2 Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Howl ye, Woe worth the day! 3 For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen. 4 And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain [1] shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down. 5 Ethiopia, and Libya, [2] and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword. 6 Thus saith the Lord; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord GOD. 7 And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted. 8 And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed. [3] 9 In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh.

Other Translations of Ezekiel 30:2-9

New International Version

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.That is, the upper Nile region; also in verses 5 and 9When 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.

English Standard Version

2 "Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: "Wail, 'Alas for the day!' 3 For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom forHebrew lacks doom for the nations. 4 A sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Cush, when the slain fall in Egypt, and her wealthOr multitude; also verse 10 is carried away, and her foundations are torn down. 5 Cush, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya,With Septuagint; Hebrew Cub and the people of the land that is in league,Hebrew and the sons of the land of the covenant shall fall with them by the sword. 6 "Thus says the Lord: Those who support Egypt shall fall, and her proud might shall come down; from Migdol to Syene they shall fall within her by the sword, declares the Lord GOD. 7 And they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries, and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste. 8 Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have set fire to Egypt, and all her helpers are broken. 9 "On that day messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting people of Cush, and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt's doom;Hebrew the day of Egypt for, behold, it comes!

The Message

2 "Son of man, preach. Give them the Message of God, the Master. Wail: 3 "'Doomsday!' Time's up! God's big day of judgment is near. Thick clouds are rolling in. It's doomsday for the nations. 4 Death will rain down on Egypt. Terror will paralyze Ethiopia When they see the Egyptians killed, their wealth hauled off, their foundations demolished, 5 And Ethiopia, Put, Lud, Arabia, Libya - all of Egypt's old allies - killed right along with them. 6 "'God says: "'Egypt's allies will fall and her proud strength will collapse - From Migdol in the north to Syene in the south, a great slaughter in Egypt! Decree of God, the Master. 7 Egypt, most desolate of the desolate, her cities wasted beyond wasting, 8 Will realize that I am God when I burn her down and her helpers are knocked flat. 9 "'When that happens, I'll send out messengers by ship to sound the alarm among the easygoing Ethiopians. They'll be terrorized. Egypt's doomed! Judgment's coming!

New King James Version

2 "Son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Wail, 'Woe to the day!' 3 For the day is near, Even the day of the Lord is near; It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles. 4 The sword shall come upon Egypt, And great anguish shall be in Ethiopia, When the slain fall in Egypt, And they take away her wealth, And her foundations are broken down. 5 "Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, all the mingled people, Chub, and the men of the lands who are allied, shall fall with them by the sword." 6 'Thus says the Lord: "Those who uphold Egypt shall fall, And the pride of her power shall come down. From Migdol to Syene Those within her shall fall by the sword," Says the Lord God. 7 "They shall be desolate in the midst of the desolate countries, And her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are laid waste. 8 Then they will know that I am the Lord, When I have set a fire in Egypt And all her helpers are destroyed. 9 On that day messengers shall go forth from Me in ships To make the careless Ethiopians afraid, And great anguish shall come upon them, As on the day of Egypt; For indeed it is coming!"

New Living Translation

2 "Son of man, prophesy and give this message from the Sovereign Lord : "Weep and wail for that day, 3 for the terrible day is almost here- the day of the Lord ! It is a day of clouds and gloom, a day of despair for the nations. 4 A sword will come against Egypt, and those who are slaughtered will cover the ground. Its wealth will be carried away and its foundations destroyed. The land of Ethiopia will be ravished. 5 Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, all Arabia, and all their other allies will be destroyed in that war. 6 "For this is what the Lord says: All of Egypt's allies will fall, and the pride of her power will end. From Migdol to Aswan they will be slaughtered by the sword, says the Sovereign Lord . 7 Egypt will be desolate, surrounded by desolate nations, and its cities will be in ruins, surrounded by other ruined cities. 8 And the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord when I have set Egypt on fire and destroyed all their allies. 9 At that time I will send swift messengers in ships to terrify the complacent Ethiopians. Great panic will come upon them on that day of Egypt's certain destruction. Watch for it! It is sure to come!

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 30:2-9

Commentary on Ezekiel 30:1-19

(Read Ezekiel 30:1-19)

The prophecy of the destruction of Egypt is very full. Those who take their lot with God's enemies, shall be with them in punishment. The king of Babylon and his army shall be instruments of this destruction. God often makes one wicked man a scourge to another. No place in the land of Egypt shall escape the fury of the Chaldeans. The Lord is known by the judgments he executes. Yet these are only present effects of the Divine displeasure, not worthy of our fear, compared with the wrath to come, from which Jesus delivers his people.