New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Ezekiel 29
1
It was the tenth year since King Jehoiachin had been brought to Babylon as a prisoner. On the 12th day of the tenth month, a message came to me from the Lord. He said,
Reference
2
"Son of man, turn your attention to Pharaoh Hophra. He is king of Egypt. Prophesy against him and the whole land of Egypt.
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3
Tell him, 'The Lord and King says, " ' "Pharaoh Hophra, I am against you. King of Egypt, you are like a huge monster lying among your streams. You say, 'The Nile River belongs to me. I made it for myself.'
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4
But I will put hooks in your jaws. I will make the fish in your streams stick to your scales. I will pull you out from among your streams. All of the fish will stick to your scales.
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5
I will leave you out in the desert. All of the fish in your streams will be there with you. You will fall down in an open field. You will not be picked up. I will feed you to the wild animals and to the birds of the air.
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6
Then everyone who lives in Egypt will know that I am the Lord. " ' "You have been like a walking stick made out of a papyrus stem. The people of Israel tried to lean on you.
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7
They took hold of you. But you broke under their weight. You tore their shoulders open. They leaned on you. But you snapped in two. And their backs were broken." ' "
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Parallel theme
Isaiah 36:6
8
So the Lord and King says, "I will send Nebuchadnezzar's sword against you. He will kill your people and their animals.
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Word
Ezekiel 14:17
9
Egypt will become a dry and empty desert. Then your people will know that I am the Lord. "You said, 'The Nile River belongs to me. I made it for myself.'
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10
So I am against you and your streams. I will destroy the land of Egypt. I will turn it into a dry and empty desert from Migdol all the way to Aswan. I will destroy everything as far as the border of Cush.
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Parallel theme
Ezekiel 30:12
11
"No people or animals will travel through Egypt. No one will even live there for 40 years.
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Parallel theme
Ezekiel 32:13
12
Egypt will be more empty than any other land. Its destroyed cities will lie empty for 40 years. I will scatter the people of Egypt among the nations. I will send them to other countries."
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13
But the Lord and King says, "At the end of 40 years I will gather the Egyptians together from the nations where they were scattered.
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14
I will bring them back from where they were taken as prisoners. I will return them to Upper Egypt. That is where they came from. There they will be an unimportant kingdom.
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15
"Egypt will be the least important kingdom of all. It will never place itself above the other nations again. I will make it very weak. Then it will never again rule over the nations.
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Kingdom
Ezekiel 17:14
Ezekiel 32:2
Ezekiel 31:2
Parallel theme
Zechariah 10:11
Ezekiel 30:13
Ezekiel 17:6
16
The people of Israel will no longer trust in Egypt. Instead, Egypt will remind them of how they sinned when they turned to it for help. Then they will know that I am the Lord and King."
Reference
Parallel theme
Isaiah 20:5
Lamentations 4:17
Sin
Hosea 8:13
Isaiah 64:9
Psalm 25:7
Jeremiah 14:10
Ezekiel 21:23
17
It was the 27th year since King Jehoiachin had been brought to Babylon as a prisoner. On the first day of the first month, a message came to me from the Lord. He said,
Reference
Word
Ezekiel 29:1
18
"Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia, drove his army in a hard military campaign against Tyre. Their helmets rubbed their heads bare. The heavy loads they carried made their shoulders raw. But he and his army did not gain anything from the campaign he led against Tyre.
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19
"So I am going to give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia. He will carry off its wealth. He will take away anything else you have. He will give it to his army.
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Kingdom
Ezekiel 32:11
20
I have given Egypt to him as a reward for his efforts. After all, he and his army attacked Egypt because I told them to," announces the Lord and King.
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References Lord
Jeremiah 25:9
21
"When Nebuchadnezzar wins the battle over Egypt, I will make the people of Israel strong again. Ezekiel, I will open your mouth. And you will be able to speak to them. Then they will know that I am the Lord."
