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Chapter 30

The Day of the Lord Against Egypt. The word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord God:

Wail: “Alas the day!”
Yes, a day approaches,
    a day of the Lord approaches:
A day of dark cloud,
    a time appointed for the nations.(A)
A sword will come against Egypt,
    there will be anguish in Ethiopia,
When the slain fall in Egypt
    when its hordes are seized,
    its foundations razed.(B)
Ethiopia, Put, and Lud,
    all the mixed rabble[a] and Kub,
and the people of allied lands
    shall fall by the sword with them.
Thus says the Lord:
The pillars of Egypt shall fall,
    and its proud strength sink;
From Migdol to Syene,
    its people will fall by the sword—
    oracle of the Lord God.(C)
It shall be the most desolate
    among desolate lands,
Its cities the most ruined
    among ruined cities.
They shall know that I am the Lord,
    when I set fire to Egypt,
    and all its allies are shattered.(D)
On that day, messengers from me
    will go forth in ships
    to terrorize confident Ethiopia.
Anguish will be among them
    on Egypt’s day—it is certainly coming![b]
10 Thus says the Lord God:
I will put an end to Egypt’s hordes
    by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon:
11 He and his army with him,
    the most ruthless of nations,
    will be brought in to devastate the land.
They will draw their swords against Egypt
    and fill the land with the slain.
12 Then I will dry up the streams of the Nile,
    and sell the land into evil hands;
By the hand of foreigners I will devastate
    the land and everything in it.
    I, the Lord, have spoken.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 30:5 Mixed rabble: mercenaries.
  2. 30:9 God spreads panic throughout Ethiopia, ancient Cush, by sending messengers with news of Egypt’s fall. Rivers at its borders insulated Ethiopia and made it inaccessible except by boat.