Ezekiel 30:1-19

A Lament Over Egypt

30:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 30:2 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘Wail, “Alas, the day is here!” ¹ 

30:3 For the day is near,

the day of the Lord is near;

it will be a day of storm clouds, ² 

it will be a time of judgment ³  for the nations.

30:4 A sword will come against Egypt

and panic will overtake Ethiopia

when the slain fall in Egypt

and they carry away her wealth

and dismantle her foundations.

30:5 Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all the foreigners, ⁴  Libya, and the people ⁵  of the covenant land ⁶  will die by the sword along with them.

30:6 “‘This is what the Lord says:

Egypt’s supporters will fall;

her confident pride will crumble. ⁷ 

From Migdol to Syene ⁸  they will die by the sword within her,

declares the sovereign Lord.

30:7 They will be desolate among desolate lands,

and their cities will be among ruined cities.

30:8 They will know that I am the Lord

when I ignite a fire in Egypt

and all her allies are defeated. ⁹ 

30:9 On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten overly confident Ethiopia; panic will overtake them on the day of Egypt’s doom; ¹⁰  for beware – it is coming!

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 ¹¹  of Babylon.

30:11 He and his people with him,

the most terrifying of the nations, ¹² 

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 ¹³  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. ¹⁴ 

30:14 I will desolate Pathros,

I will ignite a fire in Zoan,

and I will execute judgments on Thebes.

30:15 I will pour out my anger upon Pelusium, ¹⁵ 

the stronghold of Egypt;

I will cut off ¹⁶  the hordes of Thebes.

30:16 I will ignite a fire in Egypt;

Syene ¹⁷  will writhe in agony,

Thebes will be broken down,

and Memphis will face enemies every day.

30:17 The young men of On and of Pi-beseth ¹⁸  will die by the sword;

and the cities will go ¹⁹  into captivity.

30:18 In Tahpanhes the day will be dark ²⁰ 

when I break the yoke of Egypt there.

Her confident pride will cease within her;

a cloud will cover her, and her daughters will go into captivity.

30:19 I will execute judgments on Egypt.

Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”

[30:2]  ¹ tn Heb “Alas for the day.”

[30:3]  ² tn Heb “a day of clouds.” The expression occurs also in Joel 2:2 and Zeph 1:15; it recalls the appearance of God at Mount Sinai (Exod 19:9, 16, 18).

[30:3]  ³ tn Heb “a time.” The words “of judgment” have been added in the translation for clarification (see the following verses).

[30:5]  ⁴ tn The same expression appears in Exod 12:38; Jer 25:20; 50:37; Neh 13:3. It may refer to foreign mercenaries serving in the armies of the nations listed here.

[30:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “sons.”

[30:5]  ⁶ tn The expression “sons of the covenant land” possibly refers to Jews living in Egypt (Jer 44).

[30:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “come down.”

[30:6]  ⁸ sn Syene is known as Aswan today.

[30:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “all who aid her are broken.”

[30:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the day of Egypt.” The word “doom” has been added in the translation to clarify the nature of this day.

[30:10]  ¹¹ 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.”

[30:11]  ¹² tn The Babylonians were known for their cruelty (2 Kgs 25:7).

[30:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “and I will sell the land into the hand of.”

[30:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I will put fear in the land of Egypt.”

[30:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Sin” (so KJV, NASB), a city commonly identified with Pelusium, a fortress on Egypt’s northeastern frontier.

[30:15]  ¹⁶ tn Or “kill.”

[30:16]  ¹⁷ tc The LXX reads “Syene,” which is Aswan in the south. The MT reads Sin, which has already been mentioned in v. 15.

[30:17]  ¹⁸ sn On and Pi-beseth are generally identified with the Egyptian cities of Heliopolis and Bubastis.

[30:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they will go.” The pronoun and verb are feminine plural, indicating that the cities just mentioned are the antecedent of the pronoun and the subject of the verb. The translation makes this clear by stating the subject as “the cities.”

[30:18]  ²⁰ sn In Zeph 1:15 darkness is associated with the day of the Lord.