Daily Bible Reading
Today's Bible reading is from
Ezekiel 29 – 32
courtesy of StudyLight
Chapter 29
1 In the tenth R1005 year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh R1006 king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. R1007 3 "Speak and say, `Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, The great monster R1008 F395 that lies in the midst of his rivers, F396 That has R1009 said, `My Nile is mine, and I myself have made it.' 4 "I will put hooks R1010 in your jaws And make the fish of your rivers F397 cling to your scales. And I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, F397 And all the fish of your rivers F397 will cling to your scales. 5 "I will abandon R1011 you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers; F398 You will fall on the open F399 field; you will not be brought together or gathered. R1012 F400 I have given you for food R1013 to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the sky. 6 "Then all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am the LORD, Because they have been only a staff R1014 made of reed to the house of Israel. 7 "When they took hold of you with the hand, You broke R1015 and tore all their hands; F401 And when they leaned on you, You broke and made all their loins quake." F402
8 `Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will bring R1016 upon you a sword and I will cut off from you man and beast. 9 "The land R1017 of Egypt will become a desolation and waste. Then they will know that I am the LORD. Because you F403 said, R1018 `The Nile is mine, and I have made it,' 10 therefore, behold, I am against R1019 you and against your rivers, F404 and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene and even to the border of Ethiopia. F405 11 "A man's foot will not R1020 pass through it, and the foot of a beast will not pass through it, and it will not be inhabited for forty years. 12 "So I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst R1021 of desolated lands. And her cities, in the midst of cities that are laid waste, will be desolate forty years; and I will scatter R1022 the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands." 13 `For thus says the Lord GOD, "At the end of forty years I will gather R1023 the Egyptians from the peoples among F406 whom they were scattered. 14 "I will turn the fortunes of Egypt and make them return to the land of Pathros, R1024 to the land of their origin, and there they will be a lowly kingdom. 15 "It will be the lowest R1025 of the kingdoms, and it will never again lift itself up above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will not rule R1026 over the nations. 16 "And it will never again be the confidence R1027 of the house of Israel, bringing R1028 F407 to mind the iniquity of their having turned to F408 Egypt. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.""'
17 Now in the twenty-seventh R1029 year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 18 "Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar R1030 king of Babylon made his army labor hard F409 against Tyre; every head was made bald R1031 and every shoulder was rubbed bare. But he and his army had no wages from Tyre for the labor that he had performed F410 against it." 19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will R1032 give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her wealth R1033 F411 and capture her spoil and seize her plunder; and it will be wages for his army. 20 "I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor which he performed, R1034 F412 because they acted for Me," declares the Lord GOD. 21 "On that day I will make a horn R1035 sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open R1036 F413 your mouth in their midst. Then they will know that I am the LORD."
Chapter 30
1 The word of the LORD came again to me saying, 2 "Son of man, prophesy and say, `Thus says the Lord GOD, "Wail, R1037 `Alas for the day!' 3 "For the day is near, Even the R1038 day of the LORD is near; It will be a day of clouds, R1039 A time of doom for the nations. 4 "A sword will come upon Egypt, And anguish will be in Ethiopia; F415 When the slain fall in Egypt, They take R1040 away her wealth, F416 And her foundations are torn down. 5 "Ethiopia, F417 Put, Lud, all Arabia, R1041 F418 Libya F419 and the people F420 of the land that F421 is in league will fall with them by the sword." 6 `Thus says the LORD, "Indeed, those who support Egypt R1042 will fall And the pride of her power will come down; From Migdol to Syene They will fall within her by the sword," Declares the Lord GOD. 7 "They will be desolate In the midst R1043 of the desolated lands; And her cities will be In the midst of the devastated cities. 8 "And they will know R1044 that I am the LORD, When I set a fire R1045 in Egypt And all her helpers are broken. 9 "On that day messengers R1046 will go forth from Me in ships to frighten secure R1047 Ethiopia; F422 and anguish R1048 will be on them as on the day of Egypt; for behold, it comes!" 10 `Thus says the Lord GOD, "I R1049 will also make the hordes F423 of Egypt cease By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 11 "He and his people with him, The R1050 most ruthless of the nations, Will be brought in to destroy the land; And they will draw their swords against Egypt And fill the land with the slain. 12 "Moreover, I will make the Nile R1051 canals dry And sell R1052 the land into the hands of evil men. And I will make the land desolate And all F424 that is in it, By the hand of strangers; I the LORD have spoken." 