Ezekiel 28-30

Contemporary English Version

Judgment on the King of Tyre

28 The Lord God said:

² Ezekiel, son of man, tell the king of Tyre^[a] that I am saying:

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. ³ You think you're wiser than Daniel^[b] and know everything.^[c]

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

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

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

A Funeral Song for the King of Tyre

¹¹ The Lord said:

¹² Ezekiel, son of man, sing a funeral song for the king of Tyre^[d] and tell him I am saying:

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

¹⁵ You were truly good from the time of your birth, but later you started doing wicked things. ¹⁶ You 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 jewels.

¹⁷ It 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. ¹⁸ You have cheated so many other merchants that your places of worship are corrupt. So I set your city on fire and burned it down. Now everyone sees only ashes where your city once stood, ¹⁹ and the people of other nations are shocked. Your punishment was horrible, and you are gone forever.

Judgment on Sidon and Peace for Israel

^20 (A) The Lord said:

²¹ Ezekiel, son of man, condemn the city of Sidon^{[h] 22} and tell its people:

I, the Lord God, am your enemy! People will praise me when I punish you, and they will see that I am holy. ²³ I 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.

²⁴ When that happens, the people of Israel will no longer have cruel neighbors 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.

A Blessing for Israel

²⁵ The Lord God said:

Someday 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. ²⁶ They will be safe and will build houses and plant vineyards. They will no longer be in danger, because I will punish their hateful neighbors. Israel will know that I am the Lord their God.

Judgment on the King of Egypt

29 ^(B) Ten years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the Lord spoke to me on the twelfth day of the tenth month.^[i] He said:

² Ezekiel, son of man, condemn the king of Egypt. Tell him and his people ³ that I am saying:

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! ⁴ I 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.^{[j] 5} I'll throw you and the fish into the desert, and your body will fall on the hard ground. You will be left unburied,^[k] and wild animals and birds will eat your flesh. ^6 (C) Then 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. ⁷ When they reached out to you for support, you broke in half, cutting their arms and making them fall.^[l]

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

You claimed that you made the Nile River and control it. ¹⁰ Now 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.^{[m] 11} No human or animal will even dare travel through Egypt, because no sign of life will be found there for 40 years. ¹² It will be the most barren place on earth. Every city in Egypt will lie in ruins during those 40 years, and I will scatter your people throughout the nations of the world.

¹³ Then after those 40 years have passed, I will bring your people back from the places where I scattered them. ¹⁴ They will once again live in their homeland in southern Egypt. But they will be a weak kingdom ¹⁵ and won't ever be strong enough to rule nations, as they did in the past. ¹⁶ My 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.

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia Will Conquer Egypt

¹⁷ Twenty-seven years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the Lord spoke to me on the first day of the first month.^[n] He said:

¹⁸ King 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. ¹⁹ So 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. ²⁰ Egypt will be his reward, because he and his army have been following my orders. I, the Lord God, have spoken.

²¹ Ezekiel, 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.

Egypt Will Be a Barren Desert

30 The Lord said:

² Ezekiel, son of man, tell the people of Egypt that I am saying:

⁵ Soldiers hired from Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, Arabia, Kub, as well as from Israel,^[p] will die in that battle. ⁶ All of your allies will be killed, and your proud strength will crumble. People will die from Migdol in the north to Aswan in the south. I, the Lord, have spoken.

⁷ Your nation of Egypt will be the most deserted place on earth, and its cities will lie in complete ruin. ⁸ I will set fire to your land, and anyone who defended your nation will die. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁹ On the same day I destroy Egypt, I will send messengers to the Ethiopians to announce their coming destruction. They think they are safe, but they will be terrified.

¹⁰ Your Egyptian army is very strong, but I will send King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to completely defeat that army. ¹¹ He and his cruel troops will invade and destroy your land and leave your dead bodies piled everywhere.

¹² I will dry up the Nile River, then sell the land to evil buyers. I will send foreigners to turn your entire nation into a barren desert. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Egypt's Proud Cities Will Lie in Ruins

The Lord said to the people of Egypt:

¹³ All the idols and images you Egyptians worship in the city of Memphis^[q] will be smashed. No one will be left to rule your nation, and terror will fill the land. ¹⁴ The city of Pathros will be left in ruins, and Zoan will be burned to the ground. Thebes,^[r] your capital city, will also be destroyed! ¹⁵ The fortress city of Pelusium will feel my fierce anger, and all the troops stationed at Thebes will be slaughtered.

¹⁶ I will set fire to your nation of Egypt! The city of Pelusium will be in anguish. Thebes will fall, and the people of Memphis will live in constant fear.^{[s] 17} The young soldiers in the cities of Heliopolis and Bubastis^[t] will die in battle, and the rest of the people will be taken prisoner. ¹⁸ You were so proud of your nation's power, but when I crush that power and kill that pride, darkness will fall over the city of Tahpanhes. A dark, gloomy cloud will cover the land as you are being led away into captivity. ¹⁹ When I'm through punishing Egypt, you will know that I am the Lord.

Egypt's King Is Powerless

²⁰ Eleven years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the Lord spoke to me on the seventh day of the first month.^[u] He said:

²¹ Ezekiel, son of man, I, the Lord, have defeated the king of Egypt! I broke his arm, and no one has wrapped it or put it in a sling, so that it could heal and get strong enough to hold a sword. ²² So tell him that I am now his worst enemy. I will break both his arms—the good one and the broken one! His sword will drop from his hand forever, ²³ and I will scatter the Egyptians all over the world.

^24-25 I will strengthen the power of Babylonia's king and give him my sword to use against Egypt. I will also make the wounded king of Egypt powerless, and he will moan in pain and die in front of the Babylonian king. Then everyone on earth will know that I am the Lord. ²⁶ I will force the Egyptians to live as prisoners in foreign nations, and they will know that I, the Lord, have punished them.