He and his armies—the most ruthless of all— will be sent to demolish the land. They will make war against Egypt until slaughtered Egyptians cover the ground.
Parallel translations
- WEB He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land; and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.
- KJV 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.
- BSB He and his people with him, the most ruthless of the nations, will be brought in to destroy the land. They will draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.
- NKJV He and his people with him, the most terrible of the nations, Shall be brought to destroy the land; They shall draw their swords against Egypt, And fill the land with the slain.
- NASB “He and his people with him, The 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.
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
Nebuchadnezzar and his ruthless army will fill Egypt with the slain. The terror of the nations executes God's sentence.
Overview
Babylon, called "the terrible of the nations," will invade and slaughter throughout Egypt. The brutal imagery conveys the thoroughness of the coming devastation. The verse shows God employing a fearsome human power to accomplish his righteous judgment, while never excusing that power's own cruelty.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ezek 28:7therefore, behold, I will bring strangers on you, the terrible of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, and they shall defile your brightness.
- Ezek 35:8I will fill its mountains with its slain: in your hills and in your valleys and in all your watercourses shall they fall who are slain with the sword.
- Zeph 1:17–18I will bring distress on men, that they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Yahweh, and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.
- Ezek 32:12By the swords of the mighty will I cause your multitude to fall; they are all the ruthless of the nations: and they shall bring to nothing the pride of Egypt, and all its multitude shall be destroyed.
- Ezek 39:4You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you, and all your hordes, and the peoples who are with you: I will give you to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the animals of the field to be devoured.
- Jer 51:20–23“You are my battle ax and weapons of war. With you I will break the nations into pieces. With you I will destroy kingdoms.
- Deut 28:50a nation of fierce facial expressions, that doesn’t respect the elderly, nor show favor to the young,
- Isa 14:4–6that you will take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, “How the oppressor has ceased! The golden city has ceased!”
- Isa 34:3–7Their slain will also be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies will come up; and the mountains will melt in their blood.
- Ezek 31:12Strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: on the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.
- Ezek 39:11–20It shall happen in that day, that I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the valley of those who pass through on the east of the sea; and it shall stop those who pass through: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude; and they shall call it The valley of Hamon Gog.
- Hab 1:6–9For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the width of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
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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 30:11 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.