Ezekiel 29:19

19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off its wealth and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army.

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, the word of the LORD came to me:
18 "Son of man, Nebuchadrez'zar 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 it.
19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off its wealth and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army.
20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he labored, because they worked for me, says the Lord GOD.
21 "On that day I will cause a horn to spring forth to the house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD."
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.