Ezekiel 29:19

19 "Therefore, God, the Master, says, 'I'm giving Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He'll haul away its wealth, pick the place clean. He'll pay his army with Egyptian plunder.

Ezekiel 29:19 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 29:19

Therefore thus saith the Lord God
Since this was the case, that the king of Babylon had been working for nothing, and had spent much blood and treasure, as well as time, to little purpose and advantage to himself; behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon;
which will make him a sufficient recompence for his loss of time, men, and money, before Tyre; and though the conquest of Egypt was made easy to him, by the internal divisions and wars which were among the Egyptians; yet these were suffered, and ordered by the providence of God, to bring about this his will, by way of righteous punishment of the Egyptians, for their treachery to his people, and other sins: and he shall take her multitude,
of soldiers, and of inhabitants, and carry them captive: and take her spoil, and take her prey;
that which the Egyptians had spoiled other nations of and made a prey of that should now become the spoil and prey of the Chaldeans: and it shall be the wages for his army;
with this the king of Babylon would be able to pay off the arrears of his army; which had lain so long against Tyre; or this would be a recompence to them for all the hardships they there sustained.

Ezekiel 29:19 In-Context

17 In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, God's Message came to me:
18 "Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has worn out his army against Tyre. They've worked their fingers to the bone and have nothing to show for it.
19 "Therefore, God, the Master, says, 'I'm giving Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He'll haul away its wealth, pick the place clean. He'll pay his army with Egyptian plunder.
20 He's been working for me all these years without pay. This is his pay: Egypt. Decree of God, the Master.
21 "'And then I'll stir up fresh hope in Israel - the dawn of deliverance! - and I'll give you, Ezekiel, bold and confident words to speak. And they'll realize that I am God.'"
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.