The Prophet Ezekiel

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- Kapitel 30 -

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

“Son of man, prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord God: Wail: ‘Woe, woe to the day!’

For the day is near, and the day of the Lord is approaching! It is a day of gloom; it will be the time of the Gentiles.(a)

And the sword will come to Egypt. And there will be dread in Ethiopia, when the wounded will have fallen in Egypt, and its multitude will have been taken away, and its foundations will have been destroyed.

Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the rest of the common people, and Chub, and the sons of the land of the covenant, will fall with them by the sword.(b)

Thus says the Lord God: And those who prop up Egypt will fall, and the arrogance of its reign will be brought down. They will fall in it by the sword, before the tower of Syene, says the Lord, the God of hosts.

And they will be scattered into the midst of desolate lands, and its cities will be in the midst of cities that have been deserted.

And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I will have brought a fire into Egypt, and when all its helpers will have been worn away.

In that day, messengers will go forth from my face in Greek warships, in order to crush the confidence of Ethiopia. And there will be dread among them in the day of Egypt; for without doubt, it will happen.

Thus says the Lord God: By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, I will cause the multitude of Egypt to cease.

He, and his people with him, the strongest of the Gentiles, will be brought forth in order to destroy the land. And they will draw their swords over Egypt. And they will fill the land with the slain.

And I will cause the channels of the rivers to dry up. And I will deliver the land into the hand of the most wicked. And by the hands of foreigners, I will utterly destroy the land and its plenitude. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Thus says the Lord God: And I will destroy the graven images, and I will cause the idols of Memphis to cease. And there will no longer be a commander of the land of Egypt. And I will send terror upon the land of Egypt.

And I will destroy the land of Pathros, and I will send a fire upon Tahpanhes, and I will execute judgments in Alexandria.(c)

And I will pour out my indignation upon Pelusium, the strength of Egypt, and I will kill the multitude of Alexandria.

And I will send a fire upon Egypt. Pelusium will be in pain, like a woman giving birth. And Alexandria will be utterly destroyed. And in Memphis, there will be anguish every day.

The young men of Heliopolis and Pibeseth will fall by the sword, and the young women will be led into captivity.

And in Tahpanhes, the day will grow black, when, in that place, I will break the scepters of Egypt. And the arrogance of her authority will fail within her; a gloom will cover her. Then her daughters will be led into captivity.

And I will execute judgments in Egypt. And they shall know that I am the Lord.”

Pharaoh’s Power Broken

And it happened that, in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

“Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And behold, it has not been wrapped, so that it might be restored to health; it has not been bound with cloths, or bandaged with linen, so that, having recovered strength, it would be able to hold the sword.

Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and I will shatter his strong arm, which has already been broken. And I will cast the sword away from his hand.

And I will disperse Egypt among the nations, and I will scatter them among the lands.

And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon. And I will put my sword into his hand. And I will break the arms of Pharaoh. And they will groan acutely, when they are slain before his face.

And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon. And the arms of Pharaoh will fall. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I will have given my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and when he will have extended it over the land of Egypt.

And I will disperse Egypt among the nations, and I will scatter them among the lands. And they shall know that I am the Lord.”

Fußnoten

(a)30:3 In the Catholic understanding of the Old Testament, the term Gentiles can be a figure comparing Christians to non-believers, rather than comparing Jews to non-Jews.(Conte)

(b)30:5 The sons of the land of the covenant (or pact) could refer to the Israelites, or to their descendents living abroad, or to some other land that made a pact with Egypt.(Conte)

(c)30:14 Alexandria:In the Hebrew, No: which was the ancient name of that city, which was afterwards rebuilt by Alexander the Great, and from his name called Alexandria.(Challoner)

The LORD’s word came again to me, saying,

“Son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’

For the day is near, even the LORD’s day is near. It will be a day of clouds, a time of the nations.

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.

“‘“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.”

“‘The LORD 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 GOD.

“They will be desolate in the middle of the countries that are desolate. Her cities will be among the cities that are wasted.

They will know that I am the LORD when I have set a fire in Egypt, and all her helpers are destroyed.

“‘“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.”

“‘The Lord GOD says: “I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

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.

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 foreigners. I, the LORD, have spoken it.”

“‘The Lord GOD 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.

I will make Pathros desolate, and will set a fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments on No.

I will pour my wrath on Sin, the stronghold of Egypt. I will cut off the multitude of No.

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.

The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth will fall by the sword. They will go into captivity.

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.

Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”’”

Pharaoh’s Power Broken

In the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, the LORD’s word came to me, saying,

“Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Behold, it has not been bound up, to apply medicines, to put a bandage to bind it, that it may become strong to hold the sword.

Therefore the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong arm, and that which was broken. I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.

I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.

I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand; but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before the king of Babylon with the groaning of a mortally wounded man.

I will hold up the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall down. Then they will know that I am the LORD when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he stretches it out on the land of Egypt.

I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”