13 `Thus says the Lord GOD, "I will also destroy R1053 the idols And make the images F425 cease from Memphis. R1054 F426 And there will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt; And I will put fear in the land of Egypt. 14 "I will make Pathros R1055 desolate, Set a fire in Zoan R1056 And execute judgments on Thebes. R1057 F427 15 "I will pour out My wrath on Sin, F428 The stronghold of Egypt; I will also cut off the hordes of Thebes. F429 16 "I will set a fire in Egypt; Sin F430 will writhe in anguish, Thebes F431 will be breached And Memphis F432 will have distresses F433 daily. 17 "The young men of On R1058 F434 and of Pi-beseth Will fall by the sword, And the F435 women will go into captivity. 18 "In Tehaphnehes R1059 the day will be F436 dark R1060 When I break R1061 there the yoke bars of Egypt. Then the pride of her power will cease in her; A cloud will cover her, And her daughters will go into captivity. 19 "Thus I will execute R1062 judgments on Egypt, And they will know that I am the LORD.""'
20 In the eleventh R1063 year, in the first month, on the seventh of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 21 "Son of man, I have broken R1064 the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, behold, it has not been bound R1065 up for F437 healing or F438 wrapped with a bandage, that it may be strong to hold the sword. 22 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, `Behold, I am against R1066 Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong and the broken; R1067 and I will make the sword fall R1068 from his hand. 23 `I will scatter R1069 the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands. 24 `For I will strengthen R1070 the arms of the king of Babylon and put My R1071 sword in his hand; and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, so that he will groan before him with the groanings of a wounded man. 25 `Thus I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches R1072 it out against the land of Egypt. 26 `When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands, then they will know that I am the LORD.' "
Chapter 31
1 In the eleventh R1073 year, in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes, R1074 `Whom are you like in your greatness? 3 `Behold, Assyria was a cedar R1075 in Lebanon With beautiful branches and forest shade, And very R1076 F439 high, And its top was among the clouds. F440 4 `The waters R1077 made it grow, the deep F441 made it high. With its rivers it continually extended F442 all around its planting place, And sent out its channels to all the trees of the field. 5 `Therefore its R1078 height was loftier than all the trees of the field And its boughs became many and its branches long Because of many R1079 waters as F443 it spread them out. 6 `All the birds R1080 of the heavens nested in its boughs, And under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth, And all great nations lived under its shade. 7 `So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; For its roots F444 extended to many waters. 8 `The cedars R1081 in God's R1082 garden could F445 not match it; The cypresses F446 could F445 not compare with its boughs, And the plane trees could F447 not match its branches. No tree in God's R1082 garden could F445 compare with it in its beauty. 9 `I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches, And all the trees of Eden, R1083 which were in the garden R1083 of God, were jealous of it.
10 `Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Because it F449 is high in stature and has set its top among the clouds, F450 and its heart R1084 is haughty in its loftiness, 11 therefore I will give it into the hand of a despot R1085 F451 of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. According to its wickedness I have driven R1086 it away. 12 "Alien R1087 tyrants R1088 of the nations have cut it down and left it; on the mountains R1089 and in all the valleys its branches have fallen and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the peoples of the earth have gone R1090 down from its shade and left it. 13 "On its ruin all the birds R1091 of the heavens will dwell, and all the beasts of the field will be on its fallen branches 14 so that all the trees by the waters may not be exalted in their stature, nor set their top among the clouds, F452 nor their well-watered F453 mighty ones stand erect in their height. For they have all been given over to death, to the earth R1092 beneath, among the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit." 15 `Thus says the Lord GOD, "On the day when it went down to Sheol I caused R1093 lamentations; I closed the deep F454 over it and held back its rivers. And its many waters were stopped up, and I made Lebanon mourn F455 for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away on account of it. 16 "I made the nations quake R1094 at the sound of its fall when I made it go R1095 down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit; and all the well-watered F456 trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, R1096 were comforted R1097 in the earth beneath. 17 "They also went R1098 down with it to Sheol to those who were slain R1099 by the sword; and those who were its strength F457 lived under R1100 its shade among the nations. 18 "To which among the trees of Eden are you thus equal F458 in glory and greatness? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth beneath; you will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, R1101 with those who were slain by the sword. So R1102 is Pharaoh and all his hordes!"' declares the Lord GOD."
