Ezekiel 30

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."

Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon

20 ⁴⁷In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:

21 ⁴⁸"Son of man, ⁴⁹I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, ⁵⁰it has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword.

22 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and ⁵¹will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand.

23 ⁵²I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries.

24 And ⁵³I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put ⁵⁴my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him ⁵⁵like a man mortally wounded.

25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. ⁵⁶Then they shall know that I am the LORD, ⁵⁷when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt.

26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel 30 Commentary

Chapter 30

A prophecy against Egypt. (1-19) Another. (20-26)

Verses 1-19 The prophecy of the destruction of Egypt is very full. Those who take their lot with God's enemies, shall be with them in punishment. The king of Babylon and his army shall be instruments of this destruction. God often makes one wicked man a scourge to another. No place in the land of Egypt shall escape the fury of the Chaldeans. The Lord is known by the judgments he executes. Yet these are only present effects of the Divine displeasure, not worthy of our fear, compared with the wrath to come, from which Jesus delivers his people.

Verses 20-26 Egypt shall grow weaker and weaker. If lesser judgments do not prevail to humble and reform sinners, God will send greater. God justly breaks that power which is abused, either to put wrongs upon people, or to put cheats upon them. Babylon shall grow stronger. In vain do men endeavour to bind up the arm the Lord is pleased to break, and to strengthen those whom he will bring down. Those who disregard the discoveries of his truth and mercy, shall know his power and justice, in the punishment for their sins.

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
• 47. See Ezekiel 20:1
• 48. See Ezekiel 2:1
• 49. [Jeremiah 48:25]
• 50. [Jeremiah 30:13; Jeremiah 46:11]
• 51. See ver. 21
• 52. Ezekiel 29:12
• 53. ver. 10
• 54. See Ezekiel 21:3
• 55. Job 24:12
• 56. See Ezekiel 6:7
• 57. [ver. 8]

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

Chapter Summary

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.