Hesekiel 30 | New International Reader’s Version

1 A 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!” 3 The day is near. The day of the LORD is coming. It will be a cloudy day. The nations have been sentenced to die. 4 I 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. 5 The 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.’ ” ’ 6 The 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. 8 I 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.’ 10 The 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. 11 He 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. 12 I 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.’ 13 The 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. 14 I will completely destroy Upper Egypt. I will set Zoan on fire. I will punish Thebes. 15 I will pour out my burning anger on Pelusium. It is a fort in eastern Egypt. I will wipe out the huge army of Thebes. 16 I 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. 17 The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis will be killed by swords. Their people will be taken away as prisoners. 18 I 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. 19 So I will punish Egypt. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’ 20 It 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. 22 I 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. 23 I will scatter the people of Egypt among the nations. I will send them to other countries. 24 I 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. 25 I 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. 26 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations. I will send them to other countries. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’

English Standard Version

A Lament for Egypt

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: “Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’ 3 For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for* the nations. 4 A sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Cush, when the slain fall in Egypt, and her wealth* is carried away, and her foundations are torn down. 5 Cush, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya,* and the people of the land that is in league,* shall fall with them by the sword. 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. 7 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. 8 Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have set fire to Egypt, and all her helpers are broken. 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;* for, behold, it comes! 10 “Thus says the Lord God: “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, 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. 12 And 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. 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. 14 I will make Pathros a desolation and will set fire to Zoan and will execute judgments on Thebes. 15 And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt, and cut off the multitude* of Thebes. 16 And I will set fire to Egypt; Pelusium shall be in great agony; Thebes shall be breached, and Memphis shall face enemies* by day. 17 The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword, and the women* shall go into captivity. 18 At 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. 19 Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon

20 In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 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. 22 Therefore 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. 23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. 24 And 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. 25 I 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. 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.”

Hesekiel 30 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

A Lament for Egypt

Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon