291 In the tenth year, in the tenth [month], on the twelfth of the month, the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against the whole of Egypt; 3 speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which saith, My river is mine own, and I made it for myself. 4 And I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales; 5 and I will cast thee into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open field; thou shalt not be brought together nor gathered: I will give thee for meat to the beasts of the earth and to the fowl of the heavens. 6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I [am] Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. 7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst give way and rend all their shoulder; and when they leaned upon thee, thou didst break, and didst make all their loins to tremble.
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast from thee. 9 And the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste: and they shall know that I [am] Jehovah, because he saith, The river is mine, and I made it. 10 Therefore behold, I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt deserts of wasteness and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, even unto the border of Ethiopia. 11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor shall foot of beast pass through it, nor shall it be inhabited, forty years. 12 And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of the countries that are desolated, and her cities shall be, in the midst of the cities that are laid waste, a desolation forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. 13 Yet thus saith the Lord Jehovah: At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples whither they were scattered; 14 and I will turn again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return to the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth, and they shall there be a base kingdom. 15 It shall be the basest of kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations; and I will diminish them, so that they shall no more rule over the nations. 16 And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to remembrance, when they turn after them: and they shall know that I [am] the Lord Jehovah.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 29:1-16
Commentary on Ezekiel 29:1-16
(Read Ezekiel 29:1-16)
Worldly, carnal minds pride themselves in their property, forgetting that whatever we have, we received it from God, and should use it for God. Why, then, do we boast? Self is the great idol which all the world worships, in contempt of God and his sovereignty. God can force men out of that in which they are most secure and easy. Such a one, and all that cleave to him, shall perish together. Thus end men's pride, presumption, and carnal security. The Lord is against those who do harm to his people, and still more against those who lead them into sin. Egypt shall be a kingdom again, but it shall be the basest of the kingdoms; it shall have little wealth and power. History shows the complete fulfilment of this prophecy. God, not only in justice, but in wisdom and goodness to us, breaks the creature-stays on which we lean, that they may be no more our confidence.