Ezekiel 30–32

A Lament Over Egypt

^30:1The word of the Lord came to me: ^30:2“Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“ ‘Wail, “Alas, the day is here!”¹

^30:3For the day is near,

the day of the Lord is near;

it will be a day of storm clouds,²

it will be a time of judgment³ for the nations.

^30:4A sword will come against Egypt

and panic will overtake Ethiopia

when the slain fall in Egypt

and they carry away her wealth

and dismantle her foundations.

^30:5Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all the foreigners,⁴ Libya, and the people⁵ of the covenant land⁶ will die by the sword along with them.

^30:6“ ‘This is what the Lord says:

Egypt’s supporters will fall;

her confident pride will crumble.⁷

From Migdol to Syene⁸ they will die by the sword within her,

declares the sovereign Lord.

^30:7They will be desolate among desolate lands,

and their cities will be among ruined cities.

^30:8They will know that I am the Lord

when I ignite a fire in Egypt

and all her allies are defeated.⁹

^30:9On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten overly confident Ethiopia; panic will overtake them on the day of Egypt’s doom;¹⁰ for beware—it is coming!

^30:10“ ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt,

by the hand of King Nebuchadrezzar¹¹ of Babylon.

^30:11He and his people with him,

the most terrifying of the nations,¹²

will be brought there to destroy the land.

They will draw their swords against Egypt,

and fill the land with corpses.

^30:12I will dry up the waterways

and hand the land over to¹³ evil men.

I will make the land and everything in it desolate by the hand of foreigners.

I, the Lord, have spoken!

^30:13“ ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

I will destroy the idols,

and put an end to the gods of Memphis.

There will no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt;

so I will make the land of Egypt fearful.¹⁴

^30:14I will desolate Pathros,

I will ignite a fire in Zoan,

and I will execute judgments on Thebes.

^30:15I will pour out my anger upon Pelusium,¹⁵

the stronghold of Egypt;

I will cut off¹⁶ the hordes of Thebes.

^30:16I will ignite a fire in Egypt;

Syene¹⁷ will writhe in agony,

Thebes will be broken down,

and Memphis will face enemies every day.

^30:17The young men of On and of Pi-beseth¹⁸ will die by the sword;

and the cities will go¹⁹ into captivity.

^30:18In Tahpanhes the day will be dark²⁰

when I break the yoke of Egypt there.

Her confident pride will cease within her;

a cloud will cover her, and her daughters will go into captivity.

^30:19I will execute judgments on Egypt.

Then they will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

^30:20In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month,²¹ the word of the Lord came to me: ^30:21“Son of man, I have broken the arm²² of Pharaoh king of Egypt.²³ Look, it has not been bandaged for healing or set with a dressing so that it might become strong enough to grasp a sword. ^30:22Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look,²⁴ I am against²⁵ Pharaoh king of Egypt, and I will break his arms, the strong arm and the broken one, and I will make the sword drop from his hand. ^30:23I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among foreign countries. ^30:24I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and I will place my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan like the fatally wounded before the king of Babylon.^2630:25I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall limp. Then they will know that I am the Lord when I place my sword in the hand of the king of Babylon and he extends it against the land of Egypt. ^30:26I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among foreign countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

A Cedar in Lebanon

^31:1In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month,¹ the word of the Lord came to me: ^31:2“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and his hordes:

“ ‘Who are you like in your greatness?

^31:3Consider Assyria,² a cedar in Lebanon,³

with beautiful branches, like a forest giving shade,

and extremely tall;

its top reached into the clouds.

^31:4The water made it grow;

underground springs made it grow tall.

Rivers flowed all around the place it was planted,

while smaller channels watered all the trees of the field.⁴

^31:5Therefore it grew taller than all the trees of the field;

its boughs grew large and its branches grew long,

because of the plentiful water in its shoots.⁵

^31:6All the birds of the sky nested in its boughs;

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

in its shade all the great⁶ nations lived.

^31:7It was beautiful in its loftiness, in the length of its branches;

for its roots went down deep to plentiful waters.

^31:8The cedars in the garden of God could not eclipse it,

nor could the fir trees⁷ match its boughs;

the plane trees were as nothing compared to its branches;

no tree in the garden of God could rival its beauty.

