Ezekiel 30

1 Yahweh gave me another message. [He said, ]

And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,

2 “You human, prophesy [about what will happen to Egypt]. Say, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: “Weep and wail [DOU], because terrible things will happen some day.

“Son of man, prophesy, and you have said, Thus said Lord YHWH: Howl, Aah! For the day!

3 That day is near, the day when I, Yahweh, [will punish people]; it will be a day of [dark] clouds and disaster for [many] nations.

For a day [is] near, a day [is] near to YHWH! It is a time of cloud [over] the nations.

4 [An enemy army] [PRS] will come to attack Egypt with their swords, and there will be great distress [among the people] in Ethiopia. [Many] people will be killed in Egypt; everything valuable will be taken away, and [even] the foundations [of the buildings] will be torn down.

And a sword has come into Egypt, And there has been great pain in Cush, In the falling of the wounded in Egypt, And they have taken its store, And its foundations have been broken down.

5 [Soldiers of] Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, and from all of Arabia, and [all the other] groups who are their allies, will be killed in the battles.”

Cush, and Phut, and Lud, and all the mixture, and Chub, And the sons of the land of the covenant fall by sword with them,

6 This is what [I], Yahweh say: “The allies of Egypt will be defeated, and the power that [the people of Egypt] are proud of will end. From Migdol [city in the north] to Aswan [city in the south], the soldiers of Egypt will be killed by their enemies’ swords”; [that is what I], Yahweh the Lord, declare.

Thus said YHWH: And those supporting Egypt have fallen, And the arrogance of her strength has come down, From Migdol to Syene, they fall by sword in her, A declaration of Lord YHWH.

7 Egypt will become the most deserted country in the world, and its cities will be ruined, surrounded by ruined cities [in nearby nations].

And they have been desolated in the midst of desolate lands, And its cities are in the midst of cities [that are] laid waste.

8 Then, when I cause [everything in] Egypt to be burned in fires, and all their allies are defeated, people will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].

And they have known that I [am] YHWH, In My giving fire against Egypt, And all her helpers have been broken.

9 At that time, I will send messengers to go [swiftly up the Nile River] in boats to cause the people of Ethiopia who (are complacent/confident/think that nothing terrible will happen to them) to become afraid. They will be terrified [PRS] when Egypt is destroyed; and it will soon be that time!”

In that day messengers go forth from before Me in ships, To trouble confident Cush, And there has been great pain among them, As the day of Egypt, for behold, it has come.

10 This is what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: “By the power of [MTY] of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon I will get rid of very many people in Egypt.

Thus said Lord YHWH: I have caused the multitude of Egypt to cease, By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,

11 Nebuchadnezzar and his army, whose soldiers are extremely ruthless, will come to destroy Egypt. They will pull out their swords and fill Egypt with [the corpses of] those whom they have killed.

He and his people with him—the terrible of nations, Are brought in to destroy the land, And they have drawn their swords against Egypt, And have filled the land [with] the wounded.

12 I will cause the Nile [River] to become dry, and I will sell the nation to evil men. By the power [MTY] of foreigners I will ruin the land and everything that is in it. [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, have predicted it.”

And I have made floods a dry place, And I have sold the land into the hand of evildoers, And I have made the land desolate, And its fullness, by the hand of strangers, I, YHWH, have spoken.

13 This is [also] what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: “I will cause the idols and statues [of idols] [DOU] in Memphis [city] to be destroyed. No longer will there be a king in Egypt, and all over the land, people will be terrified. I will cause [the people of] Egypt to be very afraid.

Thus said Lord YHWH: And I have destroyed idols, And caused vain things to cease from Noph, And there is no longer a prince of the land of Egypt, And I give fear in the land of Egypt.

14 I will cause the Pathros [area in southern Egypt] to be abandoned. I will start fires in Zoan [city in northeast Egypt] and punish [the people in] Thebes, [the capital of southern Egypt].

And I have made Pathros desolate, And I have given fire against Zoan, And I have done judgments in No,

15 I will pour out my punishment [MTY] on [the fortress in] Pelusium [at the eastern end of Egypt], and I will get rid of very many people in Thebes.

And I have poured out My fury on Sin, the stronghold of Egypt, And I have cut off the multitude of No.

16 I will burn Egypt by fires; [the people in] Pelusium will suffer severe pain. [Enemies] will conquer Thebes, and [the people in] Memphis will constantly be terrified.

And I have given fire against Egypt, Sin is greatly pained, and No is to be broken, And Noph has daily distresses.

17 [Many] young men in Heliopolis and Bubastis [cities in northern Egypt] will be killed by [their enemies] swords, and the others [from those cities] will be captured and taken [to Babylon].

The youths of Aven and Pi-Beseth fall by sword, And these go into captivity.

18 It will be a dark day [of destruction] at Tahpenes [city in northeast Egypt] when I cause the power [MET] of Egypt to end; that country will no longer be proud of being strong. [It will be as though] a dark cloud will cover Egypt, because the people of its villages will be captured and forced to go [to Babylon].”

And the day has been dark in Tehaphnehes, In My breaking the yokes of Egypt there, And the excellence of her strength has ceased in her, Her! A cloud covers her, And her daughters go into captivity.

19 That is how I will punish Egypt, and people will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].’”

And I have done judgments in Egypt, And they have known that I [am] YHWH.”

20 Almost eleven years [after we had been taken to Babylon], on the seventh day of the first month [of that year], Yahweh gave me another message. [He said, ]

And it comes to pass, in the eleventh year, in the first [month], on the seventh of the month, a word of YHWH has been to me, saying, “Son of man,

21 “You human, I [have enabled the army of Nebuchadnezzar to defeat the army of] the King of Egypt. [It is as though] I have broken one of the arms of the King of Egypt, and it has not been bandaged in order that it could be healed, and it has not been put in splints in order that [after it heals] the arm will be strong [enough] to hold a sword.

I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, And behold, it has not been bound up to give healing, To put a bandage to bind it, To strengthen it—to lay hold on the sword.

22 Therefore, this is what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘I am the enemy of the King of Egypt. [I will completely destroy the power of Egypt; it is as though] now I will break both of the king’s arms, the good/strong one and the broken one, and cause the sword to fall from his hand.

Therefore, thus said Lord YHWH: Behold, I [am] against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, And I have broken his arms, The strong one and the broken one, And have caused the sword to fall out of his hand,

23 I will cause the people of Egypt to be scattered among the nations [DOU].

And I have scattered the Egyptians among nations, And have spread them through lands,

24 [It is as though] I will strengthen the arms of the King of Babylon and put a sword in his hand, and [as though] I will break the arms of the king of Egypt, and he will groan in front of the King of Babylon like [SIM] a soldier who is wounded and about to die.

And I have strengthened the arms of the king of Babylon, And have given My sword into his hand, And I have broken the arms of Pharaoh, And he has groaned the groans of a pierced one—before him.

25 I will cause the power [MTY] of the King of Babylon to become greater, and the power of the king of Egypt will be useless [MET]. When that happens, when I give power to the army of the King of Babylon, they will use that power to attack Egypt.

And I have strengthened the arms of the king of Babylon, And the arms of Pharaoh fall down, And they have known that I [am] YHWH, In My giving My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, And he has stretched it out toward the land of Egypt.

26 I will cause the people of Egypt to be scattered among the nations [DOU]. And when that happens, the people [of Egypt] will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do] [DOU].’”

And I have scattered the Egyptians among nations, And I have spread them through lands, And they have known that I [am] YHWH!”