Ezekiel 30

A Lament Over Egypt

^30:1The word of the Lord came to me: ^30:2“Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“ ‘Wail, “Alas, the day is here!”¹

^30:3For the day is near,

the day of the Lord is near;

it will be a day of storm clouds,²

it will be a time of judgment³ for the nations.

^30:4A sword will come against Egypt

and panic will overtake Ethiopia

when the slain fall in Egypt

and they carry away her wealth

and dismantle her foundations.

^30:5Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all the foreigners,⁴ Libya, and the people⁵ of the covenant land⁶ will die by the sword along with them.

^30:6“ ‘This is what the Lord says:

Egypt’s supporters will fall;

her confident pride will crumble.⁷

From Migdol to Syene⁸ they will die by the sword within her,

declares the sovereign Lord.

^30:7They will be desolate among desolate lands,

and their cities will be among ruined cities.

^30:8They will know that I am the Lord

when I ignite a fire in Egypt

and all her allies are defeated.⁹

^30:9On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten overly confident Ethiopia; panic will overtake them on the day of Egypt’s doom;¹⁰ for beware—it is coming!

^30:10“ ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt,

by the hand of King Nebuchadrezzar¹¹ of Babylon.

^30:11He and his people with him,

the most terrifying of the nations,¹²

will be brought there to destroy the land.

They will draw their swords against Egypt,

and fill the land with corpses.

^30:12I will dry up the waterways

and hand the land over to¹³ evil men.

I will make the land and everything in it desolate by the hand of foreigners.

I, the Lord, have spoken!

^30:13“ ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

I will destroy the idols,

and put an end to the gods of Memphis.

There will no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt;

so I will make the land of Egypt fearful.¹⁴

^30:14I will desolate Pathros,

I will ignite a fire in Zoan,

and I will execute judgments on Thebes.

^30:15I will pour out my anger upon Pelusium,¹⁵

the stronghold of Egypt;

I will cut off¹⁶ the hordes of Thebes.

^30:16I will ignite a fire in Egypt;

Syene¹⁷ will writhe in agony,

Thebes will be broken down,

and Memphis will face enemies every day.

^30:17The young men of On and of Pi-beseth¹⁸ will die by the sword;

and the cities will go¹⁹ into captivity.

^30:18In Tahpanhes the day will be dark²⁰

when I break the yoke of Egypt there.

Her confident pride will cease within her;

a cloud will cover her, and her daughters will go into captivity.

^30:19I will execute judgments on Egypt.

Then they will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

^30:20In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month,²¹ the word of the Lord came to me: ^30:21“Son of man, I have broken the arm²² of Pharaoh king of Egypt.²³ Look, it has not been bandaged for healing or set with a dressing so that it might become strong enough to grasp a sword. ^30:22Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look,²⁴ I am against²⁵ Pharaoh king of Egypt, and I will break his arms, the strong arm and the broken one, and I will make the sword drop from his hand. ^30:23I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among foreign countries. ^30:24I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and I will place my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan like the fatally wounded before the king of Babylon.^2630:25I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall limp. Then they will know that I am the Lord when I place my sword in the hand of the king of Babylon and he extends it against the land of Egypt. ^30:26I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among foreign countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”