Ezekiel 30

1 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,
2 Son of man, be a prophet, and say, These are the words of the Lord: Give a cry, Aha, for the day!
3 For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near, a day of cloud; it will be the time of the nations.
4 And a sword will come on Egypt, and cruel pain will be in Ethiopia, when they are falling by the sword in Egypt; and they will take away her wealth and her bases will be broken down.
5 Ethiopia and Put and Lud and all the mixed people and Libya and the children of the land of the Cherethites will all be put to death with them by the sword.
6 This is what the Lord has said: The supporters of Egypt will have a fall, and the pride of her power will come down: from Migdol to Syene they will be put to the sword in it, says the Lord.
7 And she will be made waste among the countries which have been made waste, and her towns will be among the towns which are unpeopled.
8 And they will be certain that I am the Lord, when I have put a fire in Egypt and all her helpers are broken.
9 In that day men will go out quickly to take the news, causing fear in untroubled Ethiopia; and bitter pain will come on them as in the day of Egypt; for see, it is coming.
10 This is what the Lord has said: I will put an end to great numbers of the people of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon.
11 He and the people with him, causing fear among the nations, will be sent for the destruction of the land; their swords will be let loose against Egypt and the land will be full of dead.
12 And I will make the Nile streams dry, and will give the land into the hands of evil men, causing the land and everything in it to be wasted by the hands of men from a strange country: I the Lord have said it.
13 This is what the Lord has said: In addition to this, I will give up the images to destruction and put an end to the false gods in Noph; never again will there be a ruler in the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
14 And I will make Pathros a waste, and put a fire in Zoan, and send my punishments on No.
15 I will let loose my wrath on Sin, the strong place of Egypt, cutting off the mass of the people of No.
16 And I will put a fire in Egypt; Syene will be twisting in pain, and No will be broken into, as by the onrush of waters.
17 The young men of On and Pi-beseth will be put to the sword: and these towns will be taken away prisoners.
18 And at Tehaphnehes the day will become dark, when the yoke of Egypt is broken there, and the pride of her power comes to an end: as for her, she will be covered with a cloud, and her daughters will be taken away prisoners.
19 And I will send my punishments on Egypt: and they will be certain that I am the Lord.
20 Now in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
21 Son of man, the arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, has been broken by me, and no band has been put round it to make it well, no band has been twisted round it to make it strong for gripping the sword.
22 For this cause the Lord has said: See, I am against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and by me his strong arm will be broken; and I will make the sword go out of his hand.
23 And I will send the Egyptians in flight among the nations and wandering through the countries.
24 And I will make the arms of the king of Babylon strong, and will put my sword in his hand: but Pharaoh's arms will be broken, and he will give cries of pain before him like the cries of a man wounded to death.
25 And I will make the arms of the king of Babylon strong, and the arms of Pharaoh will be hanging down; and they will be certain that I am the Lord, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and it is stretched out against the land of Egypt.
26 And I will send the Egyptians in flight among the nations and wandering through the countries; and they will be certain that I am the Lord.

Ezekiel 30 Commentary

Chapter 30

A prophecy against Egypt. (1-19) Another. (20-26)

Verses 1-19 The prophecy of the destruction of Egypt is very full. Those who take their lot with God's enemies, shall be with them in punishment. The king of Babylon and his army shall be instruments of this destruction. God often makes one wicked man a scourge to another. No place in the land of Egypt shall escape the fury of the Chaldeans. The Lord is known by the judgments he executes. Yet these are only present effects of the Divine displeasure, not worthy of our fear, compared with the wrath to come, from which Jesus delivers his people.

Verses 20-26 Egypt shall grow weaker and weaker. If lesser judgments do not prevail to humble and reform sinners, God will send greater. God justly breaks that power which is abused, either to put wrongs upon people, or to put cheats upon them. Babylon shall grow stronger. In vain do men endeavour to bind up the arm the Lord is pleased to break, and to strengthen those whom he will bring down. Those who disregard the discoveries of his truth and mercy, shall know his power and justice, in the punishment for their sins.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 30

This chapter is a continuation of the prophecy against Egypt, both against the country and the king of it. It is introduced with expressions of lamentation, because of the destruction coming on, Eze 30:1-3, and not only Egypt, and the cities thereof, should be destroyed, but all her friends, associates, and allies; the Ethiopians, Lydians, Lybians, and others, Eze 30:4-9. Nebuchadnezzar and his army were to be the instruments of her ruin, Eze 30:10-12, particular cities are mentioned by name, which should suffer much, and become desolate, Eze 30:13-19 and then Pharaoh king of Egypt himself is threatened with broken arms, and his people to be scattered among the nations, Eze 30:20-23, and the king of Babylon is again mentioned, whose arms should be strengthened to do all this, Eze 30:24-26.

Ezekiel 30 Commentaries

The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.