Chapter 31

Pharaoh Warned of Assyria’s Fate

1 In 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 1could not compare with its boughs,

And the plane trees 3could not match its branches.

No tree in bGod’s garden 1could 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 agarden 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,

11 therefore 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

14 so 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

1 In 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.’ ”

3 Thus 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.”

11 For 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 1chant it. Over Egypt and over all her hordes they shall 1chant it,” declares the Lord God.

17 In the atwelfth year, on the afifteenth 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,

23 whose 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 1heroes 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.

Chapter 33

The Watchman’s Duty

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

2 “Son of man, speak to the asons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman,

3 and he sees the sword coming upon the land and ablows on the trumpet and warns the people,

4 then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and adoes not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his bblood will be on his own head.

5 ‘He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have adelivered his life.

6 ‘But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is ataken away 1in his iniquity; but his bblood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’

7 “Now as for you, son of man, I have 1aappointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a 2message from My mouth and give them bwarning from Me.

8 “When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will asurely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand.

9 “But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he adoes not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have bdelivered your life.

10 “Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus you have spoken, saying, “Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are arotting away in them; bhow then can we 1survive?” ’

11 “Say to them, ‘aAs I live!’ declares the Lord 1God, ‘I take bno pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked cturn from his way and live. dTurn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’

12 “And you, son of man, say to 1your fellow citizens, ‘The arighteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will bnot stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live 2by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’

13 “When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he acommits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die.

14 “But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and he aturns from his sin and practices bjustice and righteousness,

15 if a wicked man restores a pledge, apays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the bstatutes 1which ensure life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

16 “aNone of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall surely live.

17 “Yet 1your fellow citizens say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right,’ when it is their own way that is not right.

18 “When the righteous turns from his righteousness and acommits iniquity, then he shall die in 1it.

19 “But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them.

20 “Yet you say, ‘aThe way of the Lord is not right.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.”

Word of Jerusalem’s Capture

21 Now ain the btwelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the 1refugees from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “cThe city has been 2taken.”

22 Now the ahand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before the 1refugees came. And He bopened my mouth 2at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was copened and I was no longer 3speechless.

23 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying,

24 “Son of man, they who alive in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, ‘bAbraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to cus who are many the land has been given as a possession.’

25 “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “You eat meat with the ablood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. bShould you then possess the land?

26 “You 1arely on your sword, you commit abominations and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?” ’

27 “Thus you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will afall by the sword, and whoever is in the 1open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the bcaves will die of pestilence.

28 “I will amake the land a desolation and a waste, and the bpride of her power will cease; and the mountains of Israel will be desolate so that no one will pass through.

29 “Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed.” ’

30 “But as for you, son of man, 1your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘aCome now and hear what the 2message is which comes forth from the Lord.’

31 “They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their amouth, and their heart goes after their bgain.

32 “Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a abeautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them.

33 “So when it acomes to pass—1as surely it will—then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst.”

Chapter 34

Prophecy against the Shepherds of Israel

1 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying,

2 “Son of man, prophesy against the ashepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to 1those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord 2God, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been 3bfeeding themselves! Should not the shepherds 3cfeed the flock?

3 “You aeat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you bslaughter the fat sheep without 1feeding the flock.

4 “Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the 1diseased you have not healed, athe broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you bsought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them.

5 “They were ascattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became bfood for every beast of the field and were scattered.

6 “My flock awandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; bMy flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was cno one to search or seek for them.” ’ ”

7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:

8 “As I live,” declares the Lord God, “surely because My flock has become a aprey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock;

9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:

10 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am aagainst the shepherds, and I will demand My 1sheep 2from them and make them bcease from feeding 1sheep. So the shepherds will not 3feed themselves anymore, but I will cdeliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.” ’ ”

The Restoration of Israel

11 For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I Myself will asearch for My sheep and seek them out.

12 “aAs a shepherd 1cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered 2sheep, so I will 1bcare for My 2sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a ccloudy and gloomy day.

13 “I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will afeed them on the mountains of Israel, by the bstreams, and in all the inhabited places of the land.

14 “I will feed them in a agood pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in 1brich pasture on the mountains of Israel.

15 “I will afeed My flock and I will 1lead them to rest,” declares the Lord God.

16 “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the afat and the strong I will destroy. I will bfeed them with judgment.

17 “As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will ajudge between one 1sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats.

18 ‘Is it too aslight a thing for you that you should feed in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must 1foul the rest with your feet?

19 ‘As for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you 1foul with your feet!’ ”

20 Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them, “Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

21 “Because you push with side and with shoulder, and athrust at all the 1weak with your horns until you have scattered them 2abroad,

22 therefore, I will adeliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.

23 “Then I will aset over them one bshepherd, My servant cDavid, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd.

24 “And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant aDavid will be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken.

25 “I will make a acovenant of peace with them and beliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may clive securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.

26 “I will make them and the places around My hill a ablessing. And I will cause bshowers to come down in their season; they will be showers of cblessing.

27 “Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be asecure on their land. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have bbroken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them.

28 “They will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will alive securely, and no one will make them afraid.

29 “I will establish for them a arenowned planting place, and they will bnot again be 1victims of famine in the land, and they will not cendure the insults of the nations anymore.

30 “Then they will know that aI, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” declares the Lord God.

31 “As for you, My asheep, the bsheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,” declares the Lord God.