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30 ‎[1] Ezekiel issues another prophecy about Egypt and the neighboring countries. **The word of the Lord was with me, saying: **
‎[2] **Son of man, prophesy, and say: So said the Lord God: Wail: Woe for the **approaching** day. **
‎[3] **For a day is near; the day of **the revelation of **the Lord is near, a day of cloud, **darkness and fog; **it will be the time of **the fall of **nations. **
‎[4] **A sword will come against Egypt, and there will be trembling in Kush, **Egypt’s southern neighbor, **when the slain fall in Egypt; they, **Egypt’s enemies,** will take its multitude **into captivity,** and its foundations will be destroyed. **
‎[5] **Kush, Put **(see commentary on 27:10), **and Lud, **based on the context, Lud is situated close to Egypt, and is not the land in western Asia Minor of that name (see commentary on 27:10), **and all the intermingled people, Kuv, **which according to the Septuagint is Libya, **and the children of the **neighboring **land **or lands **of the covenant **with Egypt, **will fall with them by the sword. **Egypt was the most ancient kingdom, and the central power in that part of Africa. It was also a source of strength and culture for all the surrounding nations. Its downfall will therefore send shockwaves throughout the region.
‎[6] **So said the Lord: The **countries that are** supporters of Egypt will fall, and the pride of its might will plunge; from Migdol to Sevene, **from one end of the empire to the other, **in it they will fall by the sword – the utterance of the Lord God. **
‎[7] **They, **Egypt or the countries that support it,** will become desolate in the midst of **other **desolate countries, and its cities will be among the cities in ruins. **The cities of Egypt, or the cities in the countries that support it, will join the list of destroyed cites. In contrast to other lands, which to a certain extent had become accustomed to foreign conquests, Egypt had almost never been overrun by its enemies. The scenario addressed by Ezekiel is virtually unprecedented; for the first time Egyptian cities will be destroyed by an invading enemy.
‎[8] **They will know that I am the Lord when I set fire upon Egypt and all its helpers, **the nations that come to her assistance,** are shattered. **
‎[9] **On that day messengers will go out from before Me in ships to cause trembling in confident Kush. **When Egypt will be destroyed, the news will be heard in Kush from ships traveling up the Nile, whose source was located there. **And there will be trembling among them, **the people of Kush,** on the day of **the punishment of **Egypt, for behold, it is coming. **
‎[10] **So said the Lord God: I will terminate the horde of Egypt by means of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. **
‎[11] **He and his people, **his army, **with him, **who are **the ruthless, **or the mighty, **of the nations, are being brought to destroy the land, and they will draw their swords against Egypt, and they will fill the land with the slain. **
‎[12] **I will render rivers, **the Nile and its channels,** dry,**** and I will sell the land to the hand of the evildoers, and I will render the land and its fullness desolate by the hand of strangers; I, the Lord, have spoken. **
‎[13] **So said the Lord God: I will destroy idols and eliminate false gods from **the city of **Nof,**** and there will no longer be a prince **or king **of the land of Egypt, and I will set fear in the land of Egypt. **
‎[14] **I will render Patros**** desolate, I will set fire upon Tzo’an,**** **which was once the capital city of Egypt, **and I will administer punishments upon **the great city of **No,**** **also called Noh Amon.
‎[15] **I will pour My fury upon **the city of **Sin,**** the stronghold, **the fortress or refuge, **of Egypt, and I will eradicate the horde of No. **Sin and No were the two largest and most important cities of Egypt at that time, whereas Tzo’an had only historical significance.** **
‎[16] **I will set fire upon Egypt; **the city of **Sin will tremble **and quake, **and **the fortified city of **No will be breached, and Nof will be besieged daily. **They will lay siege to it on a daily basis, and fearlessly attack it by the light of day. Alternatively, the phrase means that the people of Nof will hate the light of day, as during the day it is impossible for them to hide.
‎[17] **The youths of **the Egyptian city of On, referred to here by the derogatory name of **Aven,**meaning iniquity; the phrase as a whole means: The young men of wickedness, **and **the young men of** Pi Beset**** will fall by the sword, and they, **the population of** **the** **two cities,** will go into captivity. **Alternatively, the verse means that the women of these cities will go into captivity.
‎[18] **In Tahpanehes**** the **light of **day will be withheld,** or be removed,** when I break the** supporting** bars of Egypt there, **the source of its strength; **and the pride of its might, **Egypt’s strength and grandeur,** will be eliminated in it. It, **Egypt, **a cloud will cover it, **the city will appear as though it has been enveloped by a cloud, **and its daughters will go into captivity. **
‎[19] **I will administer punishments upon Egypt, and they will know that I am the Lord. **
‎[20] A later prophecy that addresses Egypt is now cited: **It was in the eleventh year, in the first month, **Nisan, **on the seventh of the month; the word of the Lord was with me, saying: **
‎[21] **Son of man, I have broken the arm,** the might, **of Pharaoh king of Egypt. **This is apparently an allusion to the rout suffered by Pharaoh and his army at the hands of the forces of Nebuchadnezzar, when the Egyptians headed north to fight the Babylonians over control of the Land of Israel. **And behold, it, **Pharaoh’s arm,** was not bandaged to provide healing, to put** a protective **binding** **to bandage it, to strengthen it, **so that it could recover and** **be able **to grasp the sword. **
‎[22] **Therefore, so said the Lord God: Behold, I am **turning** against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and I will break his arms. **I have already broken one of his arms, which has yet to heal, and in the future I will smash both his arms: **The strong **arm, **and the **already **broken **arm** **by Nebuchadnezzar, **and I will cause the sword to fall from his hand. **Pharaoh’s military strength will be utterly shattered.
‎[23] **I will disperse Egypt among the nations, and I will scatter them through the lands. **
‎[24] **I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and I will place My sword in his hand, and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan the groans of the slain before him. **Pharaoh will groan like a mortally wounded man** **on the threshold of death.
‎[25] The prophet reiterates: **I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh will fall, and they will know that I am the Lord when I place My sword in the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will extend it over the land of Egypt. **
‎[26] **I will disperse Egypt among the nations, and I will scatter them through the lands, and they will know that I am the Lord. **
Version: The Steinsaltz Tanakh - English
Source: https://korenpub.com/collections/the-steinsaltz-tanakh/products/steinsaltz-tanakh
License: Copyright: Steinsaltz Center