Ezekiel 30

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Another message from the Lord came to me, saying,

2 Son of man prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Howl ye, Woe, woe to 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, yea the day of the Lord is near: a cloudy day, it shall 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

8 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.

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 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.

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 Thus saith the Lord God: I will make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nabuchodonosor the 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 destroy the land of Phatures, and will make a fire in Taphnis, and will execute judgments in Alexandria.

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

15 And I will pour out my indignation upon Pelusium the strength of Egypt, and will cut off the multitude of Alexandria.

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

16 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.

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 Heliopolis, and of Bubastus shall fall by the sword, and they themselves shall go into captivity.

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

18 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.

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 execute judgments in Egypt: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

This is how I'm going to punish Egypt, and they will acknowledge that I am the Lord.”

20 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:

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, 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.

“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 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:

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 disperse Egypt among the nations, and scatter them through the countries.

I will scatter the Egyptians among the different nations and countries.

24 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.

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 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.

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 disperse Egypt among the nations, and will scatter them through the countries, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

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