Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: For this traditional prophetic formula, see Ezek 29.3.

For Behold see Ezek 29.3.

I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon means God will allow Nebuchadnezzar to capture Egypt.

And he shall carry off its wealth: Its wealth refers to the “valuable treasures” (Contemporary English Version) and precious things that belonged to the Egyptians. Some translators have rendered the Hebrew word for wealth as “multitude” (King James Version, Revised Standard Version footnote) or “[teeming] people” (New Century Version, Moffatt). The Hebrew word actually means “abundance, a large amount” and can refer to many people or many things. In this context we prefer the sense of “many things,” that is, wealth, so it may be rendered “treasures” or “valuable things.”

And despoil it and plunder it: The Hebrew expressions rendered despoil and plunder refer to the way victorious soldiers take for themselves anything of value that they can find (see 26.12). The two words have the same meaning, so these two clauses may be combined by saying “and he will take it [for himself].”

And it shall be the wages for his army: In the previous verse Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers received no pay from the campaign against Tyre, so when they capture Egypt and take its treasure, this will be their wages for all their hard work against Tyre. A possible model for this sentence and the previous one is “He will carry away all the wealth and treasures of Egypt as his army’s pay [or, and this will be the pay for his army].”

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .