Ezekiel 30
New Living Translation
A Sad Day for Egypt
30 This is another message that came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of man, prophesy and give this message from the Sovereign Lord:
“Weep and wail
for that day,
3 for the terrible day is almost here—
the day of the Lord!
It is a day of clouds and gloom,
a day of despair for the nations.
4 A sword will come against Egypt,
and those who are slaughtered will cover the ground.
Its wealth will be carried away
and its foundations destroyed.
The land of Ethiopia[a] will be ravished.
5 Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, all Arabia,[b]
and all their other allies
will be destroyed in that war.
6 “For this is what the Lord says:
All of Egypt’s allies will fall,
and the pride of her power will end.
From Migdol to Aswan[c]
they will be slaughtered by the sword,
says the Sovereign Lord.
7 Egypt will be desolate,
surrounded by desolate nations,
and its cities will be in ruins,
surrounded by other ruined cities.
8 And the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord
when I have set Egypt on fire
and destroyed all their allies.
9 At that time I will send swift messengers in ships
to terrify the complacent Ethiopians.
Great panic will come upon them
on that day of Egypt’s certain destruction.
Watch for it!
It is sure to come!
10 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
By the power of King Nebuchadnezzar[d] of Babylon,
I will destroy the hordes of Egypt.
11 He and his armies—the most ruthless of all—
will be sent to demolish the land.
They will make war against Egypt
until slaughtered Egyptians cover the ground.
12 I will dry up the Nile River
and sell the land to wicked men.
I will destroy the land of Egypt and everything in it
by the hands of foreigners.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
13 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
I will smash the idols[e] of Egypt
and the images at Memphis.[f]
There will be no rulers left in Egypt;
terror will sweep the land.
14 I will destroy southern Egypt,[g]
set fire to Zoan,
and bring judgment against Thebes.[h]
15 I will pour out my fury on Pelusium,[i]
the strongest fortress of Egypt,
and I will stamp out
the hordes of Thebes.
16 Yes, I will set fire to all Egypt!
Pelusium will be racked with pain;
Thebes will be torn apart;
Memphis will live in constant terror.
17 The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis[j] will die in battle,
and the women[k] will be taken away as slaves.
18 When I come to break the proud strength of Egypt,
it will be a dark day for Tahpanhes, too.
A dark cloud will cover Tahpanhes,
and its daughters will be led away as captives.
19 And so I will greatly punish Egypt,
and they will know that I am the Lord.”
The Broken Arms of Pharaoh
20 On April 29,[l] during the eleventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the Lord: 21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. His arm has not been put in a cast so that it may heal. Neither has it been bound up with a splint to make it strong enough to hold a sword. 22 Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am the enemy of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt! I will break both of his arms—the good arm along with the broken one—and I will make his sword clatter to the ground. 23 I will scatter the Egyptians to many lands throughout the world. 24 I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king and put my sword in his hand. But I will break the arms of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he will lie there mortally wounded, groaning in pain. 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, while the arms of Pharaoh fall useless to his sides. And when I put my sword in the hand of Babylon’s king and he brings it against the land of Egypt, Egypt will know that I am the Lord. 26 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, dispersing them throughout the earth. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
Footnotes
- 30:4 Hebrew Cush; similarly in 30:9.
- 30:5 Hebrew Cush, Put, Lud, all Arabia, Cub. Cub is otherwise unknown and may be another spelling for Lub (Libya).
- 30:6 Hebrew to Syene.
- 30:10 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar.
- 30:13a The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung.
- 30:13b Hebrew Noph; also in 30:16.
- 30:14a Hebrew Pathros.
- 30:14b Hebrew No; also in 30:15, 16.
- 30:15 Hebrew Sin; also in 30:16.
- 30:17a Hebrew of Awen and Pi-beseth.
- 30:17b Or and her cities.
- 30:20 Hebrew On the seventh day of the first month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This event occurred on April 29, 587 B.c.; also see note on 1:1.
Ezekiel 30
International Standard Version
The Day of the Lord
30 Another message came to me from the Lord, who had this to say:
2 “Son of Man, here’s what you are to prophesy and announce,
‘This is what the Lord God says:
“Wail out loud!
Oh no! The day!
3 For comes now the day—
comes now the Day of the Lord,
the day of clouds!
The time of the gentiles[a] is fulfilled![b]
4 War[c] will come to Egypt,
and Ethiopia will be in anguish
when the slain fall in Egypt,
when her wealth is carried off,
and her foundations are demolished.
5 “Ethiopia,[d] Libya,[e] descendants of[f] Lud,[g] all those who have mixed themselves,[h] and Libya[i]—along with everyone in the land of Israel who is in league[j] with them—will die violently.”’”[k]
Continued Judgment on Egypt
6 “This is what the Lord says:
‘Those who are supporting Egypt will fall;
her majestic strength that she brought[l] from the Aswan[m] fortress will collapse
by the sword that invades her,’
declares the Lord God.
