Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from the book of
Ezekiel, chapters 29 through 31. Chapter 29 In
the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth
day of the month, the word of the Lord came to
me, saying, Son of man, set your face against
Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and prophesy against
him and against all Egypt. Speak and say, Thus
says the Lord God. behold i am against you o
pharaoh king of egypt o great monster who lies
in the midst of his rivers who has said my river
is my own i have made it for myself but i will
put hooks in your jaws and cause the fish of
your rivers to stick to your scales i will bring
you up out of the midst of your rivers and all
the fish in your rivers will stick to your scales
i will leave you in the wilderness you and all
the fish of your rivers you shall fall on the
open field You shall not be picked up or gathered.
I have given you as food to the beasts of the
field and to the birds of the heavens. Then all
the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am
the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed
to the house of Israel. When they took hold of
you with the hand, you broke and tore all their
shoulders. When they leaned on you, you broke
and made all their backs quiver. Therefore thus
says the Lord God, Surely I will bring a sword
upon you, and cut off from you man and beast,
and the land of Egypt shall become desolate and
waste. Then they will know that I am the Lord,
because he said, The river is mine, and I have
made it. Indeed, therefore, I am against you
and against your rivers, and I will make the
land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from
Migdal to Syene, as far as the border of Ethiopia.
Neither foot of man shall pass through it, nor
foot of beast pass through it, and it shall be
uninhabited forty years. I will make the land
of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries
that are desolate, and among the cities that
are laid waste, her cities shall be desolate
forty years. And I will scatter the Egyptians
among the nations, and disperse them throughout
the countries. Yet, thus says the Lord God, at
the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians
from the peoples among whom They were scattered.
I will bring back the captives of Egypt and cause
them to return to the land of Pathros, to the
land of their origin, and there they shall be
a lowly kingdom. It shall be the lowliest of
kingdoms. It shall never again exalt itself above
the nations, for I will diminish them so that
they will not rule over the nations anymore.
No longer shall it be the confidence of the house
of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity
when they turned to follow them. Then they shall
know that I am the Lord God. And it came to pass
in the twenty -seventh year, in the first month,
on the first day of the month, that the word
of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously
against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every
shoulder rubbed raw. Yet neither he nor his army
received wages from Tyre for the labor which
they expended on it. Therefore thus says the
Lord God, Surely I will give the land of Egypt
to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He shall take
away her wealth, carry off her spoil, and remove
her pillage, and that will be the wages for his
army. I have given him the land of Egypt for
his labor, because they worked for me, says the
Lord God. in that day i will cause the horn of
the house of israel to spring forth and i will
open your mouth to speak in their midst then
they shall know that i am the lord chapter thirty
the word of the lord came to me again saying
son of man prophesy and say thus says the lord
god wail woe to the day for the day is near even
the day of the lord is near It will be a day
of clouds, the time of the Gentiles. The sword
shall come upon Egypt, and great anguish shall
be in Ethiopia, when the slain fall in Egypt,
and they take away her wealth, and her foundations
are broken down. Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, all
the mingled people, Chubb, and the men of the
lands who are allied, shall fall with them by
the sword. Thus says the Lord, Those who uphold
Egypt shall fall, and the pride of her power
shall come down. from migdal to syene those within
her shall fall by the sword says the lord god
they shall be desolate in the midst of the desolate
countries and her cities shall be in the midst
of the cities that are laid waste then they will
know that i am the lord when i have set a fire
in egypt and all her helpers are destroyed On
that day messengers shall go forth from me in
ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid,
and great anguish shall come upon them as on
the day of Egypt, for indeed it is coming. Thus
says the Lord God, I will also make a multitude
of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon. He and his people with him,
the most terrible of nations, shall be brought
to destroy the land. They shall draw their swords
against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.
I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land
into the hand of the wicked. I will make the
land waste, and all that is in it by the hand
of aliens, I the Lord have spoken. Thus says
the Lord God, I will also destroy the idols,
and cause the images to cease from Nof. There
shall no longer be princes from the land of Egypt.
I will put fear in the land of Egypt. I will
make Pathros desolate, set fire to Zon, and execute
judgments in Noh. I will pour my fury on Sin,
the strength of Egypt. I will cut off the multitude
of Noh, and set a fire in Egypt. Sin shall have
great pain. Noh shall be split open, and Nof
shall be in distress daily. The young men of
Avin and Pi -Beset shall fall by the sword, and
these cities shall go into captivity. At Taqpanis
the day shall also be darkened, when I break
the yokes of Egypt there, and her arrogant strength
shall cease in her. As for her, a cloud shall
cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.
Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt, then
they shall know that I am the Lord. And it came
to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month,
on the seventh day of the month, that the word
of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, I
have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt,
and see, it has not been bandaged for healing,
nor a splint put on it to bind it, to make it
strong enough to hold a sword. Therefore thus
says the Lord God, Surely I am against Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, and will break his arms, both
the strong one and the one that was broken, and
I will make the sword fall out of his hand. I
will scatter the Egyptians among the nations
and disperse them throughout the countries. I
will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon
and put my sword in his hand. But I will break
Pharaoh's arms, and he will groan before him
with the groanings of a mortally wounded man.
Thus I will strengthen the arms of the king of
Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down.
They shall know that I am the Lord. When I put
my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon,
and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt,
I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations
and disperse them throughout the countries. Then
they shall know that I am the Lord. Chapter 31
Now it came to pass in the eleventh year, in
the third month on the first day of the month,
that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Son of man, say to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and
to his multitude, Whom are you like in your greatness?
Indeed Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, with fine
branches that shaded the forest, and of high
stature. And its top was among the thick boughs.
The waters made it grow, underground waters gave
it height, with their rivers running around the
place where it was planted, and sent out rivulets
to all the trees of the field. therefore its
height was exalted above all the trees of the
field its boughs were multiplied and its branches
became long because of the abundance of water
as it sent them out all the birds of the heavens
made their nests in its boughs under its branches
all the beasts of the field brought forth their
young and in its shadow all great nations made
their home thus it was beautiful in greatness
and in the length of its branches because its
roots reached to abundant waters. The cedars
in the garden of God could not hide it. The fir
trees were not like its boughs, and the chestnut
trees were not like its branches. No tree in
the garden of God was like it in beauty. I made
it beautiful with a multitude of branches, so
that all the trees of Eden envied it that were
in the garden of God. Therefore thus says the
Lord God, Because you have increased in height,
and it set its top among the thick boughs, and
its heart was lifted up in its height therefore
i will deliver it into the hand of the mighty
one of the nations and he shall surely deal with
it i have driven it out for its wickedness and
aliens the most terrible of the nations have
cut it down and left it its branches have fallen
on the mountains and in all the valleys its boughs
lie broken by all the rivers of the land and
all the peoples of the earth have gone from under
its shadow and left it On its ruin will remain
all the birds of the heavens, and all the beasts
of the field will come to its branches, so that
no trees by the waters may ever again exalt themselves
for their height, nor set their tops among the
thick boughs, that no tree which drinks water
may ever be high enough to reach up to them.
For they have all been delivered to death, to
the depth of the earth, among the children of
men who go down to the pit. Thus says the Lord
God, All that drink water were comforted in the
depth of the earth. They also went down to hell
with it, with those slain by the sword, and those
who were its strong arm dwelt in its shadows
among the nations. To which of the trees of Eden
will you then be likened in glory and greatness?
Yet you shall be brought down with the trees
of Eden to the depth of the earth. You shall
lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those
slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh. and all
his multitude, says the Lord God. I hope you
enjoyed today's reading as much as I did, and
I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow to
continue on our journey. God bless you and have
a great day.