Reference
Parallel theme
Luke 21:15
Psalm 132:17
Psalm 92:10
Luke 1:69
References Lord
1 Samuel 2:10
Ezekiel 33:22
Ezekiel 24:27
Summary of Ezekiel 29
Ezekiel 29 begins a major series of prophecies against Egypt and Pharaoh, presenting Egypt as a proud and powerful kingdom that trusts in its Nile, its wealth, and its political influence, while God exposes the weakness beneath that apparent strength and declares that the nation will be humbled, scattered, and stripped of its former regional dominance.
The chapter opens with a vivid image of Pharaoh as a great creature lying in the Nile, claiming that the river belongs to him.
The image reflects the enormous importance of the Nile to Egyptian civilization because Egypt's agriculture, transportation, economy, and population were all deeply dependent upon the river.
By claiming ownership of the Nile, Pharaoh symbolically presents himself as the source of Egypt's prosperity, but God responds by showing that even this supposedly powerful ruler can be captured and removed like an animal caught with hooks.
Egypt's pride is therefore placed directly against God's sovereignty.
The prophecy also criticizes Egypt because it had become an unreliable political support for Israel.
Judah had repeatedly looked toward Egypt for military assistance when threatened by Babylon, but Ezekiel compares Egypt to a broken reed that cannot support someone who leans upon it and instead causes injury.
This metaphor captures the political reality of Judah's situation: trusting Egypt seemed attractive because Egypt was wealthy and militarily significant, but Egyptian assistance could not prevent Babylon from destroying Jerusalem.
God therefore announces that Egypt itself will experience military judgment, its cities and countryside will be devastated, and its people will be scattered among other nations.
The judgment is severe, but the prophecy does not describe Egypt as permanently disappearing.
After forty years, God promises to gather the Egyptians from the nations where they have been scattered and return them to their homeland.
However, restoration will not mean a return to former greatness.
Egypt will become a much smaller and weaker kingdom, no longer dominating surrounding nations as it had previously done.
This distinction is important because the prophecy is not simply predicting destruction; it is describing the permanent humbling of Egyptian power.
Egypt may survive, but it will no longer possess the same ability to dominate the region or function as the great political power that Judah might rely upon.
The second dated prophecy, given in the twenty-seventh year, connects Egypt's judgment with Nebuchadnezzar's prolonged campaign against Tyre.
Babylon had invested enormous effort in the siege of Tyre, but Ezekiel explains that the Babylonian army did not receive the expected reward from the campaign.
God therefore declares that Egypt will be given to Nebuchadnezzar as compensation for his labor.
This presents an important theological idea: God remains sovereign even over international political events, using powerful empires to accomplish purposes that those empires themselves may not fully understand.
Historically, the chapter belongs to the turbulent period of the sixth century BC, when Babylon had destroyed Jerusalem and was attempting to consolidate its control over the eastern Mediterranean.
Egypt remained an important independent kingdom and had long competed with the powers of Mesopotamia for influence over the region.
The Egyptian intervention during Babylon's campaign against Judah failed to prevent Jerusalem's destruction, confirming Ezekiel's earlier warning that Egypt could not provide the security Judah sought.
The chapter therefore combines political history with a deeper spiritual warning.
Egypt represents the temptation to place confidence in visible human power rather than God.
Pharaoh's confidence rests in the Nile, Egypt's wealth, military strength, and international influence, while Judah's confidence is repeatedly tempted to rest in Egypt's political promises.
Ezekiel's message challenges both forms of misplaced confidence by showing that neither imperial power nor international alliances can provide permanent security when God has determined otherwise.
The central message is that Ezekiel 29 portrays Pharaoh and Egypt as a proud power that believes its prosperity comes from the Nile and its political influence, yet God exposes this confidence as false by comparing Pharaoh to a great creature that can be captured and dragged from the river, while Egypt's failure to provide reliable support for Judah becomes another reason for judgment because Judah repeatedly leaned on Egyptian military power instead of trusting God, leading God to announce that Egypt will experience invasion, devastation, population displacement, and the loss of its former regional dominance, although the nation will later be gathered and restored to a smaller and weaker position, while the later prophecy explains that Nebuchadnezzar's exhausting campaign against Tyre will be followed by Egypt being given to Babylon as compensation, showing that even the great empires of the ancient world remain under God's control, and the chapter ultimately warns that wealth, military strength, political influence, natural resources, and powerful alliances may appear to provide security but cannot guarantee permanence when human pride replaces dependence upon God.
