Ezekiel 30

1 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,

Another message from 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 announce that this is what the Lord God says: Weep! This is a terrible 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.

The day is soon coming—the Day of the Lord is near. It will be a gloomy, cloudy day, a time of judgment for 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.

A sword will come to attack Egypt, and there will be anguish in Cush when people are killed in Egypt, when it's robbed of its wealth and the country ruined.

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.

Cush, Put, and Lud, and many other peoples, as well as Arabia, Kub, and the people of the promised land, they all, like Egypt, will be killed 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.

This is what the Lord says: Egypt's allies will fall, and the country will lose its prestigious position. From Migdol in the north to Syene in the south, they will be killed by the sword, declares the Lord God.

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.

Egypt will become more of a wasteland than any other country, and its towns will be left in ruins.

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.

Then they will acknowledge that I am the Lord when I set fire to Egypt and all its allies are crushed.

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.

At that time I will send messengers in ships to shock Cush out of its sense of security. They will tremble in fear when disasters hit Egypt. Watch out! It's definitely coming!

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.

This is what the Lord God says: I will use Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to take away Egypt's wealth.

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 army from the cruelest nation in the world will be brought to destroy the country. They will use their swords to attack Egypt, and they will fill the land with dead bodies.

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.

I will dry up the rivers and sell the land to wicked people. Using these foreigners I will ruin the land and everything in it. I the Lord have spoken.

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.

This is what the Lord God says: I'm going to destroy the idols and get rid of the images in Memphis. There won't be a prince in Egypt any longer, and I will make everyone in the country terrified.

14 And I will make Pathros a waste, and put a fire in Zoan, and send my punishments on No.

I will destroy Pathros, set Zoan on fire, and punish Thebes.

15 I will let loose my wrath on Sin, the strong place of Egypt, cutting off the mass of the people of No.

I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium, Egypt's fortress town, and wipe out the army at Thebes.

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.

I will set fire to Egypt, Pelusium will suffer, Thebes will be ripped apart, and Memphis will face trouble every day.

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 soldiers of Heliopolis and Bubastis will fall by the sword, and the people from those towns will be taken captive.

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.

It will be a dark day in Tahpanhes when I break Egypt's power and bring to an end their proud strength. It will be under a cloud as the people go into captivity.

19 And I will send my punishments on Egypt: and they will be certain that I am the Lord.

This is how I'm going to punish Egypt, and they will acknowledge 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,

On the seventh day of the first month of the eleventh year, a message from 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 Pharaoh king of Egypt. You can see that it hasn't been bandaged up to heal it, or put it in a splint to provide enough strength to hold a 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.

So this is what the Lord God says: Watch out, because I'm condemning Pharaoh king of Egypt! I will break his arms, both the one that's still good and the one already broken, and I will make him drop his sword.

23 And I will send the Egyptians in flight among the nations and wandering through the countries.

I will scatter the Egyptians among the different nations and 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.

I will make the arms of the king of Babylon strong, and put my sword in his hand, but I will break Pharaoh's arms, and he will moan in pain like someone who's about to die.

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.

I will make the arms of Babylon's king strong, but Pharaoh's arms will drop to his sides, weak and useless. Then they will acknowledge that I am the Lord, when I put my sword in the hand of the king of Babylon and he uses it to attack 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.

When I scatter the Egyptians among the different nations and countries, they will acknowledge that I am the Lord.”