A Lament over the Nation and Land of Egypt
30 And the word of Yahweh came[a] to me, saying,[b] 2 “Son of man,[c] prophesy, and you must say, ‘thus says the Lord Yahweh:
“Wail, alas! For the day!
3 For a day is near;
indeed, a day is near for Yahweh.
A day of cloud,
a time of the nations it will be.
4 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.
5 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.”
6 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.
7 “And they will be desolate in the midst of desolate countries,
and its cities will be in the midst of ruined cities.
8 And they will know that I am Yahweh
when I put my fire in Egypt,
and all of its helpers are broken.
9 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
- Ezekiel 30:1 Literally “was”
- Ezekiel 30:1 Literally “to say”
- Ezekiel 30:2 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 30:5 Or “children”
- Ezekiel 30:5 Or “covenant”
- Ezekiel 30:6 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 30:9 Literally “to the face of me”
- Ezekiel 30:10 Or “hordes”
- Ezekiel 30:13 Literally “not be any longer”
- Ezekiel 30:14 That is, Thebes
- Ezekiel 30:15 Or “horde”
- Ezekiel 30:15 That is, Thebes
- Ezekiel 30:16 That is, Thebes
- Ezekiel 30:16 Literally “of by day”
- Ezekiel 30:20 Literally “and it was”
- Ezekiel 30:20 Literally “on one ten”
- Ezekiel 30:20 Literally “was”
- Ezekiel 30:20 Literally “to say”
- Ezekiel 30:21 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 30:24 Literally “the face of him”