‘Therefore the Lord God says this: “Behold, I am going to bring upon you a sword, and I will cut off from you human and animal life.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off man and animal from you.
- KJV Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.
- BSB Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will bring a sword against you and cut off from you man and beast.
- NKJV ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will bring a sword upon you and cut off from you man and beast.
- NLT “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will bring an army against you, O Egypt, and destroy both people and animals.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God will bring a sword on Egypt and cut off both man and beast. Comprehensive judgment falls on the land.
Overview
The Lord announces the sword against Egypt, sweeping away people and animals alike in thorough judgment. Such language stresses the totality of the coming devastation. It affirms that the God who judges the nations is sovereign over life and history, and that no empire stands beyond his reach.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ezek 14:17“Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off from it man and animal;’
- Ezek 29:19–20Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off her multitude, and take her plunder, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.
- Ezek 32:10–13Yes, I will make many peoples amazed at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for you, 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 your fall.
- Gen 6:7Yahweh said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground — man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky — for I am sorry that I have made them.”
- Jer 7:20Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, my anger and my wrath shall be poured out on this place, on man, and on animal, and on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.”
- Ezek 25:13therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, I will stretch out my hand on Edom, and will cut off man and animal from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; even to Dedan shall they fall by the sword.
- Ezek 30:10Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
- Jer 32:43Fields shall be bought in this land, about which you say, It is desolate, without man or animal; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
- Ezek 30:4A sword shall come on Egypt, and anguish 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.
- Exod 12:12For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am Yahweh.
- Jer 46:13–26The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 29:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.