1 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
We appear to be getting about a prophecy a year.
2 "Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, 'Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou came forth with thy rivers, and troubled the waters with thy feet, and fouled their rivers.'"
“Son of man, sing a funeral song for Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Tell him, ‘You think you are like a lion among the nations. Instead, you are like a crocodile in the water. You splash around in the water. You stir up the water with your feet. You make the streams muddy.’” GOD’S WORD® Translation
3 "'Thus says the Lord God; I will therefore spread out My net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in My net.'"
God caused the conquering of Egypt.
4 "'Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee.'"
“I will feed you to the scavengers.”
5 "'And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height.'"
God scattered Egypt all over the place.
6 "'I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swim, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.'"
This is the picture of the very savage destruction which Egypt had.
7 "'And when I shall put thee out, 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 will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, says the Lord God.'"
Throughout most of history Egypt had been a, if not THE major power in the world. God was changing that. He caused Egypt to be so destroyed and scattered that she never recovered.
9 "'I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou have not known.'"
People were upset at the fall of Egypt. She was the best hope for salvation from Babylon.
10 "'Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish My sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall.'"
Now there was no hope for safety from Nebuchadnezzar.
11 "'For thus says the Lord God; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee.
12 "'By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.
13 "'I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them.'"
By the time Nebuchadnezzar was finished with them, there wasn’t even enough animals to ripple the water.
14 "'Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, says the Lord God.'"
Or smoothly and undisturbed.
15 "'When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the Lord.'"
Nebuchadnezzar carried away the population and so destroyed them they were desolate.
16 "'This is the lamentation wherewith 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.'"
There was a great crying and mourning for Egypt.
17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Three months later…
18 "Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit."
Egypt is gonna die!
19 "Whom do thou pass in beauty? Go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised."
Egypt was the most beautiful of countries but is going to be totally destroyed.
20 "They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes."
It wasn’t disease or famine that did her in. It was Nebuchadnezzar and his army.
21 "The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword."
“Your warriors will talk to Nebuchadnezzar from the grave.”
22 "Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword:
23 "Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living."
Assyria had also been a major power with a beautiful capital. Babylon has already sent her to hell.
24 "There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit."
Elam has also, by this time, been destroyed.
25 "They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of them that be slain."
The warriors of Elam have been sent to hell just like the warriors of all the other godless nations.
26 "There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them 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 that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell 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."
They didn’t receive an honorable burial, like a warrior who dies saving his people or who dies in old age at home, buried with his sword. There were so many dead they were not buried.
28 "Yea, thou shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shall lie with them that are slain with the sword."
The warrior will lay and rot with the victim. And Pharaoh, you will be one of them.
29 "There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.
30 "There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit."
Even the royalty did not receive an honorable burial.
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 them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord God."
God used Pharaoh for a time, but now he will become just like all the other conquered nations.