I will make the rivers dry, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men; and I will make the land desolate, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
Parallel translations
- KJV 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.
- BSB I will make the streams dry up and sell the land to the wicked. By the hands of foreigners I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it. I, the LORD, have spoken.
- NKJV I will make the rivers dry, And sell the land into the hand of the wicked; I will make the land waste, and all that is in it, By the hand of aliens. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
- NASB “Moreover, I will make the Nile canals dry And sell the land into the hands of evil men. And I will make the land desolate And all that is in it, By the hand of strangers; I the Lord have spoken.”
- NLT I will dry up the Nile River and sell the land to wicked men. I will destroy the land of Egypt and everything in it by the hands of foreigners. I, the Lord, have spoken!
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 dry up the Nile, sell the land to evil men, and make Egypt desolate. He withdraws the very source of Egypt's life and pride.
Overview
By drying the rivers and handing the land to ruthless strangers, the Lord strikes at the Nile that Pharaoh boasted he made. The emphatic "I, Yahweh, have spoken it" guarantees the outcome. God targets the precise object of Egypt's pride, demonstrating that he humbles the arrogant at the root of their self-confidence.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ezek 29:3Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the middle of his rivers, that has said, ‘My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.’
- Rev 16:12The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings that come from the sunrise.
- Jer 51:36Therefore Yahweh says: “Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.
- Judg 2:14Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies.
- Ezek 29:9–10The land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste; and they shall know that I am Yahweh. Because he has said, ‘The river is mine, and I have made it;’
- 1 Cor 10:26for “the earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness.”
- Nah 1:4He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languishes.
- Isa 44:27who says to the deep, ‘Be dry,’ and ‘I will dry up your rivers;’
- Ezek 28:10You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh.
- 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.
- Jer 50:38A drought is on her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of engraved images, and they are mad over idols.
- Isa 19:4–10I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord. A fierce king will rule over them,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
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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 30:12 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
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