Chapter 32
1 In the twelfth R1103 year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, take up a lamentation R1104 over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him, `You compared F459 yourself to a young lion R1105 of the nations, Yet you are like the monster R1106 in the seas; And you burst R1107 forth in your rivers And muddied the waters with your feet And fouled F460 their rivers.' " 3 Thus says the Lord GOD, "Now I will spread R1108 My net over you With a company of many peoples, And they shall lift you up in My net. 4 "I will leave you on the land; I will cast you on the open F462 field. And I will cause all the birds R1109 of the heavens to dwell on you, And I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth with F463 you. 5 "I will lay your flesh on R1110 the mountains And fill the valleys with your refuse. 6 "I will also make the land drink the discharge of your blood R1111 As far as the mountains, And the ravines will be full of you. 7 "And when I extinguish R1112 you, I will cover R1113 the heavens and darken their stars; R1114 I will cover the sun R1115 with a cloud And the moon will not give its light. 8 "All the shining lights R1116 in the heavens I will darken over you And will set darkness on your land," Declares the Lord GOD. 9 "I will also trouble R1117 the hearts of many peoples when I bring R1118 your destruction among the nations, into lands which you have not known. 10 "I will make many peoples appalled R1119 at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and they R1120 will tremble every moment, every man for his own life, on the day of your fall." 11 For thus R1121 says the Lord GOD, "The sword of the king of Babylon will come upon you. 12 "By the swords of the mighty ones I will cause your hordes to fall; all of them are tyrants R1122 of the nations, And they will devastate R1123 the pride of Egypt, And all its hordes will be destroyed. 13 "I will also destroy all its cattle from beside many waters; And the R1124 foot of man will not muddy them anymore And the hoofs of beasts will not muddy them. 14 "Then I will make their waters settle And will cause their rivers to run like oil," Declares the Lord GOD. 15 "When I make the land of Egypt a desolation, R1125 And the land is destitute of that which filled it, When I smite all those who live in it, Then they shall know R1126 that I am the LORD. 16 "This is a lamentation R1127 and they shall chant F464 it. The daughters of the nations shall chant F464 it. Over Egypt and over all her hordes they shall chant F464 it," declares the Lord GOD.
17 In the twelfth R1128 year, on the fifteenth R1128 of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 18 "Son of man, wail R1129 for the hordes of Egypt and bring R1130 it down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the nether R1131 world, with those who go down to the pit; 19 `Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and make your bed with the uncircumcised.' R1132 20 "They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword. She F465 is given over to the sword; they have drawn R1133 her and all her hordes away. 21 "The strong R1134 among the mighty ones shall speak of him and his helpers from the midst of Sheol, `They have gone down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.' 22 "Assyria R1135 is there and all her company; her F466 graves are round about her. F467 All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, 23 whose graves R1136 are set in the remotest parts of the pit and her company is round about her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, who spread F468 terror in the land of the living. 24 "Elam R1137 is there and all her hordes around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised to the lower R1138 parts of the earth, who instilled their terror in the land R1139 of the living and bore R1140 their disgrace with those who went down to the pit. 25 "They have made a bed R1141 for her among the slain with all her hordes. Her graves are around it, they are all uncircumcised, slain by the sword (although their terror was instilled F469 in the land of the living), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit; they F470 were put in the midst of the slain. 26 "Meshech, R1142 Tubal R1143 and all their hordes are there; their graves surround F471 them. All of them were slain by the sword uncircumcised, R1144 though they instilled their terror in the land of the living. 27 "Nor R1145 do they lie beside the fallen heroes R1146 F472 of the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war and whose swords were laid under their heads; but the punishment for their iniquity R1147 rested on their bones, though the terror of these heroes F472 was once in the land of the living. 28 "But in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken and lie with those slain by the sword. 29 "There also is Edom, R1148 its kings and all its princes, F473 who for F474 all their might are laid with those slain by the sword; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit. 30 "There also are the chiefs F475 of the north, R1149 all of them, and all the Sidonians, R1150 who in spite of the terror resulting from their might, in shame went down with the slain. So they lay down uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit. 31 "These Pharaoh will see, and he will be comforted R1151 for all his hordes slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his army," declares the Lord GOD. 32 "Though I instilled a terror of him in the land of the living, yet he will be made to lie down among the uncircumcised along with those slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his hordes," declares the Lord GOD.
