A Lament for Egypt

30 The word of the Lord came to me: (A)“Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God:

(B)“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’
    (C)For the day is near,
    (D)the day of the Lord is near;
it will be (E)a day of clouds,
    a time of doom for[a] the nations.
(F)A sword shall come upon Egypt,
    (G)and anguish shall be in (H)Cush,
when the slain fall in Egypt,
    and (I)her wealth[b] is carried away,
    and (J)her foundations are torn down.

(K)Cush, and (L)Put, and Lud, and (M)all Arabia, and Libya,[c] and the people of the land that is in league,[d] shall fall with them by the sword.

“Thus says the Lord:
(N)Those who support Egypt shall fall,
    and (O)her proud might shall come down;
(P)from Migdol to Syene
    they shall fall within her by the sword,
declares the Lord God.
(Q)And they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries,
    and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste.
(R)Then they will know that I am the Lord,
    when (S)I have set fire to Egypt,
    and (T)all her helpers are broken.

“On that day (U)messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting (V)people of Cush, and (W)anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt's doom;[e] for, behold, it comes!

10 “Thus says the Lord God:

(X)“I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt,
    by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, (Y)the most ruthless of nations,
    shall be brought in to destroy the land,
(Z)and they shall draw their swords against Egypt
    and fill the land with the slain.
12 And (AA)I will (AB)dry up the Nile
    and will sell the land into the hand of (AC)evildoers;
(AD)I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it,
    by the hand of (AE)foreigners;
(AF)I am the Lord; I have spoken.

13 “Thus says the Lord God:

(AG)“I will destroy the idols
    and put an end to the images in (AH)Memphis;
(AI)there shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt;
    so (AJ)I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14 I will make (AK)Pathros a desolation
    and will set fire to (AL)Zoan
    (AM)and will execute judgments on (AN)Thebes.
15 And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,
    the stronghold of Egypt,
    and cut off the multitude[f] of Thebes.
16 And I will set fire to Egypt;
    Pelusium shall be in great agony;
Thebes shall be breached,
    and (AO)Memphis shall face enemies[g] by day.
17 The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword,
    and the women[h] shall go into captivity.
18 At (AP)Tehaphnehes (AQ)the day shall be dark,
    when I break there the yoke bars of Egypt,
and (AR)her proud might shall come to an end in her;
    she shall be covered by a cloud,
    and her daughters shall go into captivity.
19 Thus (AS)I will execute judgments on Egypt.
    (AT)Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon

20 (AU)In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 21 (AV)“Son of man, (AW)I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, (AX)it has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. 22 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and (AY)will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23 (AZ)I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. 24 And (BA)I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put (BB)my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him (BC)like a man mortally wounded. 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. (BD)Then they shall know that I am the Lord, (BE)when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. 26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 30:3 Hebrew lacks doom for
  2. Ezekiel 30:4 Or multitude; also verse 10
  3. Ezekiel 30:5 With Septuagint; Hebrew Cub
  4. Ezekiel 30:5 Hebrew and the sons of the land of the covenant
  5. Ezekiel 30:9 Hebrew the day of Egypt
  6. Ezekiel 30:15 Or wealth
  7. Ezekiel 30:16 Or distress
  8. Ezekiel 30:17 Or the cities; Hebrew they

Egypt and Her Allies Will Fall

30 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

(A)“Wail, ‘Woe to the day!’
For (B)the day is near,
Even the day of the Lord is near;
It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles.
The sword shall come upon Egypt,
And great anguish shall be in [a]Ethiopia,
When the slain fall in Egypt,
And they (C)take away her wealth,
And (D)her foundations are broken down.

“Ethiopia, [b]Libya, [c]Lydia, (E)all the mingled people, Chub, and the men of the lands who are allied, shall fall with them by the sword.”

‘Thus says the Lord:

“Those who uphold Egypt shall fall,
And the pride of her power shall come down.
(F)From [d]Migdol to Syene
Those within her shall fall by the sword,”
Says the Lord God.

“They(G) shall be desolate in the midst of the desolate countries,
And her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are laid waste.
Then they will know that I am the Lord,
When I have set a fire in Egypt
And all her helpers are destroyed.
On that day (H)messengers shall go forth from Me in ships
To make the [e]careless Ethiopians afraid,
And great anguish shall come upon them,
As on the day of Egypt;
For indeed it is coming!”

10 ‘Thus says the Lord God:

(I)“I will also make a multitude of Egypt to cease
By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, (J)the most terrible of the nations,
Shall be brought to destroy the land;
They shall draw their swords against Egypt,
And fill the land with the slain.
12 (K)I will make the rivers dry,
And (L)sell the land into the hand of the wicked;
I will make the land waste, and all that is in it,
By the hand of aliens.
I, the Lord, have spoken.”

13 ‘Thus says the Lord God:

“I will also (M)destroy the idols,
And cause the images to cease from [f]Noph;
(N)There shall no longer be princes from the land of Egypt;
(O)I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14 I will make (P)Pathros desolate,
Set fire to (Q)Zoan,
(R)And execute judgments in [g]No.
15 I will pour My fury on [h]Sin, the strength of Egypt;
(S)I will cut off the multitude of [i]No,
16 And (T)set a fire in Egypt;
Sin shall have great pain,
No shall be split open,
And Noph shall be in distress daily.
17 The young men of [j]Aven and Pi Beseth shall fall by the sword,
And these cities shall go into captivity.
18 (U)At [k]Tehaphnehes the day shall also be [l]darkened,
When I break the yokes of Egypt there.
And her arrogant strength shall cease in her;
As for her, a cloud shall cover her,
And her daughters shall go into captivity.
19 Thus I will (V)execute judgments on Egypt,
Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

Proclamation Against Pharaoh

20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 21 “Son of man, I have (W)broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and see, (X)it has not been bandaged for healing, nor a [m]splint put on to bind it, to make it strong enough to hold a sword. 22 Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Surely I am (Y)against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will (Z)break his arms, both the strong one and the one that was broken; and I will make the sword fall out of his hand. 23 (AA)I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them throughout the countries. 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 with the groanings of a mortally wounded man. 25 Thus I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; (AB)they shall 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 (AC)I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.’ ”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 30:4 Heb. Cush
  2. Ezekiel 30:5 Heb. Put
  3. Ezekiel 30:5 Heb. Lud
  4. Ezekiel 30:6 Or the tower
  5. Ezekiel 30:9 Or secure
  6. Ezekiel 30:13 Ancient Memphis
  7. Ezekiel 30:14 Ancient Thebes
  8. Ezekiel 30:15 Ancient Pelusium
  9. Ezekiel 30:15 Ancient Thebes
  10. Ezekiel 30:17 Ancient On, Heliopolis
  11. Ezekiel 30:18 Tahpanhes, Jer. 43:7
  12. Ezekiel 30:18 So with many Heb. mss., Bg., LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg.; MT refrained
  13. Ezekiel 30:21 Lit. bandage