Ezekiel 30:10-13

30:10 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt,

by the hand of King Nebuchadrezzar ¹  of Babylon.

30:11 He and his people with him,

the most terrifying of the nations, ² 

will be brought there to destroy the land.

They will draw their swords against Egypt,

and fill the land with corpses.

30:12 I will dry up the waterways

and hand the land over to ³  evil men.

I will make the land and everything in it desolate by the hand of foreigners.

I, the Lord, have spoken!

30:13 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

I will destroy the idols,

and put an end to the gods of Memphis.

There will no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt;

so I will make the land of Egypt fearful. ⁴ 

Ezekiel 31:12

31:12 Foreigners from the most terrifying nations have cut it down and left it to lie there on the mountains. In all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs lie broken in the ravines of the land. All the peoples of the land ⁵  have departed ⁶  from its shade and left it.

Ezekiel 32:13

32:13 I will destroy all its cattle beside the plentiful waters;

and no human foot will disturb ⁷  the waters ⁸  again,

nor will the hooves of cattle disturb them.

Ezekiel 33:28

33:28 I will turn the land into a desolate ruin; her confident pride will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be so desolate no one will pass through them.

Ezekiel 36:28

36:28 Then you will live in the land I gave to your fathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 43:11-12

43:11 He will come and attack Egypt. Those who are destined to die of disease will die of disease. Those who are destined to be carried off into exile will be carried off into exile. Those who are destined to die in war will die in war. ¹⁰  43:12 He will set fire ¹¹  to the temples of the gods of Egypt. He will burn their gods or carry them off as captives. ¹²  He will pick Egypt clean like a shepherd picks the lice from his clothing. ¹³  He will leave there unharmed. ¹⁴ 

¹ tn Heb “Nebuchadrezzar” is a variant and more correct spelling of Nebuchadnezzar, as the Babylonian name Nabu-kudurri-usur has an “r” rather than an “n.”

² tn The Babylonians were known for their cruelty (2 Kgs 25:7).

³ tn Heb “and I will sell the land into the hand of.”

⁴ tn Heb “I will put fear in the land of Egypt.”

⁵ tn Or “earth” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

⁶ tn Heb “gone down.”

⁷ tn Heb “muddy.”

⁸ tn Heb “them,” that is, the waters mentioned in the previous line. The translation clarifies the referent.

⁹ sn This promise reflects the ancient covenantal ideal (see Exod 6:7).

¹⁰ tn As in 15:2 the Hebrew is very brief and staccato-like: “those to death to death, and those to captivity to captivity, and those to the sword to the sword.” As in 15:2 most commentaries and English versions assume that the word “death” refers to death by disease. See the translator’s note on 15:2 and compare also 18:21 where the sword is distinctly connected with “war” or “battle” and is distinct from “killed by death [i.e., disease].”

¹¹ tc The translation follows the Greek, Syriac, and Latin versions. The Hebrew text reads: “I will set fire to.” While it would be possible to explain the first person subject here in the same way as in the two verbs in v. 12b, the corruption of the Hebrew text is easy to explain here as a metathesis of two letters, י (yod) and ת (tav). The Hebrew reads הִצַּתִּי (hitsatti) and the versions presuppose הִצִּית (hitsit).

¹² tn Heb “burn them or carry them off as captives.” Some of the commentaries and English versions make a distinction between the objects of the verbs, i.e., burn the temples and carry off the gods. However, the burning down of the temples is referred to later in v. 13.

¹³ tn Or “he will take over Egypt as easily as a shepherd wraps his cloak around him.” The translation follows the interpretation of HALOT 769 s.v. II ָעטָה Qal, the Greek translation, and a number of the modern commentaries (e.g., J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 671). The only other passage where that translation is suggested for this verb is Isa 22:17 according to HAL. The alternate translation follows the more normal meaning of עָטָה (’atah; cf. BDB 741 s.v. I עָטָה Qal which explains “so completely will it be in his power”). The fact that the subject is “a shepherd” lends more credence to the former view though there may be a deliberate double meaning playing on the homonyms (cf. W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 2:302).

¹⁴ tn Heb “in peace/wholeness/well-being/safety [shalom].”