Ezekiel 31–32

Chapter 31

Pharaoh Warned of Assyria’s Fate

¹In the ^aeleventh year, in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me saying,

²“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his ^ahordes,

‘Whom are you like in your greatness?

³‘Behold, Assyria was a ^acedar in Lebanon

With beautiful branches and forest shade,

And ^1bvery high,

And its top was among the ²clouds.

⁴‘The ^awaters made it grow, the ¹deep made it high.

With its rivers it continually ²extended all around its planting place,

And sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.

⁵‘Therefore ^aits height was loftier than all the trees of the field

And its boughs became many and its branches long

Because of ^bmany waters ¹as it spread them out.

⁶‘All the ^abirds of the heavens nested in its boughs,

And under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth,

And all great nations lived under its shade.

⁷‘So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches;

For its ¹roots extended to many waters.

⁸‘The ^acedars in ^bGod’s garden ¹could not match it;

The ²cypresses could not compare with its boughs,

And the plane trees ³could not match its branches.

No tree in God’s garden could compare with it in its beauty.

⁹‘I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches,

And all the trees of ^aEden, which were in the garden of God, were jealous of it.

¹⁰‘Therefore thus says the Lord ¹God, “Because ²it is high in stature and has set its top among the ³clouds, and its ^aheart is haughty in its loftiness,

¹¹therefore I will give it into the hand of a ^1adespot of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. According to its wickedness I have ^bdriven it away.

¹²“^aAlien ^btyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; on the ^cmountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the peoples of the earth have ^dgone down from its shade and left it.

¹³“On its ruin all the ^abirds of the heavens will dwell, and all the beasts of the field will be on its fallen branches

¹⁴so that all the trees by the waters may not be exalted in their stature, nor set their top among the ¹clouds, nor their ²well-watered mighty ones stand erect in their height. For they have all been given over to death, to the ^aearth beneath, among the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit.”

¹⁵‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day when it went down to Sheol I ^acaused lamentations; I closed the ¹deep over it and held back its rivers. And its many waters were stopped up, and I made Lebanon ²mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away on account of it.

¹⁶“I made the nations ^aquake at the sound of its fall when I made it ^bgo down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit; and all the ¹well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and best of ^cLebanon, were ^dcomforted in the earth beneath.

¹⁷“They also ^awent down with it to Sheol to those who were ^bslain by the sword; and those who were its ¹strength lived ^cunder its shade among the nations.

¹⁸“To which among the trees of Eden are you thus ¹equal in glory and greatness? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth beneath; you will lie in the midst of the ^auncircumcised, with those who were slain by the sword. ^bSo is Pharaoh and all his hordes!” ’ declares the Lord God.”

Chapter 32

Lament over Pharaoh and Egypt

¹In the ^atwelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me saying,

²“Son of man, take up a ^alamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him,

‘You ¹compared yourself to a young ^blion of the nations,

Yet you are like the ^cmonster in the seas;

And you ^dburst forth in your rivers

And muddied the waters with your feet

And ²fouled their rivers.’ ”

³Thus says the Lord ¹God,

“Now I will ^aspread My net over you

With a company of many peoples,

And they shall lift you up in My net.

⁴“I will leave you on the land;

I will cast you on the ¹open field.

And I will cause all the ^abirds of the heavens to dwell on you,

And I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth ²with you.

⁵“I will lay your flesh ^aon the mountains

And fill the valleys with your refuse.

⁶“I will also make the land drink the discharge of your ^ablood

As far as the mountains,

And the ravines will be full of you.

⁷“And when I ^aextinguish you,

I will ^bcover the heavens and darken their ^cstars;

I will cover the ^dsun with a cloud

And the moon will not give its light.

⁸“All the shining ^alights in the heavens

I will darken over you

And will set darkness on your land,”

Declares the Lord God.

⁹“I will also ^atrouble the hearts of many peoples when I ^bbring your destruction among the nations, into lands which you have not known.

¹⁰“I will make many peoples ^aappalled at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and ^bthey will tremble every moment, every man for his own life, on the day of your fall.”

¹¹For ^athus says the Lord God, “The sword of the king of Babylon will come upon you.

¹²“By the swords of the mighty ones I will cause your hordes to fall; all of them are ^atyrants of the nations,

And they will ^bdevastate the pride of Egypt,

And all its hordes will be destroyed.

¹³“I will also destroy all its cattle from beside many waters;

And ^athe foot of man will not muddy them anymore

And the hoofs of beasts will not muddy them.

¹⁴“Then I will make their waters settle

And will cause their rivers to run like oil,”

Declares the Lord God.

¹⁵“When I make the land of Egypt a ^adesolation,

And the land is destitute of that which filled it,

When I smite all those who live in it,

Then they shall ^bknow that I am the Lord.

¹⁶“This is a ^alamentation and they shall ¹chant it. The daughters of the nations shall chant it. Over Egypt and over all her hordes they shall chant it,” declares the Lord God.

¹⁷In the ^atwelfth year, on the fifteenth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me saying,

¹⁸“Son of man, ^awail for the hordes of Egypt and ^bbring it down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the ^cnether world, with those who go down to the pit;

¹⁹‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?

Go down and make your bed with the ^auncircumcised.’

²⁰“They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword. ¹She is given over to the sword; they have ^adrawn her and all her hordes away.

²¹“The ^astrong among the mighty ones shall speak of him and his helpers from the midst of Sheol, ‘They have gone down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.’

²²“^aAssyria is there and all her company; ¹her graves are round about ²her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword,

²³whose ^agraves are set in the remotest parts of the pit and her company is round about her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, who ¹spread terror in the land of the living.

²⁴“^aElam is there and all her hordes around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised to the ^blower parts of the earth, who instilled their terror in the ^cland of the living and ^dbore their disgrace with those who went down to the pit.

²⁵“They have made a ^abed for her among the slain with all her hordes. Her graves are around it, they are all uncircumcised, slain by the sword (although their terror was ¹instilled in the land of the living), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit; ²they were put in the midst of the slain.

²⁶“^aMeshech, ^bTubal and all their hordes are there; their graves ¹surround them. All of them were slain by the sword ^cuncircumcised, though they instilled their terror in the land of the living.

²⁷“^aNor do they lie beside the fallen ^1bheroes of the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war and whose swords were laid under their heads; but the punishment for their ^ciniquity rested on their bones, though the terror of these heroes was once in the land of the living.

²⁸“But in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken and lie with those slain by the sword.

²⁹“There also is ^aEdom, its kings and all its ¹princes, who ²for all their might are laid with those slain by the sword; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.

³⁰“There also are the ¹chiefs of the ^anorth, all of them, and all the ^bSidonians, who in spite of the terror resulting from their might, in shame went down with the slain. So they lay down uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit.

³¹“These Pharaoh will see, and he will be ^acomforted for all his hordes slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his army,” declares the Lord God.

³²“Though I instilled a terror of him in the land of the living, yet he will be made to lie down among the uncircumcised along with those slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his hordes,” declares the Lord God.