Through the Bible – Day 329

You are so arrogant that you think you're a god and that the city of Tyre is your throne. You may claim to be a god, though you're nothing but a mere human. ₃You think you're wiser than Danieland know everything.

₄Your wisdom has certainly made you rich, because you have storehouses filled with gold and silver. ₅You're a clever businessman and are extremely wealthy, but your wealth has led to arrogance!

₆You compared yourself to a god, so now I, the LORD God, ₇will make you the victim of cruel enemies. They will destroy all the possessions you've worked so hard to get. ₈Your enemies will brutally kill you, and the sea will be your only grave.

₉When you face your enemies, will you still claim to be a god? They will attack, and you will suffer like any other human. ₁₀Foreigners will kill you, and you will die the death of those who don't worship me. I, the LORD, have spoken.

At one time, you were perfect, intelligent, and good-looking. ₁₃You lived in the garden of Eden and wore jewellery made of brightly-coloured gems and precious stones. They were all set in gold and were ready for you on the day you were born. ₁₄I appointed a winged creature to guard your home on my holy mountain, where you walked among gems that dazzled like fire.

₁₅You were truly good from the time of your birth, but later you started doing wicked things. ₁₆You traded with other nations and became more and more cruel and evil. So I forced you to leave my mountain, and the creature that had been your protector now chased you away from the gems.

₁₇It was your good looks that made you arrogant, and you were so famous that you started acting like a fool. That's why I threw you to the ground and let other kings sneer at you. ₁₈You have cheated so many other merchants that your places of worship are corrupt. So I set your city on fire and burnt it down. Now everyone sees only ashes where your city once stood, ₁₉and the people of other nations are shocked. Your punishment was horrible, and you are gone for ever.

I, the LORD God, am your enemy! People will praise me when I punish you, and they will see that I am holy. ₂₃I will send deadly diseases to wipe you out, and I will send enemies to invade and surround you. Your people will be killed, and you will know that I am the LORD.

₂₄When that happens, the people of Israel will no longer have cruel neighbours that abuse them and make them feel as though they are in a field of thorns and briers. And the Israelites will know that I, the LORD God, have done these things.

Some day I will gather the people of Israel from the nations where they are now scattered, and every nation will see that I am holy. The Israelites will once again live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob. ₂₆They will be safe and will build houses and plant vineyards. They will no longer be in danger, because I will punish their hateful neighbours. Israel will know that I am the LORD their God.

King of Egypt, you were like a giant crocodile lying in a river. You acted as though you owned the Nile and made it for yourself. But now I, the LORD God, am your enemy! ₄I will put a hook in your jaw and pull you out of the water, and all the fish in your river will stick to your scaly body. ₅I'll throw you and the fish into the desert, and your body will fall on the hard ground. You will be left unburied, and wild animals and birds will eat your flesh. ₆Then everyone in Egypt will know that I am the LORD.

You and your nation refused to help the people of Israel and were nothing more than a broken stick. ₇When they reached out to you for support, you broke in half, cutting their arms and making them fall.

₈So I, the LORD God, will send troops to attack you, king of Egypt. They will kill your people and livestock, ₉until your land is a barren desert. Then you will know that I have done these things.

You claimed that you made the River Nile and control it. ₁₀Now I am turning against you and your river. Your nation will be nothing but an empty wasteland all the way from the town of Migdol in the north to Aswan in the south, and as far as the border of Ethiopia. ₁₁No human or animal will even dare travel through Egypt, because no sign of life will be found there for forty years. ₁₂It will be the most barren place on earth. Every city in Egypt will lie in ruins during those forty years, and I will scatter your people throughout the nations of the world.

₁₃Then after those forty years have passed, I will bring your people back from the places where I scattered them. ₁₄They will once again live in their homeland in southern Egypt. But they will be a weak kingdom ₁₅and won't ever be strong enough to rule nations, as they did in the past. ₁₆My own people Israel will never again depend on your nation. In fact, when the Israelites remember what happened to you Egyptians, they will realize how wrong they were to turn to you for help. Then the Israelites will know that I, the LORD God, did these things.

₁₈King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia has attacked the city of Tyre. He forced his soldiers to carry so many heavy loads that their heads were rubbed bald, and their shoulders were red and sore. Nebuchadnezzar and his army still could not capture the city. ₁₉So now I will hand over the nation of Egypt to him. He will take Egypt's valuable treasures and give them to his own troops. ₂₀Egypt will be his reward, because he and his army have been following my orders. I, the LORD God, have spoken.

₂₁Ezekiel, when Egypt is defeated, I will make the people of Israel strong, and I will give you the power to speak to them. Then they will know that I, the LORD, have done these things.