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A Lament over the Nation and Land of Egypt

30 And the word of Yahweh came[a] to me, saying,[b] “Son of man,[c] prophesy, and you must say, ‘thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“Wail, alas! For the day!
    For a day is near;
    indeed, a day is near for Yahweh.
A day of cloud,
    a time of the nations it will be.
And a sword will come in Egypt,
    and anguish will be in Cush,
at the falling of the slain in Egypt.
And they will take its wealth,
    and its foundation will be demolished.

Cush and Put and Lud and all of Arabia and Kub and the people[d] of the land of the treaty[e] with them—by the sword they will fall.”

Thus says Yahweh:

“And the supporters of Egypt will fall,
    and the majesty of its strength will go down
from Migdol to Syene;
    by the sword they will fall in it,”
declares[f] the Lord Yahweh.
“And they will be desolate in the midst of desolate countries,
    and its cities will be in the midst of ruined cities.
And they will know that I am Yahweh
    when I put my fire in Egypt,
    and all of its helpers are broken.

On that day messengers will go down from before me[g] in the ships to terrify unsuspecting Cush, and anguish will be in them on the day of Egypt; for look, it is coming!”

10 Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“And I will put an end to the crowds[h] of Egypt
    by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, the most ruthless of nations,
    will be brought to destroy the land.
And they will draw their swords against Egypt,
    and they will fill the land with the slain,
12 and I will make the Nile streams dry land,
    and I will sell the land into the hand of bad people,
and I will lay waste the land and its fullness
    by the hand of strangers.

I, Yahweh, I have spoken.”

13 Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“And I will destroy the idols,
    and I will put an end to the worthless idols from Memphis.
And there will no longer be[i] a prince from the land of Egypt,
    and I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14 And I will lay waste Pathros,
    and I will set fire in Zoan,
    and I will execute judgments in No.[j]
15 I will pour out my rage over Sin,
    the stronghold of Egypt,
    and I will cut off the crowd[k] of No.[l]
16 And I will set fire in Egypt,
    certainly Sin will writhe,
and No[m] will be breached,
    and Memphis will face enemies daily.[n]
17 The young men of On and Pi Beseth will fall by the sword,
    and they will go into captivity.
18 And at Tahpanhes the day will become dark
    when I break the yoke of Egypt,
and in it the majesty of its strength
    will come to an end.
A cloud will cover it,
    and its daughters will go into captivity.
19 And I will execute judgments in Egypt,
    and they will know that I am Yahweh.”

20 And then[o] in the eleventh[p] year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of Yahweh came[q] to me, saying,[r] 21 “Son of man,[s] the arm of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, I have broken. And look, it has not been bound up for giving of a remedy, or for the placing of a splint to bind it up to make it strong to take hold of the sword.” 22 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and I will break his strong arm and the broken arm, and I will let the sword fall from his hand. 23 And I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will disperse them among the countries. 24 And I will strengthen the arm of the king of Babylon, and I will give my sword into his hand, and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan with the groaning of the mortally wounded before him.[t] 25 And I will strengthen the arm of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh will fall. And they will know that I am Yahweh when I give my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will stretch it out to the land of Egypt. 26 And I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will disperse them into the countries, and they will know that I am Yahweh.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 30:1 Literally “was”
  2. Ezekiel 30:1 Literally “to say”
  3. Ezekiel 30:2 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  4. Ezekiel 30:5 Or “children”
  5. Ezekiel 30:5 Or “covenant”
  6. Ezekiel 30:6 Literally “declaration of”
  7. Ezekiel 30:9 Literally “to the face of me”
  8. Ezekiel 30:10 Or “hordes”
  9. Ezekiel 30:13 Literally “not be any longer”
  10. Ezekiel 30:14 That is, Thebes
  11. Ezekiel 30:15 Or “horde”
  12. Ezekiel 30:15 That is, Thebes
  13. Ezekiel 30:16 That is, Thebes
  14. Ezekiel 30:16 Literally “of by day”
  15. Ezekiel 30:20 Literally “and it was”
  16. Ezekiel 30:20 Literally “on one ten”
  17. Ezekiel 30:20 Literally “was”
  18. Ezekiel 30:20 Literally “to say”
  19. Ezekiel 30:21 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  20. Ezekiel 30:24 Literally “the face of him”

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