Ezekiel 31:1–35:15
Pharaoh as a Felled Cedar of Lebanon
31 In the eleventh year,h in the third month on the first day, the word of the Lord came to me:i 2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes:
“ ‘Who can be compared with you in majesty?
3 Consider Assyria,j once a cedar in Lebanon,k
with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest;
it towered on high,
its top above the thick foliage.l
4 The watersm nourished it,
deep springs made it grow tall;
their streams flowed
all around its base
and sent their channels
to all the trees of the field.n
5 So it towered highero
than all the trees of the field;
its boughs increased
and its branches grew long,
spreading because of abundant waters.p
nested in its boughs,
all the animals of the wild
gave birthq under its branches;
all the great nations
lived in its shade.r
with its spreading boughs,
for its roots went down
to abundant waters.s
8 The cedarst in the garden of God
could not rival it,
nor could the junipers
equal its boughs,
nor could the plane treesu
compare with its branches—
no tree in the garden of God
could match its beauty.v
with abundant branches,
the envy of all the trees of Edenw
in the garden of God.x
10 “ ‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because the great cedar towered over the thick foliage, and because it was proudy of its height, 11 I gave it into the hands of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside,z 12 and the most ruthless of foreign nationsa cut it down and left it. Its boughs fell on the mountains and in all the valleys;b its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left it.c 13 All the birds settled on the fallen tree, and all the wild animals lived among its branches.d 14 Therefore no other trees by the waters are ever to tower proudly on high, lifting their tops above the thick foliage. No other trees so well-watered are ever to reach such a height; they are all destinede for death,f for the earth below, among mortals who go down to the realm of the dead.g
15 “ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day it was brought down to the realm of the dead I covered the deep springs with mourning for it; I held back its streams, and its abundant waters were restrained. Because of it I clothed Lebanon with gloom, and all the trees of the field withered away.h 16 I made the nations tremblei at the sound of its fall when I brought it down to the realm of the dead to be with those who go down to the pit. Then all the treesj of Eden,k the choicest and best of Lebanon, the well-watered trees, were consoledl in the earth below.m 17 They too, like the great cedar, had gone down to the realm of the dead, to those killed by the sword,n along with the armed men who lived in its shade among the nations.
18 “ ‘Which of the trees of Eden can be compared with you in splendor and majesty? Yet you, too, will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth below; you will lie among the uncircumcised,o with those killed by the sword.
“ ‘This is Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the Sovereign Lord.’ ”
32 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month on the first day, the word of the Lord came to me:p 2 “Son of man, take up a lamentq concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:
“ ‘You are like a lionr among the nations;
you are like a monsters in the seast
thrashing about in your streams,
churning the water with your feet
and muddying the streams.u
3 “ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“ ‘With a great throng of people
I will cast my net over you,
and they will haul you up in my net.v
4 I will throw you on the land
and hurl you on the open field.
I will let all the birds of the sky settle on you
and all the animals of the wild gorge themselves on you.w
5 I will spread your flesh on the mountains
and fill the valleysx with your remains.
6 I will drench the land with your flowing bloody
all the way to the mountains,
and the ravines will be filled with your flesh.z
7 When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens
and darken their stars;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon will not give its light.a
8 All the shining lights in the heavens
I will darkenb over you;
I will bring darkness over your land,c
declares the Sovereign Lord.
9 I will trouble the hearts of many peoples
when I bring about your destruction among the nations,
amonga lands you have not known.
10 I will cause many peoples to be appalled at you,
and their kings will shudder with horror because of you
when I brandish my swordd before them.
On the daye of your downfall
each of them will tremble
every moment for his life.f
11 “ ‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“ ‘The swordg of the king of Babylonh
will come against you.i
12 I will cause your hordes to fall
by the swords of mighty men—
the most ruthless of all nations.j
They will shatter the pride of Egypt,
and all her hordes will be overthrown.k
13 I will destroy all her cattle
from beside abundant waters
no longer to be stirred by the foot of man
or muddied by the hooves of cattle.l
14 Then I will let her waters settle
and make her streams flow like oil,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
and strip the land of everything in it,
when I strike down all who live there,
then they will know that I am the Lord.m’
16 “This is the lamentn they will chant for her. The daughters of the nations will chant it; for Egypt and all her hordes they will chant it, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Egypt’s Descent Into the Realm of the Dead
17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:o 18 “Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and consignp to the earth below both her and the daughters of mighty nations, along with those who go down to the pit.q 19 Say to them, ‘Are you more favored than others? Go down and be laid among the uncircumcised.’r 20 They will fall among those killed by the sword. The sword is drawn; let her be draggeds off with all her hordes.t 21 From within the realm of the deadu the mighty leaders will say of Egypt and her allies, ‘They have come down and they lie with the uncircumcised,v with those killed by the sword.’
22 “Assyria is there with her whole army; she is surrounded by the graves of all her slain, all who have fallen by the sword. 23 Their graves are in the depths of the pitw and her army lies around her grave.x All who had spread terror in the land of the living are slain, fallen by the sword.
24 “Elamy is there, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword.z All who had spread terror in the land of the livinga went down uncircumcised to the earth below. They bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.b 25 A bed is made for her among the slain, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised,c killed by the sword. Because their terror had spread in the land of the living, they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are laid among the slain.
26 “Meshek and Tubald are there, with all their hordes around their graves. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword because they spread their terror in the land of the living. 27 But they do not lie with the fallen warriors of old,b e who went down to the realm of the dead with their weapons of war—their swords placed under their heads and their shieldsc resting on their bones—though these warriors also had terrorized the land of the living.
28 “You too, Pharaoh, will be broken and will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.
29 “Edomf is there, her kings and all her princes; despite their power, they are laid with those killed by the sword. They lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.g
30 “All the princes of the northh and all the Sidoniansi are there; they went down with the slain in disgrace despite the terror caused by their power. They lie uncircumcisedj with those killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.k
31 “Pharaoh—he and all his army—will see them and he will be consoledl for all his hordes that were killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign Lord. 32 Although I had him spread terror in the land of the living, Pharaohm and all his hordes will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign Lord.”n
Renewal of Ezekiel’s Call as Watchman
33 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the swordo against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman,p 3 and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpetq to warn the people, 4 then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warningr and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head.s 5 Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head.t If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves.u 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’v
7 “Son of man, I have made you a watchmanw for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.x 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,y’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die fora their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.z 9 But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so,a they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.b
10 “Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are …