,
From Migdol to Syene,
Declares the Lord Jehovah.

And they will be desolate in the midst of desolate countries, and her cities will be the most desolate among ruined cities.

And they will know that I am Jehovah, when I have set fire to Egypt and all her helpers are destroyed.

In that day messengers will go forth from before Me in ships to make the confident Ethiopians afraid, and there will be anguish among them just as on the day of Egypt. For indeed it comes.

Thus says the Lord Jehovah, I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon.

He and his people with him, the most ruthless of the nations, will be brought in to destroy the land, and they will draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.

And I will make the Nile streams dry and sell the land into the hands of evil men, and I will make the land and all that is in it desolate by the hand of strangers. I, Jehovah, have spoken.

Thus says the Lord Jehovah, I will also destroy the idols, and I will make an end of the images from Memphis; and a prince from the land of Egypt will never again arise; and I will put fear into the land of Egypt.

And I will make Pathros desolate and set fire to Zoan and execute judgments on Thebes.

And I will pour out My wrath upon Sin, the stronghold of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude in Thebes.

And I will set fire to Egypt; Sin will writhe in anguish, and Thebes will be breached, and Memphis will have adversaries daily.

The young men of On and Pi-beseth will fall by the sword, and these cities will go into captivity.

At Tahpanhes also the day will withdraw itself, when I will break there the yokes of Egypt, and the pride of her strength will cease in her; she will be covered with a cloud, and her daughters will go into captivity.

Thus I will execute judgments upon Egypt, and they will know that I am Jehovah.

And in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt; and indeed it has not been bound to apply healing medicines, nor firmly bandaged to bind it to be strong enough to grasp a sword.

Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah, Indeed I am against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and I will break both his arms, the strong arm and the one that was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.

And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the countries.

And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him with the groanings of one who is being slain.

And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh will fall; and they will know that I am Jehovah, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will stretch it out over the land of Egypt.

And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the countries. Then they will know that I am Jehovah.

And in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, say to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his multitude:
Whom are you like in your greatness?

Indeed Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon
With beautiful branches and forest shade
And great height,
And its top shoots were among the thick boughs.

Waters nourished it,
The deep springs made it grow;
Its rivers flowed around
The place it was planted;
And it flowed out its channels
To all the trees of the field.

Therefore its height was exalted
Above all the trees of the field,
And its boughs were multiplied,
And its branches lengthened,
Because of abundant waters, as it spread.

All the birds of the sky
Made their nests in its boughs,
And all the beasts of the field
Bore their young under its branches,
And in its shade
All great nations dwelt.

Thus it was beautiful in its greatness,
In the length of its branches;
For its roots were beside abundant waters.

Cedars in the garden of God could not hide it;
Cypresses could not compare to its boughs,
And plane trees could not equal its branches;
No tree in the garden of God could compare to it in its beauty.

I made it beautiful
By the multitude of its branches,
So that all the trees of Eden,
Which were in the garden of God, envied it.

Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah, Because you are exalted in height — it set its top shoots among the thick boughs, and its heart is lifted up in its height —

Therefore I will deliver it into the hands of the mighty one of the nations; he will surely deal with it. I have driven it out according to its wickedness.

And strangers, the most ruthless of the nations, have cut it down and left it on the mountains, and its branches have fallen into all the valleys, and its boughs lie broken by all the ravines of the land; and all the peoples of the earth have abandoned its shade and left it.

Upon its fallen trunk
All the birds of the sky will dwell,
And upon its branches
All the beasts of the field will be.

This is so that none of the well-watered trees will exalt themselves in their height by setting their top shoots among the thick boughs, and none of the well-watered trees will stand next to them in their height; for all of them have been delivered to death, to the lowest parts of the earth among the children of men who descend into the pit.

Thus says the Lord Jehovah, On the day it descended to Sheol I caused a mourning; I covered the deep springs for it, and I restrained its rivers, and the great waters were shut up. I also made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted on account of it.

I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit. And all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all who drink water, were comforted in the lowest parts of the earth.

They also descended with it into Sheol to those who were slain by the sword; indeed to those who were its arm, who dwelt under its shade among the nations.

Which among the trees of Eden then are you like in glory and in greatness? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lowest parts of the earth; you will lie among the uncircumcised, with those who were slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord Jehovah.

And in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and say to him,
You likened yourself to a lion of the nations,
Yet you are like a monster in the seas;
And you gushed forth with your rivers
And muddied the waters with your feet
And fouled their rivers.

Thus says the Lord Jehovah,
I will spread My net upon you
With a company of many peoples,
And they will bring you up in My dragnet.

And I will abandon you upon the land;
I will cast you out into the open field,
And I will cause all the birds of the sky to settle upon you
And satisfy the beasts of the whole earth with you.

And I will lay your flesh upon the mountains
And fill the valleys with your  ¹corpse.

I will also drench the land with your outpoured blood
As far as the mountains,
And the ravines will be full of you.

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.

All the bright lights of heaven
I will darken over you
And send darkness upon your land,
Declares the Lord Jehovah.

I will also bring anguish to the hearts of many peoples, when I bring news of your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known.

Yes, I will astonish many peoples because of you, and their kings will shudder excessively over you, when I brandish My sword before them; they will also tremble continually, everyone for his own life, on the day of your fall.

For thus says the Lord Jehovah, The king of Babylon's sword will come upon you.

By the swords of the mighty,
All of them the ruthless of the nations,
I will cause your multitude to fall;
And they will devastate the pride of Egypt,
And all its multitude will be destroyed.

I will also destroy all its beasts
From beside abundant waters;
No longer will human feet muddy them,
Nor will the hooves of beasts muddy them.

Then I will make their waters clear
And their rivers flow like oil, declares the Lord Jehovah.

When I make the land of Egypt desolate,
A land destitute of what filled it,
When I strike all its inhabitants,
They will know that I am Jehovah.

This is the lamentation with which they will lament. The daughters of the nations will lament with it; over Egypt and over all her multitude they will lament with it, declares the Lord Jehovah.

In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, her and the daughters of mighty nations, to the lowest parts of the earth, with those who descend to the pit.

Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised.

They will fall in the midst of those slain by the sword; she is delivered to the sword. Drag her away with all her multitudes.

The strong among the mighty will speak to him and his allies from the midst of Sheol; they have gone down; they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.

Assyria and all her company are there with their graves all around her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword,

Whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is all around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who had struck terror in the land of the living.

Elam and all her multitude are there, all around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who have descended uncircumcised into the lowest parts of the earth, who had struck their terror in the land of the living and bore their disgrace with those who descend to the pit.

They have made her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude; their graves are all around her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword. Although their terror was struck in the land of the living, they now bear their disgrace with those who descend to the pit. They are placed among the slain.

Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude are there; their graves are all around them; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword. Although they had struck their terror in the land of the living,

They will not lie with the mighty uncircumcised who fell, who descended to Sheol with their weapons of war and laid their swords under their heads and their iniquities upon their bones, even though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

But you will be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised and lie with those slain by the sword.

Edom is there, her kings and all her princes, who in their might are placed with those slain by the sword; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with those who descend to the pit.

The princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians are there, who descended with the slain; they are put to shame in spite of the terror they struck by their might. They also lie uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bear their shame with those who descend to the pit.

Pharaoh will see them and be comforted over all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord Jehovah.

For I have put his terror in the land of the living, and he will be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord Jehovah.