< Ezekiel 30 >

1 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, be a prophet, and say, These are the words of the Lord: Give a cry, Aha, for the day!
Son of man prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Howl ye, Woe, woe to the day:
3 For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near, a day of cloud; it will be the time of the nations.
For the day is near, yea the day of the Lord is near: a cloudy day, it shall be the time of the nations.
4 And a sword will come on Egypt, and cruel pain will be in Ethiopia, when they are falling by the sword in Egypt; and they will take away her wealth and her bases will be broken down.
And the sword shall come upon Egypt: and there shall be dread in Ethiopia, when the wounded shall fall in Egypt, and the multitude thereof shall be taken away, and the foundations thereof shall be destroyed.
5 Ethiopia and Put and Lud and all the mixed people and Libya and the children of the land of the Cherethites will all be put to death with them by the sword.
Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the rest of the crowd, and Chub, and the children of the land of the covenant, shall fall with them by the sword.
6 This is what the Lord has said: The supporters of Egypt will have a fall, and the pride of her power will come down: from Migdol to Syene they will be put to the sword in it, says the Lord.
Thus saith the Lord God: They also that uphold Egypt shall fall, and the pride of her empire shall be brought down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord the God of hosts.
7 And she will be made waste among the countries which have been made waste, and her towns will be among the towns which are unpeopled.
And they shall be desolate in the midst of the lands that are desolate, and the cities thereof shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted.
8 And they will be certain that I am the Lord, when I have put a fire in Egypt and all her helpers are broken.
And they shall know that I am the Lord: when I shall have set a fire in Egypt, and all the helpers thereof shall be destroyed.
9 In that day men will go out quickly to take the news, causing fear in untroubled Ethiopia; and bitter pain will come on them as in the day of Egypt; for see, it is coming.
In that day shall messengers go forth from my face in ships to destroy the confidence of Ethiopia, and there shall be dread among them in the day of Egypt: because it shall certainly come.
10 This is what the Lord has said: I will put an end to great numbers of the people of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon.
Thus saith the Lord God: I will make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon.
11 He and the people with him, causing fear among the nations, will be sent for the destruction of the land; their swords will be let loose against Egypt and the land will be full of dead.
He and his people with him, the strongest of nations, shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords upon Egypt: and shall fill the land with the slain.
12 And I will make the Nile streams dry, and will give the land into the hands of evil men, causing the land and everything in it to be wasted by the hands of men from a strange country: I the Lord have said it.
And I will make the channels of the rivers dry, and will deliver the land into the hand of the wicked: and will lay waste the land and all that is therein by the hands of strangers, I the Lord have spoken it.
13 This is what the Lord has said: In addition to this, I will give up the images to destruction and put an end to the false gods in Noph; never again will there be a ruler in the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
Thus saith the Lord God: I will also destroy the idols, and I will make an end of the idols of Memphis: and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will cause a terror in the land of Egypt.
14 And I will make Pathros a waste, and put a fire in Zoan, and send my punishments on No.
And I will destroy the land of Phatures, and will make a fire in Taphnis, and will execute judgments in Alexandria.
15 I will let loose my wrath on Sin, the strong place of Egypt, cutting off the mass of the people of No.
And I will pour out my indignation upon Pelusium the strength of Egypt, and will cut off the multitude of Alexandria.
16 And I will put a fire in Egypt; Syene will be twisting in pain, and No will be broken into, as by the onrush of waters.
And I will make a fire in Egypt: Pelusium shall be in pain like a woman in labour, and Alexandria shall be laid waste, and in Memphis there shall be daily distresses.
17 The young men of On and Pi-beseth will be put to the sword: and these towns will be taken away prisoners.
The young men of Heliopolis, and of Bubastus shall fall by the sword, and they themselves shall go into captivity.
18 And at Tehaphnehes the day will become dark, when the yoke of Egypt is broken there, and the pride of her power comes to an end: as for her, she will be covered with a cloud, and her daughters will be taken away prisoners.
And in Taphnis the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the sceptres of Egypt, and the pride of her power shall cease in her: a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall be led into captivity.
19 And I will send my punishments on Egypt: and they will be certain that I am the Lord.
And I will execute judgments in Egypt: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
20 Now in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
21 Son of man, the arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, has been broken by me, and no band has been put round it to make it well, no band has been twisted round it to make it strong for gripping the sword.
Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharao king of Egypt: and behold it is not bound up, to be healed, to be tied up with clothes, and swathed with linen, that it might recover strength, and hold the sword.
22 For this cause the Lord has said: See, I am against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and by me his strong arm will be broken; and I will make the sword go out of his hand.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I come against Pharao king of Egypt, and I will break into pieces his strong arm, which is already broken: and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand:
23 And I will send the Egyptians in flight among the nations and wandering through the countries.
And I will disperse Egypt among the nations, and scatter them through the countries.
24 And I will make the arms of the king of Babylon strong, and will put my sword in his hand: but Pharaoh's arms will be broken, and he will give cries of pain before him like the cries of a man wounded to death.
And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and will put my sword in his hand: and I will break the arms of Pharao, and they shall groan bitterly being slain before his face.
25 And I will make the arms of the king of Babylon strong, and the arms of Pharaoh will be hanging down; and they will be certain that I am the Lord, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and it is stretched out against the land of Egypt.
And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharao shall fall: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have given my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall have stretched it forth upon the land of Egypt.
26 And I will send the Egyptians in flight among the nations and wandering through the countries; and they will be certain that I am the Lord.
And I will disperse Egypt among the nations, and will scatter them through the countries, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

< Ezekiel 30 >