Ezekiel 30:1-19

A Lament for Egypt

1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 1"Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: 2"Wail, 'Alas for the day!'
3 3For the day is near, 4the day of the LORD is near; it will be 5a day of clouds, a time of doom for[a] the nations.
4 6A sword shall come upon Egypt, 7and anguish shall be in 8Cush, when the slain fall in Egypt, and 9her wealth[b] is carried away, and 10her foundations are torn down.
5 11Cush, and 12Put, and Lud, and 13all Arabia, and Libya,[c] and the people of the land that is in league,[d] shall fall with them by the sword.
6 "Thus says the LORD: 14Those who support Egypt shall fall, and 15her proud might shall come down; 16from Migdol to Syene they shall fall within her by the sword, declares the Lord GOD.
7 17And they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries, and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste.
8 18Then they will know that I am the LORD, when 19I have set fire to Egypt, and 20all her helpers are broken.
9 "On that day 21messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting 22people of Cush, and 23anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt's doom;[e] for, behold, it comes!
10 "Thus says the Lord GOD: 24"I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, 25the most ruthless of nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land, 26and they shall draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.
12 And 27I will 28dry up the Nile and will sell the land into the hand of 29evildoers; 30I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it, by the hand of 31foreigners; 32I am the LORD; I have spoken.
13 "Thus says the Lord GOD: 33"I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images in 34Memphis; 35there shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt; so 36I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14 I will make 37Pathros a desolation and will set fire to 38Zoan 39and will execute judgments on 40Thebes.
15 And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt, and cut off the multitude[f] of Thebes.
16 And I will set fire to Egypt; Pelusium shall be in great agony; Thebes shall be breached, and 41Memphis shall face enemies[g] by day.
17 The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword, and the women[h] shall go into captivity.
18 At 42Tehaphnehes 43the day shall be dark, when I break there the yoke bars of Egypt, and 44her proud might shall come to an end in her; she shall be covered by a cloud, and her daughters shall go into captivity.
19 Thus 45I will execute judgments on Egypt. 46Then they will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel 30:1-19 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Cross References 46

Footnotes 8

  • [a]. Hebrew lacks doom for
  • [b]. Or multitude; also verse 10
  • [c]. With Septuagint; Hebrew Cub
  • [d]. Hebrew and the sons of the land of the covenant
  • [e]. Hebrew the day of Egypt
  • [f]. Or wealth
  • [g]. Or distress
  • [h]. Or the cities; Hebrew they
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.