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A Lament over the Nation and Land of Egypt

30 And the word of Yahweh came[a] to me, saying,[b] “Son of man,[c] prophesy, and you must say, ‘thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“Wail, alas! For the day!
    For a day is near;
    indeed, a day is near for Yahweh.
A day of cloud,
    a time of the nations it will be.
And a sword will come in Egypt,
    and anguish will be in Cush,
at the falling of the slain in Egypt.
And they will take its wealth,
    and its foundation will be demolished.

Cush and Put and Lud and all of Arabia and Kub and the people[d] of the land of the treaty[e] with them—by the sword they will fall.”

Thus says Yahweh:

“And the supporters of Egypt will fall,
    and the majesty of its strength will go down
from Migdol to Syene;
    by the sword they will fall in it,”
declares[f] the Lord Yahweh.
“And they will be desolate in the midst of desolate countries,
    and its cities will be in the midst of ruined cities.
And they will know that I am Yahweh
    when I put my fire in Egypt,
    and all of its helpers are broken.

On that day messengers will go down from before me[g] in the ships to terrify unsuspecting Cush, and anguish will be in them on the day of Egypt; for look, it is coming!”

10 Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“And I will put an end to the crowds[h] of Egypt
    by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, the most ruthless of nations,
    will be brought to destroy the land.
And they will draw their swords against Egypt,
    and they will fill the land with the slain,
12 and I will make the Nile streams dry land,
    and I will sell the land into the hand of bad people,
and I will lay waste the land and its fullness
    by the hand of strangers.

I, Yahweh, I have spoken.”

13 Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“And I will destroy the idols,
    and I will put an end to the worthless idols from Memphis.
And there will no longer be[i] a prince from the land of Egypt,
    and I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14 And I will lay waste Pathros,
    and I will set fire in Zoan,
    and I will execute judgments in No.[j]
15 I will pour out my rage over Sin,
    the stronghold of Egypt,
    and I will cut off the crowd[k] of No.[l]
16 And I will set fire in Egypt,
    certainly Sin will writhe,
and No[m] will be breached,
    and Memphis will face enemies daily.[n]
17 The young men of On and Pi Beseth will fall by the sword,
    and they will go into captivity.
18 And at Tahpanhes the day will become dark
    when I break the yoke of Egypt,
and in it the majesty of its strength
    will come to an end.
A cloud will cover it,
    and its daughters will go into captivity.
19 And I will execute judgments in Egypt,
    and they will know that I am Yahweh.”

20 And then[o] in the eleventh[p] year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of Yahweh came[q] to me, saying,[r] 21 “Son of man,[s] the arm of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, I have broken. And look, it has not been bound up for giving of a remedy, or for the placing of a splint to bind it up to make it strong to take hold of the sword.” 22 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and I will break his strong arm and the broken arm, and I will let the sword fall from his hand. 23 And I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will disperse them among the countries. 24 And I will strengthen the arm of the king of Babylon, and I will give my sword into his hand, and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan with the groaning of the mortally wounded before him.[t] 25 And I will strengthen the arm of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh will fall. And they will know that I am Yahweh when I give my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will stretch it out to the land of Egypt. 26 And I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will disperse them into the countries, and they will know that I am Yahweh.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 30:1 Literally “was”
  2. Ezekiel 30:1 Literally “to say”
  3. Ezekiel 30:2 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  4. Ezekiel 30:5 Or “children”
  5. Ezekiel 30:5 Or “covenant”
  6. Ezekiel 30:6 Literally “declaration of”
  7. Ezekiel 30:9 Literally “to the face of me”
  8. Ezekiel 30:10 Or “hordes”
  9. Ezekiel 30:13 Literally “not be any longer”
  10. Ezekiel 30:14 That is, Thebes
  11. Ezekiel 30:15 Or “horde”
  12. Ezekiel 30:15 That is, Thebes
  13. Ezekiel 30:16 That is, Thebes
  14. Ezekiel 30:16 Literally “of by day”
  15. Ezekiel 30:20 Literally “and it was”
  16. Ezekiel 30:20 Literally “on one ten”
  17. Ezekiel 30:20 Literally “was”
  18. Ezekiel 30:20 Literally “to say”
  19. Ezekiel 30:21 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  20. Ezekiel 30:24 Literally “the face of him”

A Lament Over Egypt

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

“‘Wail(A) and say,
    “Alas for that day!”
For the day is near,(B)
    the day of the Lord(C) is near—
a day of clouds,
    a time of doom for the nations.
A sword will come against Egypt,(D)
    and anguish will come upon Cush.[a](E)
When the slain fall in Egypt,
    her wealth will be carried away
    and her foundations torn down.(F)

Cush and Libya,(G) Lydia and all Arabia,(H) Kub and the people(I) of the covenant land will fall by the sword along with Egypt.(J)

“‘This is what the Lord says:

“‘The allies of Egypt will fall
    and her proud strength will fail.
From Migdol to Aswan(K)
    they will fall by the sword within her,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
“‘They will be desolate
    among desolate lands,
and their cities will lie
    among ruined cities.(L)
Then they will know that I am the Lord,
    when I set fire(M) to Egypt
    and all her helpers are crushed.(N)

“‘On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten Cush(O) out of her complacency. Anguish(P) will take hold of them on the day of Egypt’s doom, for it is sure to come.(Q)

10 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt
    by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar(R) king of Babylon.(S)
11 He and his army—the most ruthless of nations(T)
    will be brought in to destroy the land.
They will draw their swords against Egypt
    and fill the land with the slain.(U)
12 I will dry up(V) the waters of the Nile(W)
    and sell the land to an evil nation;
by the hand of foreigners
    I will lay waste(X) the land and everything in it.

I the Lord have spoken.

13 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘I will destroy the idols(Y)
    and put an end to the images in Memphis.(Z)
No longer will there be a prince in Egypt,(AA)
    and I will spread fear throughout the land.
14 I will lay(AB) waste Upper Egypt,
    set fire to Zoan(AC)
    and inflict punishment on Thebes.(AD)
15 I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,
    the stronghold of Egypt,
    and wipe out the hordes of Thebes.
16 I will set fire(AE) to Egypt;
    Pelusium will writhe in agony.
Thebes will be taken by storm;
    Memphis(AF) will be in constant distress.
17 The young men of Heliopolis(AG) and Bubastis
    will fall by the sword,
    and the cities themselves will go into captivity.
18 Dark will be the day at Tahpanhes(AH)
    when I break the yoke of Egypt;(AI)
    there her proud strength will come to an end.
She will be covered with clouds,
    and her villages will go into captivity.(AJ)
19 So I will inflict punishment(AK) on Egypt,
    and they will know that I am the Lord.’”

Pharaoh’s Arms Are Broken

20 In the eleventh year, in the first month on the seventh day, the word of the Lord came to me:(AL) 21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm(AM) of Pharaoh(AN) king of Egypt. It has not been bound up to be healed(AO) or put in a splint so that it may become strong enough to hold a sword. 22 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt.(AP) I will break both his arms, the good arm as well as the broken one, and make the sword fall from his hand.(AQ) 23 I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries.(AR) 24 I will strengthen(AS) the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword(AT) in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan(AU) before him like a mortally wounded man. 25 I 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 put my sword(AV) into the hand of the king of Babylon and he brandishes it against Egypt.(AW) 26 I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.(AX)

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 30:4 That is, the upper Nile region; also in verses 5 and 9