Ezekiel 30:1-19

Lament over Egypt

1 The word of the LORD came again to me saying,

2 "Son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "¹Wail, 'Alas for the day!'

3 "For the day is near, Even ²the day of the LORD is near; It will be a day of ³clouds, A time of doom for the nations.

4 "A sword will come upon Egypt, And anguish will be in Ethiopia; When the slain fall in Egypt, They ⁴take away her wealth, And her foundations are torn down.

5 "Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all ⁵Arabia, Libya and the people of the land that is in league will fall with them by the sword."

6 'Thus says the LORD, "Indeed, those who support ⁶Egypt will fall And the pride of her power will come down; From Migdol to Syene They will fall within her by the sword," Declares the Lord GOD.

7 "They will be desolate In the ⁷midst of the desolated lands; And her cities will be In the midst of the devastated cities.

8 "And they will ⁸know that I am the LORD, When I set a ⁹fire in Egypt And all her helpers are broken.

9 "On that day ¹⁰messengers will go forth from Me in ships to frighten ¹¹secure Ethiopia; and ¹²anguish will be on them as on the day of Egypt; for behold, it comes!"

10 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "¹³I will also make the hordes of Egypt cease By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

11 "He and his people with him, ¹⁴The most ruthless of the nations, Will be brought in to destroy the land; And they will draw their swords against Egypt And fill the land with the slain.

12 "Moreover, I will make the ¹⁵Nile canals dry And ¹⁶sell the land into the hands of evil men. And I will make the land desolate And all that is in it, By the hand of strangers; I the LORD have spoken."

13 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "I will also ¹⁷destroy the idols And make the images cease from ¹⁸Memphis. And there will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt; And I will put fear in the land of Egypt.

14 "I will make ¹⁹Pathros desolate, Set a fire in ²⁰Zoan And execute judgments on ²¹Thebes.

15 "I will pour out My wrath on Sin, The stronghold of Egypt; I will also cut off the hordes of Thebes.

16 "I will set a fire in Egypt; Sin will writhe in anguish, Thebes will be breached And Memphis will have distresses daily.

17 "The young men of ²²On and of Pi-beseth Will fall by the sword, And the women will go into captivity.

18 "In ²³Tehaphnehes the day will be ²⁴dark When I ²⁵break there the yoke bars of Egypt. Then the pride of her power will cease in her; A cloud will cover her, And her daughters will go into captivity.

19 "Thus I will ²⁶execute judgments on Egypt, And 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. Isaiah 13:6; Isaiah 15:2; Ezekiel 21:12; Joel 1:5, 11, 13
• 2. Ezekiel 7:19; Ezekiel 13:5; Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1; Obadiah 15
• 3. Ezekiel 30:18; Ezekiel 32:7; Ezekiel 34:12
• 4. Ezekiel 29:19
• 5. Jeremiah 25:20, 24
• 6. Isaiah 20:3-6
• 7. Jeremiah 25:18-26; Ezekiel 29:12
• 8. Psalms 58:11; Ezek 29:6, 9, 16
• 9. Ezekiel 22:31; Ezekiel 30:14, 16; Amos 1:4, 7, 10, 12, 14
• 10. Isaiah 18:1, 2
• 11. Isaiah 47:8; Ezekiel 38:11; Ezekiel 39:6
• 12. Isaiah 19:17; Isaiah 23:5; Ezekiel 32:9, 10
• 13. Ezekiel 29:19
• 14. Ezekiel 28:7
• 15. Ezekiel 29:3, 9
• 16. Isaiah 19:4
• 17. Isaiah 2:18
• 18. Isaiah 19:13; Jeremiah 2:16; Jeremiah 44:1; Jeremiah 46:14; Ezekiel 30:16
• 19. Isaiah 11:11; Jeremiah 44:1, 15; Ezekiel 29:14
• 20. Psalms 78:12, 43; Isaiah 19:11, 13
• 21. Jeremiah 46:25; Ezekiel 30:15, 16; Nahum 3:8
• 22. Genesis 41:45; Genesis 46:20
• 23. Jeremiah 43:8-13
• 24. Ezekiel 30:3
• 25. Leviticus 26:13; Isaiah 10:27; Jeremiah 27:2; Jeremiah 28:10, 13; Jeremiah 30:8; Ezekiel 34:27
• 26. Psalms 9:16; Ezekiel 5:8, 15; Ezekiel 25:11; Ezekiel 30:14

Footnotes

• [a]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD, and so throughout the ch
• [b]. Lit "Cush"
• [c]. Or "multitude"
• [d]. Lit "Cush"
• [e]. Or "the mixed people"
• [f]. Or "Cub"
• [g]. Lit "sons"
• [h]. Lit "of the covenant"
• [i]. Lit "Cush"
• [j]. Or "people;" lit "crowd," and so throughout the ch
• [k]. Lit "her fullness"
• [l]. Or "futile ones"
• [m]. Or "Noph"
• [n]. Or "No"
• [o]. Or "Pelusium"
• [p]. Or "No"
• [q]. Or "Pelusium"
• [r]. Or "No"
• [s]. Or "Noph"
• [t]. Or "adversaries"
• [u]. Or "Aven"
• [v]. Lit "they"
• [w]. So with many mss and ancient versions; M.T. "restrain"