Ezekiel 32:1-16

1 On the first day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year, the word of ADONAI came to me:

2 "Human being, raise a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt; say to him, 'You compared yourself to a lion among the nations; In fact, you are more like a crocodile in the lakes. You burst out of your streams, churn the water with your feet and foul their streams.'

3 "So here is what Adonai ELOHIM says: 'With many nations assembled, I will spread my net over you, and they will haul you up in my dragnet.

4 Then I will throw you on the shore, hurl you into an open field, make all the birds in the air settle on you and let the animals of the whole earth eat their fill of you.

5 I will leave your flesh on the mountains and fill the valleys with your rotting carcass.

6 I will drench the land in which you swim with your blood, as far as the mountains; the waterways will be full of you.

7 When I extinguish you, I will cover the sky and make its stars black; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.

8 All the shining lights in the sky I will darken above you; I will spread darkness over your land,' says Adonai ELOHIM.

9 "'I will anger many peoples when I bring your destroyed ones in among the nations, into countries you have not known.

10 I will make many peoples aghast at you; their kings will shudder in horror over you when I brandish my sword before them. On the day of your downfall they will tremble continuously, each man in fear of his life.'

11 "For Adonai ELOHIM says this: 'The sword of the king of Bavel will come against you.

12 With the swords of the warriors I will cause your hordes to fall. They are all the most barbarous of the nations, and they will shatter the glory of Egypt - all its hordes will be destroyed.

13 I will destroy all her cattle beside her plentiful waters. No human foot will trouble them again, nor the hoof of any animal.

14 Then I will make their water clear and cause their streams to flow like oil,' says Adonai ELOHIM.

15 'When I make the land of Egypt a ruined waste, a land stripped of all that filled it; when I strike all those who live there; they will know that I am ADONAI.

16 This is the lament that they will raise; the daughters of the nations will use it to mourn; they will chant it for Egypt and all its hordes,' says Adonai ELOHIM."

Ezekiel 32:1-16 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.