Ezekiel 29:10-20

10 therefore lo! I to thee, and to thy floods. And I shall give into wilderness the land of Egypt, destroyed by sword, from the tower of Syene till to the terms of Ethiopia. (and so lo! I am against thee, and against thy River. And I shall make the land of Egypt into a wilderness, wasted by drought, from the tower of Syene unto the border of Ethiopia.)
11 The foot of man shall not pass by it, neither the foot of beast shall go in it, and it shall not be inhabited in forty years (and it shall not be inhabited for forty years).
12 And I shall give the land of Egypt forsaken, in the midst of lands forsaken, and the cities thereof in the midst of a city destroyed, and those shall be desolate by forty years. And I shall scatter (the) Egyptians into nations, and I shall winnow them into lands. (And I shall make the land of Egypt to be deserted, in the midst of lands that be deserted, and its cities in the midst of cities that be destroyed, and they shall be desolate for forty years. And I shall scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and I shall winnow them into other lands.)
13 For the Lord God saith these things, After the end of forty years I shall gather together Egypt from peoples, among which they were scattered; (For the Lord God saith these things, After the end of forty years I shall gather together the Egyptians from the nations, among whom they were scattered;)
14 and I shall bring again the captivity of Egypt. And I shall set them (again) in the land of Pathros, in the land of their birth; and they shall be there into a meek realm, (and I shall turn the fortunes of Egypt. And I shall set them again in the land of Pathros, in the land of their birth; but there they shall be a weak kingdom,)
15 and among other realms it shall be most low, and it shall no more be raised over nations. And I shall make them less, that they reign not on heathen men; (and among other kingdoms they shall be the most low, and no more shall they be raised up over other nations. Yea, I shall make them so diminished, that they shall not be able to reign over the heathen, or over the peoples;)
16 and they shall no more be to the house of Israel in(to) trust (and they shall no more be trustworthy for the house of Israel), (and) teaching (them) wickedness, that they flee, and follow them; and they shall know, that I am the Lord God.
17 And it was done in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month (on the first day of the month), the word of the Lord was made to me, and he said,
18 Thou, son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, made his host to serve by great service against Tyre; each head was made bald, and each shoulder was made bare of hair, and meed was not yielded of Tyre to him, neither to his host (and no reward, or money, was given from Tyre to him, nor to his army), for the service by which he served to me against it.
19 Therefore the Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall give Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in the land of Egypt, and he shall take the multitude thereof; and he shall take in prey the clothes thereof, and he shall ravish the spoils thereof, and meed shall be to his host, (And so the Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and he shall take its multitude; and he shall take its clothes as prey, and he shall rob its spoils, and it shall be a reward for his army,)
20 and to the work for which he served to me against it; and I gave the land of Egypt to him, for that that he travailed to me, saith the Lord God. (and for the work in which he served me against it; and so I gave the land of Egypt to him, because he laboured for me, saith the Lord God.)

Ezekiel 29:10-20 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.