Ezekiel 32:13-23

13 I will destroy all its livestock from beside abundant waters; and no human foot shall trouble them any more, nor shall the hoofs of cattle trouble them.
14 Then I will make their waters clear, and cause their streams to run like oil, says the Lord God.
15 When I make the land of Egypt desolate and when the land is stripped of all that fills it, when I strike down all who live in it, then they shall know that I am the Lord.
16 This is a lamentation; it shall be chanted. The women of the nations shall chant it. Over Egypt and all its hordes they shall chant it, says the Lord God.
17 In the twelfth year, in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:
18 Mortal, wail over the hordes of Egypt, and send them down, with Egypt and the daughters of majestic nations, to the world below, with those who go down to the Pit.
19 "Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down! Be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!"
20 They shall fall among those who are killed by the sword. Egypt has been handed over to the sword; carry away both it and its hordes.
21 The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: "They have come down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, killed by the sword."
22 Assyria is there, and all its company, their graves all around it, all of them killed, fallen by the sword.
23 Their graves are set in the uttermost parts of the Pit. Its company is all around its grave, all of them killed, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.

Ezekiel 32:13-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 32

This chapter contains two more prophecies concerning the destruction of Egypt. The date of the first is given, Eze 22:1, in which the king of Egypt is compared to a large fish taken in a net, and brought to land, and left on it, to be the prey of the fowls of the air and beasts of the field, Eze 32:2-4, and the ruin of that kingdom is further amplified by the casting of it on the mountains and valleys; by the land flowing with its blood; by the darkness of the heavens; by the vexation in the hearts of many people; and by the amazement of kings and nations, Eze 32:5-10, the means and instruments of all which will be the king of Babylon and his army, Eze 32:11,12, the devastation made by him, which would be such as would cause lamentation in other nations, is described, Eze 32:13-16, then follows the other prophecy, whose date is given, Eze 32:17, the prophet is bid to lament the fall of Egypt, which is represented under the funeral of a corpse, Eze 32:18-20, saluted by those gone down to the grave before, or were become desolate; which are mentioned, to assure Egypt of its destruction, Eze 32:21 as the Assyrian empire, and all its provinces, Eze 32:22,23, the Persians and Medes, with all their dominions, Eze 32:24,25, the posterity of Meshech and Tubal, or the Scythians, those warlike people, Eze 32:26-28, the Edomites, the princes of the north, and all the Zidonians, Eze 32:29,30 which would be a comfort, though a poor one to the king of Egypt and his subjects, to have such company with them, Eze 32:31,32.

Footnotes 3

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.