Ezekiel 30:1-19
When the day of the Lord comes against Egypt, every layer of false security is exposed: armies fall, allies tremble, wealth is carried away, idols are destroyed, cities burn, and the nations learn that the Lord alone is God.
1 Yahweh’s word came again to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’
3 For the day is near, even Yahweh’s day is near. It will be a day of clouds, a time of the nations.
4 A sword will come on Egypt, and anguish will be in Ethiopia, when the slain fall in Egypt. They take away her multitude, and her foundations are broken down.
5 “ ‘ “Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all the mixed people, Cub, and the children of the land that is allied with them, will fall with them by the sword.”
6 “ ‘Yahweh says: “They also who uphold Egypt will fall. The pride of her power will come down. They will fall by the sword in it from the tower of Seveneh,” says the Lord Yahweh.
7 “They will be desolate in the middle of the countries that are desolate. Her cities will be among the cities that are wasted.
8 They will know that I am Yahweh when I have set a fire in Egypt, and all her helpers are destroyed.
9 “ ‘ “In that day messengers will go out from before me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid. There will be anguish on them, as in the day of Egypt; for, behold, it comes.”
10 “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, the terrible of the 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 make the rivers dry, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men. I will make the land desolate, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I, Yahweh, have spoken it.”
13 “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the images to cease from Memphis. There will be no more a prince from the land of Egypt. I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
14 I will make Pathros desolate, and will set a fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments on No.
15 I will pour my wrath on Sin, the stronghold of Egypt. I will cut off the multitude of No.
16 I will set a fire in Egypt Sin will be in great anguish. No will be broken up. Memphis will have adversaries in the daytime.
17 The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth will fall by the sword. They will go into captivity.
18 At Tehaphnehes also the day will withdraw itself, when I break the yokes of Egypt, there. The pride of her power will cease in her. As for her, a cloud will cover her, and her daughters will go into captivity.
19 Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.” ’ ”
When the day of the LORD comes against Egypt, every layer of false security is exposed: armies fall, allies tremble, wealth is carried away, idols are destroyed, cities burn, and the nations learn that the LORD alone is God.
To summon lament over the approaching day of the LORD against Egypt, declaring that Egypt's sword, collapse, burned cities, crushed allies, defeated idols, and broken proud strength will reveal that the Sovereign LORD rules over the nations and their gods.
The passage is located in Ezekiel's exilic prophecy during the foreign-nations oracle block. Egypt is addressed as a major regional power whose security, allies, and religious order are subject to the LORD's judgment. The oracle would instruct Ezekiel's exilic audience that Jerusalem's fall did not mean the LORD was weak. The same LORD who judged Judah also judges Egypt and every nation that appears strong.