The chapter opens with a vivid image of Pharaoh as a great creature lying in the Nile, claiming that the river belongs to him.
The image reflects the enormous importance of the Nile to Egyptian civilization because Egypt's agriculture, transportation, economy, and population were all deeply dependent upon the river.
By claiming ownership of the Nile, Pharaoh symbolically presents himself as the source of Egypt's prosperity, but God responds by showing that even this supposedly powerful ruler can be captured and removed like an animal caught with hooks.
Egypt's pride is therefore placed directly against God's sovereignty.
The prophecy also criticizes Egypt because it had become an unreliable political support for Israel.
Judah had repeatedly looked toward Egypt for military assistance when threatened by Babylon, but Ezekiel compares Egypt to a broken reed that cannot support someone who leans upon it and instead causes injury.
This metaphor captures the political reality of Judah's situation: trusting Egypt seemed attractive because Egypt was wealthy and militarily significant, but Egyptian assistance could not prevent Babylon from destroying Jerusalem.
God therefore announces that Egypt itself will experience military judgment, its cities and countryside will be devastated, and its people will be scattered among other nations.
The judgment is severe, but the prophecy does not describe Egypt as permanently disappearing.
After forty years, God promises to gather the Egyptians from the nations where they have been scattered and return them to their homeland.
However, restoration will not mean a return to former greatness.
Egypt will become a much smaller and weaker kingdom, no longer dominating surrounding nations as it had previously done.
This distinction is important because the prophecy is not simply predicting destruction; it is describing the permanent humbling of Egyptian power.
Egypt may survive, but it will no longer possess the same ability to dominate the region or function as the great political power that Judah might rely upon.
The second dated prophecy, given in the twenty-seventh year, connects Egypt's judgment with Nebuchadnezzar's prolonged campaign against Tyre.
Babylon had invested enormous effort in the siege of Tyre, but Ezekiel explains that the Babylonian army did not receive the expected reward from the campaign.
God therefore declares that Egypt will be given to Nebuchadnezzar as compensation for his labor.
This presents an important theological idea: God remains sovereign even over international political events, using powerful empires to accomplish purposes that those empires themselves may not fully understand.
Historically, the chapter belongs to the turbulent period of the sixth century BC, when Babylon had destroyed Jerusalem and was attempting to consolidate its control over the eastern Mediterranean.
Egypt remained an important independent kingdom and had long competed with the powers of Mesopotamia for influence over the region.
The Egyptian intervention during Babylon's campaign against Judah failed to prevent Jerusalem's destruction, confirming Ezekiel's earlier warning that Egypt could not provide the security Judah sought.
The chapter therefore combines political history with a deeper spiritual warning.
Egypt represents the temptation to place confidence in visible human power rather than God.
Pharaoh's confidence rests in the Nile, Egypt's wealth, military strength, and international influence, while Judah's confidence is repeatedly tempted to rest in Egypt's political promises.
Ezekiel's message challenges both forms of misplaced confidence by showing that neither imperial power nor international alliances can provide permanent security when God has determined otherwise.
The central message is that Ezekiel 29 portrays Pharaoh and Egypt as a proud power that believes its prosperity comes from the Nile and its political influence, yet God exposes this confidence as false by comparing Pharaoh to a great creature that can be captured and dragged from the river, while Egypt's failure to provide reliable support for Judah becomes another reason for judgment because Judah repeatedly leaned on Egyptian military power instead of trusting God, leading God to announce that Egypt will experience invasion, devastation, population displacement, and the loss of its former regional dominance, although the nation will later be gathered and restored to a smaller and weaker position, while the later prophecy explains that Nebuchadnezzar's exhausting campaign against Tyre will be followed by Egypt being given to Babylon as compensation, showing that even the great empires of the ancient world remain under God's control, and the chapter ultimately warns that wealth, military strength, political influence, natural resources, and powerful alliances may appear to provide security but cannot guarantee permanence when human pride replaces dependence upon God.