Ezekiel 29

1 On the twelfth day of the tenth month of the tenth year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me. ¹

2 "Mortal man," he said, "denounce the king of Egypt. Tell him how he and all the land of Egypt will be punished.

3 Say that this is what the Sovereign Lord is telling the king of Egypt: I am your enemy, you monster crocodile, lying in the river. You say that the Nile is yours and that you made it.

4 I am going to put a hook through your jaw and make the fish in your river stick fast to you. Then I will pull you up out of the Nile, with all the fish sticking to you.

5 I will throw you and all those fish into the desert. Your body will fall on the ground and be left unburied. I will give it to the birds and animals for food.

6 Then all the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord." ² The Lord says, "The Israelites relied on you Egyptians for support, but you were no better than a weak stick.

7 When they leaned on you, you broke, pierced their armpits, and made them wrench their backs.

8 Now then, I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you that I will have troops attack you with swords, and they will kill your people and your animals.

9 Egypt will become an empty wasteland. Then you will know that I am the Lord. "Because you said that the Nile is yours and you made it,

10 I am your enemy and the enemy of your Nile. I will make all of Egypt an empty wasteland, from the city of Migdol in the north to the city of Aswan in the south, all the way to the Ethiopian border.

11 No human being or animal will walk through it. For forty years nothing will live there.

12 I will make Egypt the most desolate country in the world. For forty years the cities of Egypt will lie in ruins, ruins worse than those of any other city. I will make the Egyptians refugees. They will flee to every country and live among other peoples."

13 The Sovereign Lord says, "After forty years I will bring the Egyptians back from the nations where I have scattered them,

14 and I will let them live in southern Egypt, their original home. There they will be a weak kingdom,

15 the weakest kingdom of all, and they will never again rule other nations. I will make them so unimportant that they will not be able to bend any other nation to their will.

16 Israel will never again depend on them for help. Egypt's fate will remind Israel how wrong it was to rely on them. Then Israel will know that I am the Sovereign Lord."

17 On the first day of the first month of the twenty-seventh year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me.

18 "Mortal man," he said, "King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia launched an attack on Tyre. He made his soldiers carry such heavy loads that their heads were rubbed bald and their shoulders were worn raw, but neither the king nor his army got anything for all their trouble.

19 So now this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: I am giving the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadnezzar. He will loot and plunder it and carry off all the wealth of Egypt as his army's pay.

20 I am giving him Egypt in payment for his services, because his army was working for me. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.

21 "When that happens, I will make the people of Israel strong and let you, Ezekiel, speak out where everyone can hear you, so that 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. 29.1--32.32Isaiah 19.1-25;Jeremiah 46.2-26.
• 2. 29.6Isaiah 36.6.

Footnotes

• [a]. [Some ancient translations] you made it; [Hebrew] you made yourself.
• [b]. [One ancient translation] wrench their backs; [Hebrew] make their backs stand.
• [c]. [Hebrew] Cushite (Cush): [Cush is the ancient name of the extensive territory south of the First Cataract of the Nile River. This region was called Ethiopia in Graeco-Roman times, and included within its borders most of modern Sudan and some of present-day Ethiopia (Abyssinia).]

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.