Ezekiel's most recently prophecies have been about nations around Judah, including, in the last chapter, Egypt. Here is the third of seven statements by Ezekiel about Egypt.
Ezekiel 30:1-5, A day of clouds
The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, prophesy and say: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
"`Wail and say, "Alas for that day!"
For the day is near,
the day of the LORD is near
-- a day of clouds,
a time of doom for the nations.
A sword will come against Egypt,
and anguish will come upon Cush.
When the slain fall in Egypt,
her wealth will be carried away
and her foundations torn down.
Cush and Put, Lydia and all Arabia, Libya and the people of the covenant land will fall by the sword along with Egypt.
As Egypt falls, so too will fall nearby kingdoms. (Cush and Put were presumably ancient kingdoms in and around Egypt but the exact translation of these Hebrew words is unclear.) The attacks by Babylonia will be a dark day, a "day of clouds."
Ezekiel 30:6-9, From Migdol to Aswan
"`This is what the LORD says:
"`The allies of Egypt will fall
and her proud strength will fail.
From Migdol to Aswan
they will fall by the sword within her,
declares the Sovereign LORD.
"`They will be desolate among desolate lands,
and their cities will lie among ruined cities.
Then they will know that I am the LORD,
when I set fire to Egypt
and all her helpers are crushed.
"`On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten Cush out of her complacency. Anguish will take hold of them on the day of Egypt's doom, for it is sure to come.
The conquest of Egypt will be complete, from north to south. Migdol was at the northern end of the Nile, in the Nile delta; Aswan was far south, at the first cataract of the Nile.
Ezekiel 30:10-12, A ruthless army
"`This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
"`I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt
by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
He and his army
--the most ruthless of nations--
will be brought in to destroy the land.
They will draw their swords against Egypt
and fill the land with the slain.
I will dry up the streams of the Nile
and sell the land to evil men;
by the hand of foreigners I will lay waste the land
and everything in it.
I the LORD have spoken.
The conquest of Egypt will be at the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. In hyperbolic language, the land is filled with the slain and the Nile dries up.
Ezekiel 30:13-19, Images in Memphis
"`This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
"`I will destroy the idols
and put an end to the images in Memphis.
No longer will there be a prince in Egypt,
and I will spread fear throughout the land.
I will lay waste Upper Egypt,
set fire to Zoan
and inflict punishment on Thebes.
I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt,
and cut off the hordes of Thebes.
I will set fire to Egypt;
Pelusium will writhe in agony.
Thebes will be taken by storm;
Memphis will be in constant distress.
The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis will fall by the sword,
and the cities themselves will go into captivity.
Dark will be the day at Tahpanhes when I break the yoke of Egypt;
there her proud strength will come to an end.
She will be covered with clouds,
and her villages will go into captivity.
So I will inflict punishment on Egypt,
and they will know that I am the LORD.'"
The idolatry of Egypt is, of course, a target here. Memphis was a capital of ancient Egypt, near modern day Cairo and the pyramids of Giza. Thebes, Heliopolis, and other Egyptian cities are identified for punishment. Zoan was a city on the east side of the Nile delta of Egypt. It is mentioned in Numbers 13:22 and according to Psalm 78:12, 43 was the location of God's miracles before Pharaoh. Isaiah mentioned that city in 19:11-13 and Isaiah 30:1-5. where the people of Judah are chastised for believing that treaties with Egypt will save them.
Ezekiel 30: 20-26, Broken arms
In the eleventh year, in the first month on the seventh day, the word of the LORD came to me:
"Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. It has not been bound up for healing or put in a splint so as to become strong enough to hold a sword.
Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt. I will break both his arms, the good arm as well as the broken one, and make the sword fall from his hand. I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries. I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a mortally wounded man. I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall limp. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he brandishes it against Egypt. I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries. Then they will know that I am the LORD."
This is a fourth (of seven) statements by Ezekiel regarding Egypt. This statement is dated to the eleventh year of Hezekiah's reign. In it the Pharaoh is identified as already having one arm broken and YHWH will soon break the other arm, so that the king cannot hold a sword. The king of Egypt will bow down to the king of Babylonia.
As Alexander points out, the flexed arm of the Pharaoh was a symbol of his power; here both arms will be broken and hang limp. The power is gone. The date of Babylonia's conquest of Egypt was about 568 BC, says Alexander. The conflicts between Egypt and Assyria/Babylon are part of the history of the Late Period of Ancient Egypt. Almost three millennia of Egyptian dynasties would eventually end with the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 BC.
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