Ezekiel 29-31
Amplified Bible
Judgment of Egypt
29 In the tenth year [of the captivity of King Jehoiachin by the king of Babylon], in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 3 Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
The great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers,
[Boastfully] declaring, ‘My Nile is my own, and I have made it for myself.’
4
“I will put hooks in your jaws
And [I will] make the fish of your rivers stick to your scales.
And I will pull you up from the midst of your rivers,
And all the fish of your rivers will stick to your scales.
5
“I will abandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers;
You will fall on the open field; and you will not be gathered up or buried.
I have given you as food to the [wild] animals of the earth and the birds of the sky.
6
“And all the inhabitants of Egypt will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord,
Because they have been [only] a staff made of [fragile] reeds to the house of Israel.
7
“When they (Israel) grasped you (Egypt) by the hand,
You broke and tore apart their hands;
When they leaned on you,
You broke and strained their backs.”
8 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am going to bring a sword on you and cut off (destroy) both man and animal, 9 and the land of Egypt will be a desolation and a wasteland. And they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.
“Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine and I have made it,’ 10 behold (hear this), therefore, I am against you and against your rivers (the Nile, its tributaries), and I will make the land of Egypt a complete waste and a desolation, from [northern] Migdol to [southern] [a]Syene, even as far as the border of Ethiopia (Cush). 11 No man’s foot will pass through it, no animal’s foot will pass through it, and it will not be inhabited for forty years. 12 So I will make the land of Egypt a desolation [plundered and ruined] among desolated lands; and her cities, among cities that are laid waste, will be desolate forty years. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and [I will] disperse them through the lands.”
13 ‘For thus says the Lord God, “At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations among whom they were scattered.(A) 14 I will reverse the fortunes of Egypt [as I will that of Israel] and cause them to return to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they will be a lowly kingdom. 15 It will be the lowliest of the kingdoms, and it will [b]never again exalt itself above the nations; I will diminish the Egyptians so they will never again rule over the nations. 16 And Egypt will never again have the confidence of the house of Israel; their wickedness will be remembered whenever Israel looks toward them [for help]. Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord God.”’”
17 In the twenty-seventh year [after King Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon], in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army [c]work hard [at My command] against Tyre; every [soldier’s] head became [d]bald and every shoulder was worn and peeled [from carrying loads of dirt and stones for siege works]. Yet he had no wages from Tyre [in proportion to the time and labor expended during the siege], either for himself or his army, for the work that he had done against it [for Me].” 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her wealth and capture her spoil and seize her plunder; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt for the hard work which he did [against Tyre], because they did it for Me,” says the Lord God.
21 “In that day I will make a horn sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them, and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord [when I renew their strength].”
Dirge for Egypt
30 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God,
“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’
3
“For the day is near,
Even the day of the Lord is near,
It will be a cloudy day;
A time of doom for the nations.
4
“A sword will come upon Egypt,
And anguish and trembling will be in Ethiopia (Cush),
When the slain fall in Egypt
And they [of Babylon] carry away her great mass of people and her riches
And her foundations are torn down.
5 Ethiopia (Cush), Put, Lud, all [e]Arabia, Libya (Cub) and the people of the land of the covenant [the Jews who had taken refuge in Egypt] will fall with the Egyptians by the sword.”
6
‘Thus says the Lord,
“Those who uphold and support Egypt will fall
And the pride of her power will come down;
From Migdol [in the north] to Syene [in the south]
They will fall within her by the sword,”
Says the Lord God.
7
“And they will be desolate
In the midst of countries that are desolated;
And her cities will be
Among cities that are devastated [by plunder and slavery].
8
“And they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord,
When I have set a fire in Egypt
And all her helpers are shattered and destroyed.
9 On that day [swift] messengers will go from Me in ships to frighten the careless and unsuspecting Ethiopians, and there will be anguish and trembling in them as in the day of [judgment for] Egypt; for behold, it is coming!”
10 ‘Thus says the Lord God,
“I will also make the great people of Egypt cease
By the hand of [f]Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11
“He and his people with him,
The most violent and 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.
12
“And I will make the rivers [of the Nile delta] dry
And sell the land into the hands of evil men;
I will make the land desolate
And all that is in it,
By the hand of strangers. I the Lord have spoken.”
13
‘Thus says the Lord God,
“I will also destroy the idols
And I will put an end to the images in Memphis;
There will no longer be a prince of the land of Egypt.
And I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14
“I will make Pathros desolate,
Set fire to Zoan
And execute judgments and punishments on Thebes.
15
“I will pour out My wrath on Pelusium,
The stronghold of Egypt,
And I will cut off (destroy) the population of Thebes.
16
“I will set fire to Egypt;
Pelusium will writhe in [great] anguish,
Thebes shall be torn open
And Memphis shall be in daily distress.
17
“The young men of On (Aven) and of Pi-beseth
Will fall by the sword,
And the women [and children] will go into captivity.
18
“In Tehaphnehes the day will be dark
When I break the yoke bars and dominion of Egypt there.
Then the pride of her power will come to an end;
A cloud [of disasters] will cover her,
And her daughters will go into captivity.
19
“In this way I will bring judgment and punishment on Egypt.
Then they shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”’”
Victory for Babylon
20 In the eleventh year [after King Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon], in the first month, on the seventh of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and behold, it has not been bound up to heal or wrapped with a bandage, so that it may be strong to hold and wield the sword. 22 Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong one and the broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and will disperse them throughout the lands. 24 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 (Nebuchadnezzar) with the groanings of a [mortally] wounded man. 25 But I will strengthen and hold up the arms of the king of Babylon and the arms of Pharaoh will fall down. Then the people [of Egypt] will 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. 26 When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the lands, then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.’”
Pharaoh Warned of Assyria’s Fate
31 In the eleventh year [after King Jehoiachin was taken captive to Babylon], in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes,
‘Whom are you like in your greatness?
3
‘Behold (listen carefully), Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon
With beautiful branches and with forest shade,
And of high stature,
With its top among the clouds.
4
‘The waters nourished it, the deep [underground waters] made it grow tall.
Its rivers ran all around the place where it was planted,
Sending out its streams to all the trees (other nations) of the field.
5
‘Therefore it towered higher than all the trees of the forest
And its boughs multiplied and its branches grew long;
Because there was so much water they spread outward.
6
‘All the birds of the sky made their nests in its twigs,
And under its branches all the animals of the field gave birth [to their young],
And all of the great nations lived under its shadow.
7
‘So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches;
For its roots extended [downward] to great waters.
8
‘The cedars in the garden of God could not hide or rival it;
The cypress trees did not have boughs like it,
And the [g]plane trees did not have branches like it.
No tree in the garden of God was like it in its beauty.
9
‘I made it beautiful with the great mass of its branches,
So that all the trees of [h]Eden which were in the garden of God were jealous of it (Assyria).
10 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Because it is high in stature and has set its top among the thick boughs and the clouds, and its heart is proud of its height,(B) 11 I will [i]hand it over to a mighty one and a mighty one of the nations; he will most certainly deal with it. I have driven it away in accordance with its wickedness. 12 Alien tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; its foliage has fallen on the mountains and in all the valleys and its branches have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the nations of the earth have come from under its shade and have left it. 13 All the birds of the sky will nest in its ruins, and all the animals of the field will rest on its fallen branches 14 so that none of the trees by the waters may exalt themselves because of their height, nor set their top among the clouds, nor their well-watered mighty ones stand [arrogantly] in their height. For they have all been handed over to death, to the earth beneath, among the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit (the grave).”
15 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day when Assyria went down to Sheol (the place of the dead) I caused mourning; I closed the deep [subterranean waters] over it and restrained its rivers. And the many waters [that contributed to its prosperity] were held back; and I made [the heart of] Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away because of it. 16 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 well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and the best of Lebanon, will be comforted in the earth beneath [at Assyria’s downfall]. 17 They also went down to Sheol with it to those who were slain by the sword; those who were its strength lived under its shade among the nations.
18 “Which among the trees of Eden do you equal in glory and in greatness [O Egypt]? Yet you [also] will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth beneath (nether world). You will lie among the [j]uncircumcised (the barbaric, the boorish, the crude) with those who were slain by the sword. This is how it shall be with Pharaoh and all his hordes!”’ says the Lord God.”(C)
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 29:10 Coptic Souan, Senon; Arab Aswan.
- Ezekiel 29:15 There are few stronger contrasts in any modern country than between the ancient glory, dignity, power, and wealth of Egypt and its later diminished significance.
- Ezekiel 29:18 The siege against Tyre lasted about thirteen years.
- Ezekiel 29:18 Probably from constantly wearing war helmets.
- Ezekiel 30:5 Or the mixed people.
- Ezekiel 30:10 See note Jer 21:2.
- Ezekiel 31:8 This enormous tree may grow to a height of a hundred feet. The diameter of its base may vary from six to ten feet.
- Ezekiel 31:9 The traditional site of Eden was within the general area of the Assyrian Empire. However, this does not imply that Assyria was in the garden of God described in Gen 2:8.
- Ezekiel 31:11 The significance of comparing Egypt and Assyria becomes clear when it is remembered that Assyria had conquered and held Egypt in servitude, and had then been conquered and destroyed about twenty-five years before the date of this prophecy by an alliance of Media and Babylon, which at that time was ruled by Nebuchadnezzar’s father Nabopolassar. Now Babylon, under Nebuchadnezzar, is predicted to bring judgment on Egypt. Egypt could not realistically expect victory over the conqueror of her conqueror.
- Ezekiel 31:18 There were other circumcised nations besides the Hebrews, notably the Egyptians (as early as 3000 b.c.), Thus here the term has a general pejorative sense, not the specific meaning that it would have had for an Israelite.
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