“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt, by the hand of King Nebuchadrezzar ¹  of Babylon.

“‘For this is what the sovereign Lord says: “‘The sword of the king of Babylon ¹  will attack ²  you.

“Say to the rebellious house of Israel: ¹  ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ ²  Say: ‘See here, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem ³  and took her king and her officials prisoner and brought them to himself in Babylon.

I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall limp. Then they will know that I am the Lord when I place my sword in the hand of the king of Babylon and he extends it against the land of Egypt.

But I will throw my net over him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans ¹  (but he will not see it), ²  and there he will die. ³ 

I will throw my net over him and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylon and judge him there because of the unfaithfulness he committed against me.

They put him in a collar with hooks; ¹  they brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him to prison ²  so that his voice would not be heard any longer on the mountains of Israel.

wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, the image of Babylonians ¹  whose native land is Chaldea.

The Babylonians crawled into bed with her. ¹  They defiled her with their lust; after she was defiled by them, she ²  became disgusted with them.

I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and I will place my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan like the fatally wounded before the king of Babylon. ¹ 

“‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, surely in the city ¹  of the king who crowned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke – in the middle of Babylon he will die!

“You, son of man, mark out two routes for the king of Babylon’s sword to take; both of them will originate in a single land. Make a signpost and put it at the beginning of the road leading to the city.

For the king of Babylon stands at the fork ¹  in the road at the head of the two routes. He looks for omens: ²  He shakes arrows, he consults idols, ³  he examines ⁴  animal livers. ⁵ 

the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, ¹  Shoa, ²  and Koa, ³  and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, all of them governors and officials, officers and nobles, all of them riding on horses.

“Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege ¹  to Jerusalem ²  this very day.

“For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note that ¹  I am about to bring King Nebuchadrezzar ²  of Babylon, king of kings, against Tyre from the north, with horses, chariots, and horsemen, an army and hordes of people.

“Son of man, King Nebuchadrezzar ¹  of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. ²  Every head was rubbed bald and every shoulder rubbed bare; yet he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the work he carried out against it.

Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon. He will carry off her wealth, capture her loot, and seize her plunder; it will be his army’s wages.