Ezekiel 29

Prophecy Against Egypt

1 ¹In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:

2 ²"Son of man, ³set your face against ⁴Pharaoh king of Egypt, ⁵and prophesy against him and ⁶against all Egypt;

3 speak, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: ⁷"Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, ⁸the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, ⁹that says, 'My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.'

4 I will ¹⁰put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales; and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams, with all the fish of your streams that stick to your scales.

5 ¹¹And I will cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your streams; you shall fall ¹²on the open field, and ¹³not be brought together or gathered. To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens ¹⁴I give you as food.

6 Then all the inhabitants of Egypt ¹⁵shall know that I am the LORD. "Because you^[a] have been ¹⁶a staff of reed to the house of Israel,

7 ¹⁷when they grasped you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to shake.^[b]

8 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ¹⁸Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast,

9 and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. ¹⁹Then they will know that I am the LORD. ²⁰"Because you^[c] said, 'The Nile is mine, and I made it,'

10 therefore, ²¹behold, I am against you and ²²against your streams, and ²³I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, ²⁴from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush.

11 ²⁵No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years.

12 ²⁶And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. ²⁷I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.

13 "For thus says the Lord GOD: At the end of forty years ²⁸I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered,

14 and ²⁹I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to ³⁰the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom.

15 It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, ³¹and never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations.

16 And it shall never again be ³²the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. ³³Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD."

17 ³⁴In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:

18 ³⁵"Son of man, ³⁶Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her.

19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ³⁷Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; ³⁸and he shall carry off its wealth^[d]39and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army.

20 ⁴⁰I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, declares the Lord GOD.

21 "On that day ⁴¹I will cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel, and ⁴²I will open your lips among them. ⁴³Then they will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel 29 Commentary

Chapter 29

The desolation of Egypt. (1-16) Also a promise of mercy to Israel. (17-21)

Verses 1-16 Worldly, carnal minds pride themselves in their property, forgetting that whatever we have, we received it from God, and should use it for God. Why, then, do we boast? Self is the great idol which all the world worships, in contempt of God and his sovereignty. God can force men out of that in which they are most secure and easy. Such a one, and all that cleave to him, shall perish together. Thus end men's pride, presumption, and carnal security. The Lord is against those who do harm to his people, and still more against those who lead them into sin. Egypt shall be a kingdom again, but it shall be the basest of the kingdoms; it shall have little wealth and power. History shows the complete fulfilment of this prophecy. God, not only in justice, but in wisdom and goodness to us, breaks the creature-stays on which we lean, that they may be no more our confidence.

Verses 17-21 The besiegers of Tyre obtained little plunder. But when God employs ambitious or covetous men, he will recompense them according to the desires of their hearts; for every man shall have his reward. God had mercy in store for the house of Israel soon after. The history of nations best explains ancient prophecies. All events fulfil the Scriptures. Thus, in the deepest scenes of adversity, the Lord sows the seed of our future prosperity. Happy are those who desire his favour, grace, and image; they will delight in his service, and not covet any earthly recompence; and the blessings they have chosen shall be sure to them for ever.

Cross References

• 1. See Ezekiel 20:1
• 2. See Ezekiel 2:1
• 3. See Ezekiel 6:2
• 4. Ezekiel 32:2
• 5. See Ezekiel 6:2
• 6. See Isaiah 19:1
• 7. See Ezekiel 13:8
• 8. Ezekiel 32:2; Psalms 74:13, 14; Isaiah 27:1; Isaiah 51:9
• 9. ver. 9
• 10. Ezekiel 19:9; Ezekiel 38:4; 2 Kings 19:28
• 11. [Ezekiel 32:4, 5]
• 12. Jeremiah 9:22
• 13. See Jeremiah 8:2
• 14. [Ezekiel 32:4, 5]
• 15. See Ezekiel 6:7
• 16. 2 Kings 18:21; Isaiah 36:6
• 17. [Ezekiel 17:17; Isaiah 20:5; Isaiah 30:3, 5; Jeremiah 2:36; Jeremiah 37:5, 7]
• 18. See Ezekiel 14:17
• 19. [See ver. 6 above]
• 20. ver. 3; See Ezekiel 13:8
• 21. [See ver. 9 above]
• 22. [Ezekiel 30:12]
• 23. [Ezekiel 30:12]
• 24. Ezekiel 30:6
• 25. Ezekiel 32:13; [Ezekiel 35:7]
• 26. Ezekiel 30:7
• 27. Ezekiel 30:23, 26; [Jeremiah 46:19]
• 28. [Isaiah 19:22, 23; Jeremiah 46:26]
• 29. [Ezekiel 39:25]
• 30. Ezekiel 30:14; See Isaiah 11:11
• 31. [Ezekiel 30:13]
• 32. [Isaiah 30:2, 3; Isaiah 36:4, 6; Lamentations 4:17]
• 33. ver. 6; See Ezekiel 6:7
• 34. See Ezekiel 20:1
• 35. See Ezekiel 2:1
• 36. [Ezekiel 26:7]
• 37. Ezekiel 30:10, 24, 25; Ezekiel 32:11; Jeremiah 46:13
• 38. Ezekiel 30:4
• 39. Ezekiel 32:12
• 40. [Isaiah 43:3]
• 41. Psalms 132:17; [Luke 1:69]
• 42. Ezekiel 24:27; Ezekiel 33:22; [Ezekiel 16:63]
• 43. See Ezekiel 6:7

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew they
• [b]. Syriac (compare Psalm 69:23); Hebrew to stand
• [c]. Hebrew he
• [d]. Or multitude

Chapter Summary

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.