1 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,
2 "Son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says the Lord God; Howl ye, Woe worth the day!
3 "'For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.'"
“The Day of the Lord” means “the day God has appointed.” It does not always, or even usually, refer to the end of time.
In this case, “The Day of the Lord” is the Day of Judgment for Egypt and her allies.
Most modern translation use the word “nations” instead of “heathens,” meaning “The Day Of Judgment for all people is here.”
4 "'And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain 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 Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.'"
These are all neighbors and allies to Egypt. They were all destroyed by Babylon.
6 "'Thus says the Lord; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, says the Lord God.'"
Again, other translations, including the more ancient transcripts, word this from “Migdol to Syene.” In other words, from one end of the Egyptian empire to the other.
7 "'And 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.'"
Egypt became just another in the list of Babylon’s conquests.
8 "'And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed.
9 "'In that day shall messengers go forth from Me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it comes.'"
Though we know for sure that Nebuchadnezzar marched his army across the top of the Arabian peninsula to Egypt, conquering many people along the way, it is not unreasonable to assume he also put troops and supplies on ships in the Euphrates and sailed them around the tip of the peninsula and up the Red Sea to meet him in Egypt. It would have been a logical, quick way to resupply his troops.
10 "'Thus says the Lord God; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.'"
God was being very specific about how this destruction of Egypt would occur.
11 "'He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.
12 "'And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked: and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I the Lord have spoken it.'"
Since it seldom rains in Egypt, the land is watered with canals leading from the Nile. If the Nile doesn’t get its annual flooding, the land was plunged into famine. It was also much easier to march through because the water wasn’t in the way.
13 "'Thus says the Lord God; I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.'"
Not only did Nebuchadnezzar remove the king of Egypt, making them entirely subject to him, but from this time on Egypt would no longer have a native king. When she did have an official who called himself king (or queen) of Egypt, he was of foreign blood (this includes the Ptolemy dynasty [i.e. Cleopatra], who were actually Greek). Even today, the leaders of Egypt are from Turkish descent.
14 "'And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No.
15 "'And I will pour My fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No.
16 "'And I will set fire in Egypt: Sin shall have great pain, and No shall be rent asunder, and Noph shall have distresses daily.'"
These were all major cities in Egypt.
17 "'The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the sword: and these cities shall go into captivity.
18 "'At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength 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 in Egypt: and they shall know that I am the Lord.'"
When prophecies come true, we know that there is a God and it is Him that is speaking.
20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
21 "Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword.'"
If you do not properly set a broken arm, it will never heal right and can become totally useless.
22 "Therefore thus says the Lord God; 'Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.
23 "'And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.'"
Just as Judah was dispersed.
24 "'And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put My sword in his hand: but I will break Pharaoh’s arms, and he (King of Egypt) shall groan before him (King of Babylon) with the groaning of a deadly wounded man.'"
At the time of this prophecy, Egypt appeared as strong as Babylon. God changed that.
25 "'But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt.
26 "'And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am the Lord.'"