Ezekiel 29-31 - A Day of Clouds

From today's Bible reading:

Ezekiel 29:

In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:

Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; speak, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD:

Behold, I am against you,
Pharaoh king of Egypt,
the great dragon that lies
in the midst of his streams,
that says, My Nile is my own;
I made it for myself.
I will put hooks in your jaws,
and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales;
and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams,
with all the fish of your streams
that stick to your scales.
And I will cast you out into the wilderness,
you and all the fish of your streams;
you shall fall on the open field,
and not be brought together or gathered.
To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens
I give you as food.

Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD.

Because you said, The Nile is mine, and I made it, therefore, behold, I am against you and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.

For thus says the Lord GOD: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered, and I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, and never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations.

And it shall never again be the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid.

Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 30:

The word of the LORD came to me:

Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD:

Wail, Alas for the day!
For the day is near,
the day of the LORD is near;
it will be a day of clouds,
a time of doom for the nations.

A sword shall come upon Egypt,
and anguish shall be in Cush,
when the slain fall in Egypt,
and her wealth is carried away,
and her foundations are torn down.

Cush, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya, and the people of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.

(Reminds me of the League of Nations or the United Nations today.)

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.

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.

Then they will know that I am the LORD,
when I have set fire to Egypt,
and all her helpers are broken.

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:

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

And 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 like a man mortally wounded. I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall.

Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries.

Then they will know that I am the LORD.

Ezekiel 31:

Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden?

You shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the world below. You shall lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.

This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.