I delivered it into the hand of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with it according to its wickedness. I have banished it.
Parallel translations
- WEB I will even deliver him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with him; I have driven him out for his wickedness.
- KJV I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.
- NKJV therefore I will deliver it into the hand of the mighty one of the nations, and he shall surely deal with it; I have driven it out for its wickedness.
- NASB I will hand it over to a ruler of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. In accordance with its wickedness I have driven it out.
- NLT I will hand it over to a mighty nation that will destroy it as its wickedness deserves. I have already discarded it.
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 hand Egypt over to 'the mighty one of the nations'—Babylon—to deal with it as its wickedness deserves. The judgment is just and divinely directed.
Overview
The Lord declares He will deliver Pharaoh into the hand of Babylon, the dominant world power, driving him out 'for his wickedness.' Significantly, God is the true actor; Babylon is only His instrument of judgment, as Ezekiel 30 also shows. Human empires rise and fall at the command of the sovereign God who rules history.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Nah 3:18O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.
- Ezek 32:11–12For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘The sword of the king of Babylon will come against you!
- Deut 18:12For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.
- Dan 5:18–19As for you, O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness, glory and honor.
- 1 Tim 1:20Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
- Jas 2:13For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Judg 16:23Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands.”
- Lev 18:24–28Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves.
- Jer 25:9behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
- Judg 1:7Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.
- Ezek 11:9I will bring you out of the city and deliver you into the hands of foreigners, and I will execute judgments against you.
- Lam 1:21People have heard my groaning, but there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that You have caused it. May You bring the day You have announced, so that they may become like me.
- Matt 7:1–2“Do not judge, or you will be judged.
- Ezek 21:31I will pour out My anger upon you; I will breathe the fire of My fury against you; I will hand you over to brutal men, skilled in destruction.
- Ezek 23:28For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hands of those you hate, from whom you turned away in disgust.
- Lev 20:22–23You are therefore to keep all My statutes and ordinances, so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out.
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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 31:11 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
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