Ezekiel 31–32

Pharaoh Is Warned Through Assyria’s Destruction

31And then^a in the eleventh^b year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^{c 2}“Son of man,^d say to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his crowd,^e

‘To whom are you like in your greatness?

³Look! Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon,

with beautiful branches^f and a forest giving shade,

and very high,^g

and its treetop was between the clouds.

⁴Waters made it great,

the deep made it grow high;

its rivers were going all around its planting area,^h

and its channels it sent out

to all of the trees of the field.

⁵Therefore it became tall,

with its height more than all of the trees of the field,

and its branches became numerous,

and its branches became long

from its sending its shoots from abundant water.ⁱ

⁶In its branches all the birds^j of the heaven^k made their nest,

and under its branches all the animals^l of the field gave birth,

and in its shadow all the many nations lived.

⁷And it was beautiful in its greatness,

in the length of its branches,

for its root was toward much water.

⁸Cedars in the garden of God

could not be equal to it;

fir trees^m could not resemble its branches,

and plane trees were not even like its branches;

any tree even in the garden of God

could not resemble it in its beauty.

⁹I made it beautiful with the abundance of its branches,

and all of the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God envied it.’ ”

¹⁰Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Becauseⁿ it was tall in height and it set its treetop between^o thick clouds, and he took pride in his tallness,^{p 11}then^q I gave it into the hand of the leader of nations; he dealt thoroughly^r with it according to its wickedness. I drove it out. ¹²And strangers cut it off, the most ruthless of nations, and they abandoned it. On the mountains and in all of the valleys its branches fell, and its branches were broken in all the river channels of the land, and all the peoples of the world went out from its shadow, and they abandoned it. ¹³On its fallen trunk all the birds^s of the heaven^t now dwell, and all the animals of the field were on its branches. ¹⁴This occurred so that all of the trees with abundant water will not become tall, and they will not set their treetop between^u their thick foliage,^v and so that all of the trees that are abundantly watered^w will not stand up to them^x in their tallness, for all of them, they have been given over to death, to the world below in the midst of mortals,^y to the people going down to the grave.”^z

¹⁵Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “On the day of its going down to Sheol, I caused mourning; I covered over it with the deep, and I withheld its rivers, and many waters were restrained, and I brought gloom over it; Lebanon and all of the trees of the field, they had fainted because of it. ¹⁶From the sound of its downfall I caused nations to shake when I made it go down to Sheol, with the people going down to the grave,^a and so in the world below all of the trees of Eden, the choice and the best of Lebanon, all the well-watered trees^b were comforted! ¹⁷They also went down with it to Sheol to those who died by the sword,^c and its army who had lived in its shadow in the midst of nations.

¹⁸To whom could you be compared, whether in glory or in majesty^d among the trees of Eden? And yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the world below; in the midst of the uncircumcised you will lie with those who died by the sword.^e That is Pharaoh and his entire^f crowd!”^g declares^h the Lord Yahweh.

A Lament for Pharaoh, King of Egypt

32And then^a in the twelfth^b year, in the twelfth^c month, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^{d 2}“Son of man,^e raise a lament over Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and you must say to him,

‘With a fierce, strong lion among nations you compared yourself,

and you are like the sea monster in the seas,

and you thrash about in your rivers,

and you make water turbid with your feet,

and you make your rivers muddy.

³Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

Now I will spread my net over you

in the assembly of many peoples,

and I will bring you up in my dragnet.

⁴And I will throw you on the ground;

on the surface of the open field I will hurl you,

and I will cause every bird of the heaven to dwell on you,

and I will satisfy the animals^f of all of the world from you.

⁵And I will put your flesh on the mountains,

and I will fill the valleys with your carcass.

⁶And I will water the land with your discharge from your blood

on the mountains,

and valleys will be filled from^g you.

⁷And I will cover you at^h extinguishing your heavens,

and I will make dark their stars,

and I will cover the sun with the cloud,

and the moon will not give its light.