^31:9I made it beautiful with its many branches;

all the trees of Eden, in the garden of God, envied it.

^31:10“ ‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because it was tall in stature, and its top reached into the clouds, and it was proud of its height, ^31:11I gave it over to the leader of the nations. He has judged it thoroughly,⁸ as its sinfulness deserves. I have thrown it out. ^31:12Foreigners from the most terrifying nations have cut it down and left it to lie there on the mountains. In all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs lie broken in the ravines of the land. All the peoples of the land⁹ have departed¹⁰ from its shade and left it. ^31:13On its ruins all the birds of the sky will live, and all the wild animals¹¹ will walk¹² on its branches. ^31:14For this reason no watered trees will grow so tall; their tops will not reach into the clouds, nor will the well-watered ones grow that high.¹³ For all of them have been appointed to die in the lower parts of the earth;¹⁴ they will be among mere mortals,¹⁵ with those who descend to the pit.

^31:15“ ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On the day it¹⁶ went down to Sheol I caused observers to lament.¹⁷ I covered it with the deep and held back its rivers; its plentiful water was restrained. I clothed Lebanon in black for it, and all the trees of the field wilted because of it. ^31:16I made the nations shake at the sound of its fall, when I threw it down to Sheol, along with those who descend to the pit.¹⁸ Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and the best of Lebanon, all that were well-watered, were comforted in the earth below. ^31:17Those who lived in its shade, its allies¹⁹ among the nations, also went down with it to Sheol, to those killed by the sword. ^31:18Which of the trees of Eden was like you in majesty and loftiness? You will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth; you will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword! This is what will happen to Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the sovereign Lord.’ ”

Lamentation over Pharaoh and Egypt

^32:1In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month,¹ the word of the Lord came to me: ^32:2“Son of man, sing a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:

“ ‘You were like a lion² among the nations,

but you are a monster in the seas;

you thrash about in your streams,

stir up the water with your feet,

and muddy your³ streams.

^32:3“ ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“ ‘I will throw my net over you⁴ in the assembly of many peoples;

and they will haul you up in my dragnet.

^32:4I will leave you on the ground,

I will fling you on the open field,

I will allow⁵ all the birds of the sky to settle⁶ on you,

and I will permit⁷ all the wild animals⁸ to gorge themselves on you.

^32:5I will put your flesh on the mountains,

and fill the valleys with your maggot-infested carcass.⁹

^32:6I will drench the land with the flow

of your blood up to the mountains,

and the ravines will be full of your blood.¹⁰

^32:7When I extinguish you, I will cover the sky;

I will darken its stars.

I will cover the sun with a cloud,

and the moon will not shine.¹¹

^32:8I will darken all the lights in the sky over you,

and I will darken your land,

declares the sovereign Lord.

^32:9I will disturb¹² many peoples,

when I bring about your destruction among the nations,

among countries you do not know.

^32:10I will shock many peoples with you,

and their kings will shiver with horror because of you.

When I brandish my sword before them,

every moment each one will tremble for his life, on the day of your fall.

^32:11“ ‘For this is what the sovereign Lord says:

“ ‘The sword of the king of Babylon¹³ will attack¹⁴ you.

^32:12By the swords of the mighty warriors I will cause your hordes to fall—

all of them are the most terrifying among the nations.

They will devastate the pride of Egypt,

and all its hordes will be destroyed.

^32:13I will destroy all its cattle beside the plentiful waters;

and no human foot will disturb¹⁵ the waters¹⁶ again,

nor will the hooves of cattle disturb them.

^32:14Then I will make their waters calm,¹⁷

and will make their streams flow like olive oil, declares the sovereign Lord.

^32:15When I turn the land of Egypt into desolation

and the land is destitute of everything that fills it,

when I strike all those who live in it,

then they will know that I am the Lord.’

^32:16This is a lament; they will chant it.

The daughters of the nations will chant it.

They will chant it over Egypt and over all her hordes,

declares the sovereign Lord.”

^32:17In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month,¹⁸ the word of the Lord came to me: ^32:18“Son of man, wail¹⁹ over the horde of Egypt. Bring it down;²⁰ bring²¹ her²² and the daughters of powerful nations down to the lower parts of the earth, along with those who descend to the pit. ^32:19Say to them,²³ ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?²⁴ Go down and be laid to rest with the…