Lamentation for Egypt

30 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God:

Wail, “Alas for the day!”

3 For a day is near,

the day of the Lord is near;

it will be a day of clouds,

a time of dooma for the nations.

4 A sword shall come upon Egypt,

and anguish shall be in Ethiopia,b

when the slain fall in Egypt,

and its wealth is carried away,

and its foundations are torn down.

5 Ethiopia,c and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya,d and the people of the allied lande shall fall with them by the sword.

6 Thus says the Lord:

Those who support Egypt shall fall,

and its proud might shall come down;

from Migdol to Syene

they shall fall within it by the sword,

says the Lord God.

7 They shall be desolated among other desolated countries,

and their cities shall lie among cities laid waste.

8 Then they shall know that I am the Lord,

when I have set fire to Egypt,

and all who help it are broken.

9 On that day, messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting Ethiopians;f and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt’s doom;g for it is coming!

10 Thus says the Lord God:

I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt,

by the hand of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon.

11 He and his people with him, the most terrible of the 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 I will dry up the channels,

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 the Lord 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 in 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 acts of judgment on Thebes.

15 I will pour my wrath upon Pelusium,

the stronghold of Egypt,

and cut off the hordes of Thebes.

16 I will set fire to Egypt;

Pelusium shall be in great agony;

Thebes shall be breached,

and Memphis face adversaries by day.

17 The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword;

and the cities themselvesh shall go into captivity.

18 At Tehaphnehes the day shall be dark,

when I break there the dominion of Egypt,

and its proud might shall come to an end;

the cityi shall be covered by a cloud,

and its daughter-towns shall go into captivity.

19 Thus I will execute acts of judgment on Egypt.

Then they shall know that I am the Lord.