A lamentation for the fearful fall of Egypt, 1-10. The sword of Babylon shall destroy it, 11-16. It shall be brought down to hell, among all the uncircumcised nations, 17-32.
1 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 "Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him,
'You are like a young lion of the nations/
and you are as a dragon in the seas./
And you came forth with your rivers/
and disturbed the waters with your feet/
and rendered their rivers foul.'"
3 Thus says the Lord GOD:
"I will therefore spread out my net over you/
with a company of many people,/
and they shall bring you up in my net.
4 Then I will leave you upon the land/
and will cast you forth upon the open field./
And I will cause all the birds of the heaven to remain upon you/
and will fill the beasts of the whole earth with you.
5 And I will lay your flesh upon the mountains/
and fill the valleys with your height.
6 I will also water with your blood the land in which you swim,/
even to the mountains./
And the rivers shall be full of you.
7 And when I extinguish you,/
I will cover the heaven/
and make the stars thereof dark./
I will cover the sun with a cloud/
and the moon shall not give her light.
8 All the bright lights of heaven/
I will make dark over you,/
and set darkness upon your land,"
says the Lord GOD.
9 "I will also vex the hearts of many people when I bring your destruction among the nations into the countries which you have not known. 10 Indeed, I will make many people amazed at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for you when I brandish my sword before them. And they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of your fall."
11 For thus says the Lord GOD:
"The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you.
12 By the swords of the mighty I will cause your multitude to fall,/
the terrible of the nations, all of them./
And they shall lay the pomp of Egypt to waste,/
and all its multitude shall be destroyed.
13 I will also destroy all its beasts/
from beside the great waters,/
neither shall the foot of man disturb them anymore,/
nor the hooves of beasts disturb them.
14 Then I will make their waters deep/
and cause their rivers to run like oil,"
says the Lord GOD.
15 "When I make the land of Egypt desolate/
and the country is destitute of that of which it was full,/
when I smite all those who dwell in it,/
they shall know that I am the LORD.
16 "This is the lamentation with which they shall lament her./
The daughters of the nations shall lament her./
They shall lament for her,/
even for Egypt and for all her multitude,"
says the Lord GOD.
17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 18 "Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt and cast them down, even her and the daughters of the famous nations, to the nether parts of the earth with those who go down into the pit.
19 'Whom do you pass in beauty?/
Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised.'
20 "They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword. She is delivered to the sword. Draw her and all her multitudes. 21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of the grave with those who help him, 'They have gone down. They lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.'
22 "Asshur is there and all her company. His graves are around him. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, 23 Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living.
24 "There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living. Yet they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. 25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude. Her graves are around him. All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword. Though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. He is put in the midst of those who are slain.
26 "There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude. Her graves are around him. All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living. 27 And they shall not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who have gone down to the grave with their weapons of war. And they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. 28 Indeed, you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised and shall lie with those who are slain with the sword.
29 "There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, who with their might are laid by those who were slain by the sword. They shall lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.
30 "There are the princes of the north—all of them and all the Zidonians—who have gone down with the slain. With their terror they are ashamed of their might, and they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.
31 "Pharaoh shall see them and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword," says the Lord GOD. 32 "For I have caused my terror in the land of the living. And he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with those who are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude," says the Lord GOD.
Matthew Henry Commentary - Ezekiel, Chapter 32[➚]
John Gill's Chapter Summary:
This chapter contains two more prophecies concerning the destruction of Egypt. The date of the first is given (Ezekiel 22:1); in which the king of Egypt is compared to a large fish taken in a net, brought to land, and left on it to be the prey of the fowls of the air and beasts of the field (Ezekiel 32:2-4); and the ruin of that kingdom is further amplified by the casting of it on the mountains and valleys; by the land flowing with its blood; by the darkness of the heavens; by the vexation in the hearts of many people; and by the amazement of kings and nations (Ezekiel 32:5-10); the means and instruments of all which will be the king of Babylon and his army (Ezekiel 32:11-12); the devastation made by him, which would be such as would cause lamentation in other nations, is described (Ezekiel 32:13-16); then follows the other prophecy, whose date is given (Ezekiel 32:17); the prophet is bid to lament the fall of Egypt, which is represented under the funeral of a corpse (Ezekiel 32:18-20); saluted by those gone down to the grave before, or were become desolate; which are mentioned, to assure Egypt of its destruction (Ezekiel 32:21); as the Assyrian empire and all its provinces (Ezekiel 32:22-23); the Persians and Medes, with all their dominions (Ezekiel 32:24-25); the posterity of Meshech and Tubal, or the Scythians, those warlike people (Ezekiel 32:26-28); the Edomites, the princes of the north, and all the Zidonians (Ezekiel 32:29-30); which would be a comfort, though a poor one to the king of Egypt and his subjects to have such company with them (Ezekiel 32:31-32).
[v.7] - Reference, Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24-25.