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

• 1. See Ezekiel 2:1
• 2. See Isaiah 13:6
• 3. [See ver. 2 above]
• 4. Ezekiel 7:7, 12; Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1; Zephaniah 1:7
• 5. Ezekiel 34:12
• 6. Ezekiel 29:8
• 7. [Isaiah 21:3]
• 8. [Isaiah 43:3]
• 9. Ezekiel 29:19
• 10. [ver. 6]
• 11. [See ver. 4 above]
• 12. See Ezekiel 27:10
• 13. See Jeremiah 25:20
• 14. [Ezekiel 32:21]
• 15. ver. 18; [Ezekiel 33:28]
• 16. Ezekiel 29:10
• 17. Ezekiel 29:12
• 18. Ezekiel 29:6; See Ezekiel 6:7
• 19. [Ezekiel 28:18]
• 20. [See ver. 6 above]
• 21. [Isaiah 18:1, 2]
• 22. [See ver. 4 above]
• 23. [See ver. 4 above]
• 24. See Ezekiel 29:19
• 25. See Ezekiel 28:7
• 26. [See ver. 4 above]
• 27. Isaiah 19:5, 6; [Ezekiel 29:10]
• 28. [Ezekiel 29:3]
• 29. [Isaiah 19:4]
• 30. [Ezekiel 29:10]
• 31. See Ezekiel 28:7
• 32. See Ezekiel 17:24
• 33. See Jeremiah 43:12
• 34. Isaiah 19:13
• 35. [Ezekiel 29:15; Zechariah 10:11]
• 36. [Isaiah 19:16]
• 37. Ezekiel 29:14; See Isaiah 11:11
• 38. See Numbers 13:22
• 39. ver. 19
• 40. Jeremiah 46:25
• 41. [See ver. 13 above]
• 42. See Jeremiah 2:16
• 43. [Jeremiah 15:9; Amos 8:9]
• 44. ver. 6
• 45. ver. 14
• 46. See Ezekiel 6:7

Footnotes

• [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