⁸Allⁱ sources of light in the heavens,

I will make them dark over you,

and I will put^j darkness on your land,’ ”

declares^k the Lord Yahweh.

⁹“And I will disturb the hearts^l of many peoples

at my bringing about your captivity among the nations,

to countries that you do not know.

¹⁰And I will cause many peoples to be awestruck over you,

and their kings will shudder over you in horror,

at^m my brandishing my sword before their faces,

and they will tremble continually,ⁿ

each person for his life,

on the day of your downfall.”

¹¹For thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“The sword of the king of Babylon,

it will come to you.

¹²By the swords of warriors I will cause to fall your hordes

by the most ruthless of the nations, all of them,

and they will devastate the majesty of Egypt,

and all of its hordes will be destroyed.

¹³And I will destroy all her domestic livestock

beside^o many waters.

The feet of humans^p will not make them turbid again,

and the hooves of domestic livestock will not make them turbid.

¹⁴Then I will make their waters settle,

and their rivers as the olive oil I will let flow,”

declares^q the Lord Yahweh.

¹⁵“Then I make the land of Egypt a desolation,

so that the land will be stripped from its fullness

when I strike all of those dwelling in it,

and they will know that I am Yahweh.

¹⁶This is^r a lament, and they will chant it as a lament; the daughters of the nations will chant it as a lament over Egypt, and over all of its hordes they will chant it as a lament,” declares^s the Lord Yahweh.

¹⁷And then^t in the twelfth^u year, on the fifteenth^v day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^{w 18}“Son of man,^x mourn over the hordes of Egypt, and make her go down, and with her the daughters of mighty nations, down to the deep underworld^y with the people going down to the grave.^{z 19}You are more lovely than whom?^a Go down and be laid in rest with the uncircumcised. ²⁰In the midst of the people slain by the sword it^b is given they will fall to a sword; they carried her^c off and all of her^d hordes. ²¹The chiefs of the warriors will speak to him from the middle of Sheol; with his helpers they have gone down; the uncircumcised lie still, those slain by the sword.^e

²²Assyria is there and all of its assembly; all around it are its graves, all of them killed, those fallen by the sword, ²³who^f will be given its graves in the remote areas of the pit, and its assembly will be all around its grave, all of them killed, fallen by the sword, those who spread terror in the land of the living.

²⁴Elam is there and all of its hordes, all around its grave, all of them dead who fell by the sword, those who went down uncircumcised to the depths of the underworld,^g those who spread their terror to the land of the living, and now they bear their disgrace with the people going down to the grave.^{h 25}In the midst of the slain they made a bed for her with all of her hordes all around its graves, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, for their terror was spread in the land of the living, and they now bear their disgrace with the people going down to the grave;ⁱ in the midst of the slain it was placed.

²⁶Meshech and Tubal are there and all of its hordes, all around him its graves, all of them uncircumcised and killed by the sword, for they gave their terror in the land of the living. ²⁷And they do not lie with warriors fallen from long ago, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war,^j and they placed their sword under their heads, and their shields^k were on their bones, for the terror of the warriors was in the land of the living. ²⁸And you^l too in the midst of uncircumcised people will be broken, and you will lie with those slain by the sword.

²⁹There is Edom, its kings and all of its leaders who are laid along with their might with those killed by the sword; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with the people going down to the grave.^m

³⁰There are also the princes of the north, all of them, all of the Sidonians who have gone down, being ashamed to lie with the slain becauseⁿ of their terror that they caused from their might, and they lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, and they bear their disgrace along with the people going down to the grave.^o

³¹Pharaoh will see them, and he will be comforted over all of his hordes killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all of his army,” declares^p the Lord Yahweh. ³²“For^q he spread^r my terror in the land of the living, and so he will be laid down in the midst of the uncircumcised with those killed by the sword: Pharaoh and all of his hordes,” declares^s the Lord Yahweh.