“Son of man, sing a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him: “‘You were like a lion ¹  among the nations, but you are a monster in the seas; you thrash about in your streams, stir up the water with your feet, and muddy your ²  streams.

“‘These you can eat from all creatures that are in the water: Any creatures in the water that have both fins and scales, ¹  whether in the seas or in the streams, ²  you may eat.

But any creatures that do not have both fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the streams, from all the swarming things of the water and from all the living creatures that are in the water, are detestable to you.

At that time ¹  the Lord will whistle for flies from the distant streams of Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria. ² 

I am against ¹  you and your waterways. I will turn the land of Egypt into an utter desolate ruin from Migdol ²  to Syene, ³  as far as the border with Ethiopia.

The birds of the sky live beside them; they chirp among the bushes. ¹ 

They will come back shedding tears of contrition. I will bring them back praying prayers of repentance. ¹  I will lead them besides streams of water, along smooth paths where they will never stumble. ²  I will do this because I am Israel’s father; Ephraim ³  is my firstborn son.’”

Tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: “‘Look, I am against ¹  you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster ²  lying in the midst of its waterways, who has said, “My Nile is my own, I made it for myself.” ³ 

I will dry up the waterways and hand the land over to ¹  evil men. I will make the land and everything in it desolate by the hand of foreigners. I, the Lord, have spoken!

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over Egypt’s waters – over their rivers, over their canals, ¹  over their ponds, and over all their reservoirs ²  – so that it becomes ³  blood.’ There will be blood everywhere in ⁴  the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.”

Pick up millstones and grind flour! Remove your veil, strip off your skirt, expose your legs, cross the streams!

I will fill its mountains with its dead; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines, those killed by the sword will fall.

The caravans of Tema ¹  looked intently ²  for these streams; ³  the traveling merchants ⁴  of Sheba hoped for them.

He draws up drops of water; they distill ¹  the rain into its mist, ² 

The waves ¹  of death engulfed me, the currents ²  of chaos ³  overwhelmed me. ⁴ 

Let the rivers clap their hands! Let the mountains sing in unison

He turned ¹  streams into a desert, springs of water into arid land,

The water would have overpowered us; the current ¹  would have overwhelmed ²  us. ³ 

who says to the deep sea, ‘Be dry! I will dry up your sea currents,’

I will bring them out from among the peoples and gather them from foreign countries; I will bring them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams and all the inhabited places of the land.