Ezekiel 30:2
in Ezekiel 30“Son of man, prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Wail, ‘Alas for that day!’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Wail ye, Alas for the day!
KJV
Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Howl ye, Woe worth the day!
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This verse in Ezekiel 30
Commentary
7 notes on this verseHowl ye, Wo worth the day! - My Old MS. Bible, - Soule gee, woo woo to the day! הילילו הה ליום heylilu, hah laiyom! “Howl ye, Alas for the day!” The reading in our present text is taken from Coverdale’s Bible, 1536. The expressions signify that a most dreadful calamity was about to fall on Egypt and the neighboring countries, called here the “time of the heathen,” or of the nations; the day of calamity to them.
This site's exposition
Again the word of the LORD came to me
on Ezekiel 30:1-4
The oracle opens with the day of the Lord formula, Woe worth the day!, the day is near, applied to Egypt's own hour of judgment. Keil notes the phrase works on two levels throughout the prophets, a specific historical catastrophe and the pattern every such catastrophe previews.
This site's exposition
Alas for that day
The cry echoes Joel 1:15, where alarm over the day and the nearness of the Day of the LORD announce the locust judgment on Judah. This oracle stands as the only undated one against Egypt in chapters 29 to 32. Mourners are summoned before the dead fall.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 30, Verses 1 and following) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, prophesy and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Howl ye, woe, woe to the day: For the day is near, yea the day of the Lord is near, a day of cloud, the time of the nations shall be. And the sword shall come upon Egypt: and there shall be dread in Ethiopia, when the wounded shall fall in Egypt, and the multitude thereof shall be taken away, and the foundations thereof shall be destroyed.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
A repetition of a former prophecy against Egypt, just before the desolation of it begun by their own bad conduct, which gradually weakened them and prepared the way for the king of Babylon,
For the day is near; the day we have so long dreaded, so long deserved. It is the day of the Lord, the day in which he will manifest himself as a God of vengeance. You have your day now, when you carry all before you, and trample on all about you, but God will have his day shortly, the day of the revelation of his righteous judgment," Ps. xxxvii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Son of man, prophesy and say, thus saith the Lord God,.... Prophesy against Egypt's king and inhabitants, and in the name of the Lord thus speak against them: howl ye; ye Egyptians, and also ye Ethiopians, and all others after named, which should share in the destruction of Egypt; this is said to give them notice of it, and prepare them for it: woe worth the day! or, "alas for the day!" (d) O the unhappy day! what a sad dismal day is this!
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And the word of nevuah from before Hashem was with me, saying:
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בֶּן־ | ben- | O son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אָדָ֕ם | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| הִנָּבֵא֙ | hinave' | prophesy | H5012 → | 115 times |
| וְאָ֣מַרְתָּ֔ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כֹּ֥ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֖ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| הֵילִ֖ילוּ | heililu | wail | H3213 → | |
| הָ֥הּ | hah | alas! | H1929 → | |
| לַיּֽוֹם׃ | laiyom | for the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
בֶּן־O son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
אָדָ֕םhumankind
ʾadamH120 →551 times
הִנָּבֵא֙prophesy
hinave'H5012 →115 times
וְאָ֣מַרְתָּ֔and you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
כֹּ֥הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֖רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
הֵילִ֖ילוּwail
heililuH3213 →
הָ֥הּalas!
hahH1929 →
לַיּֽוֹם׃for the day
laiyomH3117 →2304 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 13:6Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
it leads to
- Joel 1:15
Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Ezekiel 30:2–3
“Son of man, prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Wail, ‘Alas for that day!’
- Isaiah 13:9
Behold, the Day of the LORD is coming—cruel, with fury and burning anger—to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners within it.
- Amos 5:18
Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light.
- Zephaniah 1:7
Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD, for the Day of the LORD is near. Indeed, the LORD has prepared a sacrifice; He has consecrated His guests.
- Joel 1:15
Through
Joel 1:11Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 14:3–4
The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.
- Jeremiah 14:3–4
Through
Joel 1:5Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth.
it leads to
- James 5:1
Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
- Luke 21:34–36
But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- James 5:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Ezekiel; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.