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Daily Devotional
Highlights:
Another enemy and its destiny (Ezek. 29:3,13-15)! How quickly we forget the days of slavery (29:16)! A sad day for Egypt and its allies (30:2-8). Egypt, a prideful and arrogant nation (chap. 31). Look who God uses to defeat the Egyptians (32:11). Read the list of others who were judged by God (32:17-31).
About a year after the Babylonians had surrounded Jerusalem in their plan to starve them into submission, Ezekiel foretold the end of Egypt as a great nation. God said to him: Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt. . . . because they have been a staff of reed (worthless support) to the house of Israel. . . . Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee. And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste. . . . neither shall it be inhabited forty years (Ezek. 29:2-11). Although Egypt would no longer be a great power of the world, it would not be utterly destroyed as Babylon would be. Ezekiel foretold: At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians. . . . into the land of their habitation (origin); and they shall be there a base (lowly) kingdom. . . . neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations (29:13-15). Over the centuries, Egypt has never regained the status of a world empire. It remains a witness to the supreme authority of God.
At the time of the Exodus, the ten plagues forced the Egyptians to acknowledge that their own gods were powerless against the One True God. This should have caused Egypt and particularly, Israel who had witnessed all this, to reject their idols and worship the One True God of creation. God brought judgment upon Israel, Judah, Tyre, Sidon, Egypt, and other nations to cause them to realize that I am the Lord (29:9). This phrase is mentioned 66 times in this book alone to point out the importance of obeying the Word of God.
A future time of redemption and restoration was also foretold: In that day will I cause the horn (strength) of the house of Israel to bud forth (29:21). The horn is a symbol of power (I Sam. 2:10; Ps. 92:10). As prophesied, the people of God, both Jew and Gentile, have a future destiny of glory with Jesus as their Messiah.
God . . . hath. . . . given Him a Name which is above every name . . . That at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth . . . And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:9-11).
Thought for Today:
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them (Mark 11:24).
Christ Revealed:
By the Word of the Lord (Ezek. 29:1). In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). God . . . hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son (Heb. 1:1-2).
Word Studies:
29:7 loins to be at a stand = their legs to give way or stagger; 29:18 peeled = rubbed bare; 30:2 Woe worth the day = Mourn the coming day (of terror); 31:3 a shadowing shroud = overshadowing the forest.
Prayer Needs:
Pray for International Broadcasts in honor of Bonnie Wilhite • Assistant to the Executive Director of the IBRA in our Washington DC Branch: Terry Hall • Government Officials: Rep. John Linder (GA), Rep. Howard (Buck) McKeon (CA), Rep. Glenn Nye (VA), and Rep. Ted Poe (TX) • Country: Azerbaijan (7.7 million) southern Transcaucasia between Europe and Asia • Major languages: Azeri and Russian • Religious freedom • 65% Shi'a Muslim; 30% Sunni Muslim; 2% Russian Orthodox; 2% Armenian Apostolic; 1% Jewish • Prayer Suggestion: Delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart (Ps. 37:4).
Optional Reading:
Revelation 14
Memory Verse for the Week:
Esther 4:13-14