← All Chapters The Book of Ezekiel · Chapter 30

Ezekiel 30: The Day of Egypt

The Lord announces a day of clouds against Egypt and her allies, breaking Pharaoh's arms so that the sword falls from his hand.

Coming soon

Ezekiel 30 (WEB)

1 Yahweh’s word came again to me, saying,

2 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Wail, Alas for the day!

3 For the day is near, even the day of Yahweh is near; it shall be a day of clouds, a time of the nations.

4 A sword shall come on Egypt, and anguish 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 Put, and Lud, and all the mixed people, and Cub, and the children of the land that is allied with them, shall fall with them by the sword.

6 Thus says Yahweh: They also who uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Seveneh shall they fall in it by the sword, says the Lord Yahweh.

7 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 They shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and all her helpers are destroyed.

9 In that day shall messengers go out from before me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid; and there shall be anguish on them, as in the day of Egypt; for, behold, it comes.

10 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

11 He and his people with him, the 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 make the rivers dry, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men; and I will make the land desolate, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I, Yahweh, have spoken it.

13 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the images to cease from Memphis; and there shall be no more a prince from the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.

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

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

16 I will set a fire in Egypt: Sin shall be in great anguish, and No shall be broken up; and Memphis shall have adversaries in the daytime.

17 The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the sword; and they shall go into captivity.

18 At Tehaphnehes also the day shall withdraw itself, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt, and the pride of her power shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.

19 Thus will I execute judgments on Egypt; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.

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

21 Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and behold, it has not been bound up, to apply medicines, to put a bandage to bind it, that it be strong to hold the sword.

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

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

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 shall groan before him with the groaning of a mortally wounded man.

25 I will hold up the arms of the king of Babylon; and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out on the land of Egypt.

26 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.

Summary

Ezekiel is told to wail, “Alas for the day!” for the day of the Lord is near against Egypt—a day of clouds and a time of reckoning for the nations. The sword will come on Egypt, and anguish will spread to Ethiopia, Put, Lud, and her many allies who fall together by the sword. The Lord will set fire to Egypt, shatter the pride of her power, destroy her idols, and silence the prophet-princes of Memphis. City after city is named—Pathros, Zoan, No (Thebes), Sin (Pelusium), Memphis, Tehaphnehes—as the wrath of God sweeps through the land and her people go into captivity. A second word follows: the Lord declares that he has already broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and it has not been bound up or healed to hold a sword again. Now he will break both his arms, the strong and the broken alike, and cause the sword to fall from his hand. By contrast, the Lord will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put his own sword into Babylon's hand. So Egypt will be scattered among the nations, and they will know that he is the Lord.

Key Figures

  • Yahweh (the LORD) — The God who appoints a day of clouds against Egypt, breaks Pharaoh's arms, and arms Babylon as the instrument of his judgment.
  • Pharaoh — The king of Egypt whose arms God breaks so that the sword falls from his hand and he groans like a mortally wounded man before his conqueror.
  • Egypt and her allies — Ethiopia, Put, Lud, and the cities of the Nile—Memphis, Thebes, Pelusium, and more—who fall together by the sword and go into captivity.
  • The king of Babylon — The ruler whose arms God strengthens, into whose hand the Lord puts his sword to carry out judgment on Egypt.

Key Verse

Ezekiel 30:24 (WEB)

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 shall groan before him with the groaning of a mortally wounded man.

Lessons Learned

  • The day of the Lord comes against all human pride and false security.
  • Idols and the powers people trust will be silenced and exposed as empty.
  • God is the one who strengthens some arms and breaks others; history bends to his will.
  • When God breaks our strength, it is so that we will recognize him as Lord.
  • The day of the Lord is near. “The day is near, even the day of Yahweh is near; it shall be a day of clouds” (Ezekiel 30:3, WEB). A day of reckoning hangs over every proud power.
  • God topples idols. “I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the images to cease from Memphis” (Ezekiel 30:13, WEB). The Lord exposes every false god as powerless to save.
  • God breaks the arm of the mighty. “I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Ezekiel 30:21, WEB). The strength a ruler trusts is nothing before the Lord who can shatter it.
  • God puts the sword where he wills. He strengthens Babylon's arms and puts “my sword in his hand” (Ezekiel 30:24, WEB). Even conquering empires are tools in the hand of the sovereign Lord.
  1. Why is Ezekiel told to wail, “Alas for the day!” at the start of this oracle?
  2. What is significant about God promising to destroy Egypt's idols and silence Memphis?
  3. What does the image of broken and strengthened “arms” communicate about God's rule over nations?
  4. How does this chapter show that even mighty Babylon is only an instrument in God's hand?
  5. When God has “broken your arm”—humbled your own strength—how did it draw you back to him?
  1. The wail signals that judgment is not abstract but a real, dreadful day of clouds drawing near (30:2-3). Ezekiel is called to feel and voice the weight of it, so that Egypt's confidence and Israel's misplaced hope in Egypt are both shaken by the seriousness of God's coming.
  2. Egypt's idols and the religious authority of Memphis were a chief source of her confidence. By promising to destroy them (30:13), God shows that the spiritual powers people trust are powerless before him; the true God strips away every false refuge so that he alone is known.
  3. Arms picture strength and the ability to wield a sword. God breaks Pharaoh's arms so the weapon falls, while strengthening Babylon's (30:21-24). The vivid image teaches that all military and political power is granted or withdrawn at the Lord's will.
  4. God says he will put “my sword” in Babylon's hand (30:24-25). Babylon is fearsome, yet it acts only as God's instrument. Help the group see the comfort and the sobriety here: no empire is ultimate; the Lord directs the rise and fall of them all.
  5. This is a gentle personal-application question. Invite members to recall a time when their own competence, health, or security failed, and how that humbling redirected their trust toward God. Encourage them to see even hard breakings as God's means of drawing them to himself.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), the King James Version (KJV), and the American Standard Version (ASV), all of which are in the public domain.