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A Lament Over Egypt 30  The word of the Lord  came to me:  2 “Son of man, prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord  says: “‘Wail and say,      “Alas for that day!” 3 For the day is near,      the day of the Lord  is near— a day of clouds,      a time of doom for the nations. 4 A sword will come against Egypt,      and anguish will come upon Cush.[a] When the slain fall in Egypt,      her wealth will be carried away      and her foundations torn down. 5 Cush and Libya, Lydia and all Arabia, Kub and the people of the covenant land will fall by the sword along with Egypt. 6 “‘This is what the Lord  says: “‘The allies of Egypt will fall      and her proud strength will fail. From Migdol to Aswan      they will fall by the sword within her, declares the Sovereign Lord . 7 “‘They will be desolate      among desolate lands, and their cities will lie      among ruined cities. 8 Then they will know that I am the Lord ,      when I set fire to Egypt      and all her helpers are crushed. 9 “‘On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten Cush out of her complacency. Anguish will take hold of them on the day of Egypt’s doom, for it is sure to come. 10 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord  says: “‘I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt      by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 11 He and his army—the most ruthless of nations—      will be brought in to destroy the land. They will draw their swords against Egypt      and fill the land with the slain. 12 I will dry up the waters of the Nile      and sell the land to an evil nation; by the hand of foreigners      I will lay waste the land and everything in it. I the Lord  have spoken. 13 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord  says: “‘I will destroy the idols      and put an end to the images in Memphis. No longer will there be a prince in Egypt,      and I will spread fear throughout the land. 14 I will lay waste Upper Egypt,      set fire to Zoan      and inflict punishment on Thebes. 15 I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,      the stronghold of Egypt,      and wipe out the hordes of Thebes. 16 I will set fire to Egypt;      Pelusium will writhe in agony. Thebes will be taken by storm;      Memphis will be in constant distress. 17 The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis      will fall by the sword,      and the cities themselves will go into captivity. 18 Dark will be the day at Tahpanhes      when I break the yoke of Egypt;      there her proud strength will come to an end. She will be covered with clouds,      and her villages will go into captivity. 19 So I will inflict punishment on Egypt,      and they will know that I am the Lord .’” Pharaoh’s Arms Are Broken 20 In the eleventh year, in the first month on the seventh day, the word of the Lord  came to me:  21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. It has not been bound up to be healed or put in a splint so that it may become strong enough to hold a sword.  22 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord  says: I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt. I will break both his arms, the good arm as well as the broken one, and make the sword fall from his hand.  23 I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries.  24 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a mortally wounded man.  25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall limp. Then they will know that I am the Lord , when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he brandishes it against Egypt.  26 I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord .” Footnotes Ezekiel 30:4 That is, the upper Nile region; also in verses 5 and 9 New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel had the difficult task of communicating to his Judaean hearers an unpatriotic message, the prophetic truth that God’s judgment was at work in the fall of Jerusalem. Ezekiel had to work hard to dispel the commonly held, but vain, hope that salvation would come for the people of Judah through the assistance of Egypt, emphasizing that the Judaeans ‘had put their political and providential eggs into the wrong basket.’2 He had previously attempted to show the exiles that God’s judgment on Jerusalem was as justified as it was certain. In fact, Egypt was now facing the same destiny as Israel itself: namely, the day of the Lord.3

The breaking of Pharaoh’s arm (v. 21) may refer to the defeat of his army, which attempted to relieve the siege of Jerusalem.4 The Babylonian attack on Egypt could be the breaking of his other arm. There is a certain irony that one of Pharaoh Hophra’s titles was ‘mighty of arm.’ Big Chief Strong Arm had become Little Chief Broken Arm.5

The day of the Lord was a familiar Old Testament concept.6 It was originally a term that summarized Israel’s expectations that God would defeat their enemies and raise Israel itself up in victory and salvation, but for Ezekiel, it meant the day of God’s judgment. The final day was yet to come when God would put an end to all sin everywhere. Interim days of the Lord became patterns for and previews of the final day. Having previously mentioned it in chapter 7 in relation to Israel, Ezekiel now proclaimed it as a day of judgment for Egypt. The end of the story is summed up in the familiar refrain: ‘Then they will know that I am the Lord’ (v. 26).

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