7 They’ll remain desolate among desolate lands,
their cities will be named among those that are ruined.
8 They will know that I am the Lord
when I kindle my fire in Egypt
and all who help her are crushed.
9 ‘When that happens, couriers will go out in ships to terrify Ethiopia[n] in its complacency. Anguish will visit them as it will visit Egypt. Watch out! It’s coming!’”
Foreigners will Invade Egypt
10 “This is what the Lord says:
‘I’m putting an end to that gang from Egypt,
and I’m going to use King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, to do it!
11 He and his ruthless army with him will be brought
to destroy the land.
They’ll draw their swords and attack[o] Egypt,
filling the land with the dead!
12 I’ll dry up their waterways,
and evil men will sell off the land.
I’m going to make that land desolate,
along with everything that’s in it,
and I’m going to use foreigners to do it.
I, the Lord have spoken!’”
Destruction of Egypt’s Gods
13 “This is what the Lord God says:
‘I will destroy the idols
and put an end to the images that come from Memphis.
There will no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt,
and I will terrify the land of Egypt.
14 I’m going to turn Pathros into a desolation,
set fire to Zoan,[p]
and judge Thebes.[q]
15 I’ll pour out my anger on Sin,[r]
Egypt’s strong fortress,
and I’ll eliminate the gangs in Thebes.
16 I’ll set fire to Egypt,
and Aswan[s] will writhe in agony.
Thebes will be demolished,
and Memphis will face daily distress.
17 The young men of On and Pi-beseth will die violently,[t]
and their cities will be taken captive.
18 It will be a dark day for Tahpanhes
when I break the yokes of Egypt.
That’s when her arrogant power will come to an end.
She’ll be covered by a cloud,
and her citizens[u] will go into captivity.
19 I will judge Egypt,
and they will learn that I am the Lord.’”
Babylon’s Victory
20 On the seventh day of the first month of the eleventh year of our captivity,[v] a message came to me from the Lord. It had this to say: 21 “Son of Man, I’ve broken the arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Look! It hasn’t been set in a splint for healing or wrapped with a bandage so it could be strong enough to hold a sword! 22 Therefore this is what the Lord God says:
‘I’m coming to attack Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and I’m going to break both of his arms, the strong one and the wounded one. That will make him drop his sword. 23 I’m going to scatter Egypt throughout the surrounding[w] nations and disperse them throughout the world. 24 I’m going to strengthen the military might[x] of the king of Babylon, put my own sword in his hand, and break Pharaoh’s strength.[y] Then Pharaoh[z] will groan like a dying man right in front of the king of Babylon.[aa] 25 When I strengthen the military might of Babylon, the military might of Pharaoh will fail, and then they will learn that I am the Lord when I place my own sword in the hand of the king of Babylon. He will attack the land of Egypt. 26 When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the world, they will learn that I am the Lord.’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 30:3 Or nations
- Ezekiel 30:3 Or gentiles shall come to pass; or It shall be the time of judgment for the gentiles
- Ezekiel 30:4 Lit. The sword
- Ezekiel 30:5 Lit. Cush; the Heb. name means black
- Ezekiel 30:5 Lit. Put; the Heb. name means bow
- Ezekiel 30:5 The Heb. lacks descendants of
- Ezekiel 30:5 I.e., the fourth son of Shem, progenitor of the Lydians. The Heb. name Lud means strife.
- Ezekiel 30:5 So LXX; cf. Dan 2:43; MT reads all the twilight
- Ezekiel 30:5 Lit. Chub; the Heb. means horde
- Ezekiel 30:5 Or who have joined in a covenant
- Ezekiel 30:5 Lit. will fall by the sword
- Ezekiel 30:6 The Heb. lacks that she brought
- Ezekiel 30:6 Lit. Syene, an Egyptian frontier town near the southern border with Ethiopia
- Ezekiel 30:9 Lit. Cush; the Heb. name means black
- Ezekiel 30:11 Lit. swords against
- Ezekiel 30:14 I.e. the residence city of Egypt’s Pharaoh at the time of the exodus (c. 1440 BCE)
- Ezekiel 30:14 Lit. No; i.e. the ancient capital of Egypt
- Ezekiel 30:15 So MT; LXX reads Sain; i.e. Pelusium, a fortified city on Egypt’s northeastern border
- Ezekiel 30:16 LXX reads Syene, an Egyptian frontier town near the southern border with Ethiopia; MT reads Sin
- Ezekiel 30:17 Lit. will fall by the sword
- Ezekiel 30:18 Lit. daughters
- Ezekiel 30:20 The Heb. lacks of our captivity
- Ezekiel 30:23 The Heb. lacks surrounding
- Ezekiel 30:24 Lit. the arm
- Ezekiel 30:24 Lit. arms
- Ezekiel 30:24 Lit. he
- Ezekiel 30:24 Lit. of him
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