1A message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said,2‘Son of man, prophesy. Say, “The LORD and King says, ‘ “ ‘Cry out, “A terrible day is coming!”3The day is near. The day of the LORD is coming. It will be a cloudy day. The nations have been sentenced to die.4I will send Nebuchadnezzar’s sword against Egypt. Cush will suffer terribly. Many will die in Egypt. Then its wealth will be carried away. Its foundations will be torn down.5The people of Cush, Libya, Lydia, Kub and the whole land of Arabia will be killed by swords. So will the Jews who live in Egypt. They went there from the covenant land of Israel. And the Egyptians will die too.’ ” ’6The LORD says, ‘Those who were going to help Egypt will die. The strength Egypt was so proud of will fail. Its people will be killed by swords from Migdol all the way to Aswan,’ announces the LORD and King.7‘Egypt will be more empty than any other land. Its cities will be completely destroyed.8I will set Egypt on fire. All those who came to help it will be crushed. Then they will know that I am the LORD.9‘At that time I will send messengers out in ships. They will terrify the people of Cush who are so contented. Cush will suffer greatly when Egypt falls. And you can be sure it will fall.’10The LORD and King says, ‘I will put an end to the huge armies of Egypt. I will use Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to do this.11He and his armies will attack the land and destroy it. They will not show its people any pity at all. They will use their swords against Egypt. They will fill the land with dead bodies.12I will dry up the waters of the River Nile. I will sell the land to an evil nation. I will use the power of outsiders to destroy the land and everything in it. I have spoken. I am the LORD.’13The LORD and King says, ‘I will destroy the statues of Egypt’s gods. I will put an end to the gods the people in Memphis worship. Egypt will not have princes anymore. I will spread fear all through the land.14I will completely destroy Upper Egypt. I will set Zoan on fire. I will punish Thebes.15I will pour out my burning anger on Pelusium. It is a fort in eastern Egypt. I will wipe out the huge army of Thebes.16I will set Egypt on fire. Pelusium will groan with terrible pain. Thebes will be ripped apart. Memphis will suffer greatly because of everything that happens.17The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis will be killed by swords. Their people will be taken away as prisoners.18I will break Egypt’s power over other lands. That will be a dark day for Tahpanhes. There the strength Egypt was so proud of will come to an end. Egypt will be covered with clouds. The people in its villages will be taken away as prisoners.19So I will punish Egypt. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’20It was the 11th year since King Jehoiachin had been brought to Babylon as a prisoner. On the seventh day of the first month, a message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said,21‘Son of man, I have broken the powerful arm of Pharaoh Hophra, the king of Egypt. No bandages have been put on his arm to heal it. It has not been put in a cast. So his arm will not be strong enough to use a sword.22I am against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. I will break both his arms. I will break his healthy arm and his broken one. His sword will fall from his hand.23I will scatter the people of Egypt among the nations. I will send them to other countries.24I will make the arms of the king of Babylon stronger. I will put my sword in his hand. But I will break the arms of Pharaoh. And he will groan in front of Nebuchadnezzar. He will cry out like someone dying from his wounds.25I will make the arms of the king of Babylon stronger. But the arms of Pharaoh will not be able to help Egypt. I will put my sword in Nebuchadnezzar’s hand. He will get ready to use it against Egypt. Then they will know that I am the LORD.26I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations. I will send them to other countries. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’
Ezekiel 30
English Standard Version
A Lament for Egypt
1The word of the Lord came to me:2“Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: “Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’ (Isa 13:6; Eze 2:1)3For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for[1] the nations. (Eze 7:7; Eze 7:12; Eze 30:2; Eze 34:12; Joe 1:15; Joe 2:1; Zep 1:7)4A sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Cush, when the slain fall in Egypt, and her wealth[2] is carried away, and her foundations are torn down. (Isa 21:3; Isa 43:3; Eze 29:8; Eze 29:19; Eze 30:6)5Cush, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya,[3] and the people of the land that is in league,[4] shall fall with them by the sword. (Jer 25:20; Eze 27:10; Eze 30:4)6“Thus says the Lord: Those who support Egypt shall fall, and her proud might shall come down; from Migdol to Syene they shall fall within her by the sword, declares the Lord God. (Eze 29:10; Eze 30:18; Eze 32:21; Eze 33:28)7And they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries, and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste. (Eze 29:12)8Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have set fire to Egypt, and all her helpers are broken. (Eze 6:7; Eze 28:18; Eze 29:6; Eze 30:6)9“On that day messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting people of Cush, and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt’s doom;[5] for, behold, it comes! (Isa 18:1; Eze 30:4)10“Thus says the Lord God: “I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. (Eze 29:19)11He and his people with him, the most ruthless of nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land, and they shall draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain. (Eze 28:7; Eze 30:4)12And I will dry up the Nile and will sell the land into the hand of evildoers; I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it, by the hand of foreigners; I am the Lord; I have spoken. (Isa 19:4; Isa 19:5; Eze 17:24; Eze 28:7; Eze 29:3; Eze 29:10)13“Thus says the Lord God: “I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images in Memphis; there shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt; so I will put fear in the land of Egypt. (Isa 19:13; Isa 19:16; Jer 43:12; Eze 29:15; Zec 10:11)14I will make Pathros a desolation and will set fire to Zoan and will execute judgments on Thebes. (Nu 13:22; Isa 11:11; Jer 46:25; Eze 29:14; Eze 30:19)15And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt, and cut off the multitude[6] of Thebes.16And I will set fire to Egypt; Pelusium shall be in great agony; Thebes shall be breached, and Memphis shall face enemies[7] by day. (Eze 30:13)17The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword, and the women[8] shall go into captivity.18At Tehaphnehes the day shall be dark, when I break there the yoke bars of Egypt, and her proud might shall come to an end in her; she shall be covered by a cloud, and her daughters shall go into captivity. (Jer 2:16; Jer 15:9; Eze 30:6; Am 8:9)19Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” (Eze 6:7; Eze 30:14)
Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon
20In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: (Eze 20:1)21“Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, 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. (Jer 30:13; Jer 46:11; Jer 48:25; Eze 2:1)22Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. (Eze 30:21)23I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. (Eze 29:12)24And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a man mortally wounded. (Job 24:12; Eze 21:3; Eze 30:10)25I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. Then 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. (Eze 6:7; Eze 30:8)26And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”