the First Week of Advent
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New Revised Standard
Ezekiel 30
Lamentation for Egypt
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God:
Wail, "Alas for the day!"
3 For a day is near,
the day of the Lord is near;
it will be a day of clouds,
a time of doom[a] for the nations.
4 A sword shall come upon Egypt,
and anguish shall be in Ethiopia,[b]
when the slain fall in Egypt,
and its wealth is carried away,
and its foundations are torn down.
5 Ethiopia,[c] and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya,[d] and the people of the allied land[e] shall fall with them by the sword.
6 Thus says the Lord:
Those who support Egypt shall fall,
and its proud might shall come down;
from Migdol to Syene
they shall fall within it by the sword,
says the Lord God.
7 They shall be desolated among other desolated countries,
and their cities shall lie among cities laid waste.
8 Then they shall know that I am the Lord,
when I have set fire to Egypt,
and all who help it are broken.
9 On that day, messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting Ethiopians;[f] and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt's doom;[g] for it is coming!
10 Thus says the Lord God:
I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt,
by the hand of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, the most terrible of the nations,
shall be brought in to destroy the land;
and they shall draw their swords against Egypt,
and fill the land with the slain.
12 I will dry up the channels,
and will sell the land into the hand of evildoers;
I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it
by the hand of foreigners;
I the Lord have spoken.
13 Thus says the Lord God:
I will destroy the idols
and put an end to the images in Memphis;
there shall no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt;
so I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14 I will make Pathros a desolation,
and will set fire to Zoan,
and will execute acts of judgment on Thebes.
15 I will pour my wrath upon Pelusium,
the stronghold of Egypt,
and cut off the hordes of Thebes.
16 I will set fire to Egypt;
Pelusium shall be in great agony;
Thebes shall be breached,
and Memphis face adversaries by day.
17 The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword;
and the cities themselves[h] shall go into captivity.
18 At Tehaphnehes the day shall be dark,
when I break there the dominion of Egypt,
and its proud might shall come to an end;
the city[i] shall be covered by a cloud,
and its daughter-towns shall go into captivity.
19 Thus I will execute acts of judgment on Egypt.
Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
Proclamation against Pharaoh
20 In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 21 Mortal, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; it has not been bound up for healing or wrapped with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. 22 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken; and I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them throughout the lands. 24 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 him with the groans of one mortally wounded. 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall stretch it out against the land of Egypt, 26 and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
New Revised Standard
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
