Egypt’s Doom
30 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says:
Wail,(A) “Woe because of that day!”
3 For a day is near;
a day belonging to the Lord is near.(B)
It will be a day of clouds,(C)
a time of doom[a] for the nations.
4 A sword will come against Egypt,
and there will be anguish in Cush
when the slain fall in Egypt,
and its wealth is taken away,
and its foundations are demolished.
5 Cush, Put, and Lud,(D)
and all the various foreign troops,[b]
plus Libya[c] and the men of the covenant land
will fall by the sword along with them.
6 This is what the Lord says:
Those who support Egypt will fall,
and its proud strength will collapse.
From Migdol to Syene
they will fall within it by the sword.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.
7 They will be desolate
among[d] desolate lands,
and their cities will lie
among ruined[e] cities.(E)
8 They will know that I am the Lord
when I set fire to Egypt(F)
and all its allies are shattered.
9 On that day, messengers will go out from me in ships(G) to terrify confident Cush. Anguish will come over them on the day of Egypt’s doom.[f] For indeed it is coming.
10 “‘This is what the Lord God says:
I will put an end to the hordes[g] of Egypt
by the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
11 He along with his people,
ruthless men from the nations,
will be brought in to destroy the land.
They will draw their swords against Egypt
and fill the land with the slain.(H)
12 I will make the streams dry
and sell the land to evil men.(I)
I will bring desolation
on the land and everything in it
by the hands of foreigners.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
13 “‘This is what the Lord God says:
I will destroy the worthless idols
and put an end to the false gods in Memphis.(J)
There will no longer be
a prince from the land of Egypt.
And I will instill fear in that land.
14 I will make Pathros(K) desolate,
set fire to Zoan,
and execute judgments on Thebes.
15 I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,
the stronghold of Egypt,
and will wipe out the hordes of Thebes.
16 I will set fire to Egypt;
Pelusium will writhe in anguish,
Thebes will be breached,
and Memphis will face foes in broad daylight.[h]
17 The young men of On[i] and Pi-beseth
will fall by the sword,
and those cities[j] will go into captivity.
18 The day will be dark[k] in Tehaphnehes,
when I break the yoke of Egypt there
and its proud strength
comes to an end in the city.
A cloud(L) will cover Tehaphnehes,[l]
and its surrounding villages will go into captivity.
19 So I will execute judgments against Egypt,
and they will know that I am the Lord.’”
Pharaoh’s Power Broken
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(M) of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Look, it has not been bandaged—no medicine has been applied and no splint put on to bandage it so that it can grow strong enough to handle a sword. 22 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Look! I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt. I will break his arms, both the strong one and the one already broken, and will make the sword fall from his hand. 23 I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them among the countries.(N) 24 I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king and place my sword(O) in his hand. But I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him as a mortally wounded man. 25 I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king, but Pharaoh’s arms will fall. They will know that I am the Lord when I place my sword in the hand of Babylon’s king and he wields it against the land of Egypt. 26 When I disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them among the countries, they will know that I am the Lord.”
Footnotes
- 30:3 of doom supplied for clarity
- 30:5 Or all Arabia
- 30:5 Lit Cub; Hb obscure
- 30:7 Or be the most desolate of
- 30:7 Or will be the most ruined of
- 30:9 Lit of Egypt
- 30:10 Or pomp, or wealth, also in v. 15
- 30:16 Or foes daily
- 30:17 LXX, Vg; MT reads iniquity
- 30:17 Or and the women; lit and they
- 30:18 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg; other Hb mss read will withhold
- 30:18 Or Egypt
Cross references
- 30:2 : Is 13:6; Ezk 21:12; Jl 1:11,13
- 30:3 : Jl 2:1; Ob 15
- 30:3 : Ezk 32:7; 34:12
- 30:5 : Jr 46:9
- 30:7 : Ezk 29:12
- 30:8 : Ezk 22:31
- 30:9 : Is 18:1–2
- 30:11 : Ezk 28:7; 31:12
- 30:12 : Is 19:4
- 30:13 : Jr 43:12–13
- 30:14 : Jr 44:1,15; Ezk 29:14
- 30:18 : Ezk 34:12
- 30:21 : Ps 10:15; 37:17
- 30:23 : Ezk 29:12
- 30:24 : Zph 2:12