Ezekiel 29:7-17

7 When they took a grip of you in their hands, you were crushed so that their arms were broken: and when they put their weight on you for support, you were broken and all their muscles gave way.

8 For this cause the Lord has said: See, I am sending a sword on you, cutting off from you man and beast.

9 And the land of Egypt will be an unpeopled waste; and they will be certain that I am the Lord: because he has said, The Nile is mine, and I made it.

10 See, then, I am against you and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an unpeopled waste, from Migdol to Syene, even as far as the edge of Ethiopia.

11 No foot of man will go through it and no foot of beast, and it will be unpeopled for forty years.

12 I will make the land of Egypt a waste among the countries which are made waste, and her towns will be unpeopled among the towns which have been made waste, for forty years: and I will send the Egyptians in flight among the nations and wandering through the countries.

13 For this is what the Lord has said: At the end of forty years I will get the Egyptians together from the peoples where they have gone in flight:

14 I will let the fate of Egypt be changed, and will make them come back into the land of Pathros, into the land from which they came; and there they will be an unimportant kingdom.

15 It will be the lowest of the kingdoms, and never again will it be lifted up over the nations: I will make them small, so that they may not have rule over the nations.

16 And Egypt will no longer be the hope of the children of Israel, causing sin to come to mind when their eyes are turned to them: and they will be certain that I am the Lord.

17 Now in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Ezekiel 29:7-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 29

This chapter contains a prophecy against Pharaoh king of Egypt; and of the destruction of the land of Egypt; and of the restoration of it after a certain time. The time of prophecy is noted, Eze 29:1, the order to prophesy against Pharaoh, who is described as a large fish, lying in his rivers, and boasting of them, Eze 29:2,3, his destruction and the manner of it, Eze 29:4,5, the reason of it, his treachery to the Jews, Eze 29:6,7, hence the whole land of Egypt is threatened with desolation, from one end to the other, so as to be uninhabited by man or beast for the space of forty years, Eze 29:8-14, but shall not arrive to their former glory as a kingdom, nor be any more the confidence of the house of Israel, Eze 29:15,16, then follows a prophecy seventeen years after this, showing the reason why Egypt was given to the king of Babylon, Eze 29:17-20, and the chapter is closed with a promise of happiness to Israel, Eze 29:21.