Ezekiel 32:1-33:11

English Standard Version

A Lament over Pharaoh and Egypt

32 ^(A)In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ²^(B)“Son of man, ^(C)raise a lamentation over ^(D)Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:

“You consider yourself ^(E)a lion of the nations,
    but you are like ^(F)a dragon ^(G)in the seas;
^(H)you burst forth in your rivers,
    trouble the waters with your feet,
    and foul their rivers.
³Thus says the Lord God:
    ^(I)I will throw my net over you
    with a host of ^(J)many peoples,
    and ^(K)they will haul you up in my dragnet.
⁴And ^(L)I will cast you on the ground;
    on the open field I will fling you,
and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle on you,
    and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you.
⁵I will strew your flesh ^(M)upon the mountains
    and fill the valleys with your carcass.^[a]
⁶I will drench the land even to the mountains
    with your flowing blood,
    and the ravines will be full of you.
⁷^(N)When I blot you out, ^(O)I will cover the heavens
    and make their stars dark;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
    and the moon shall not give its light.
⁸All the bright lights of heaven
    will I make dark over you,
    and ^(P)put darkness on your land,
declares the Lord God.

⁹“I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries that you have not known. ¹⁰^(Q)I will make many peoples appalled at you, and the hair of their kings shall bristle with horror because of you, when ^(R)I brandish my sword before them. ^(S)They shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall.

¹¹“For thus says the Lord God: ^(T)The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. ¹²I will cause ^(U)your multitude to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them ^(V)most ruthless of nations.

^(W)“They shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt,
    and all its multitude^[b] shall perish.
¹³I will destroy all its beasts
    from beside many waters;
^(X)and no foot of man shall trouble them anymore,
    nor shall the hoofs of beasts trouble them.
¹⁴Then ^(Y)I will make their waters clear,
    and cause their rivers to run like oil,
declares the Lord God.
¹⁵When I make the land of Egypt desolate,
    and when the land ^(Z)is desolate of all that fills it,
when I strike down all who dwell in it,
    then ^(AA)they will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁶^(AB)This is a lamentation that shall be chanted; the daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt, and over ^(AC)all her multitude, shall they chant it, declares the Lord God.”

¹⁷^(AD)In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month,^[c] on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸^(AE)“Son of man, ^(AF)wail over ^(AG)the multitude of Egypt, and ^(AH)send them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, ^(AI)to the world below, to those who have gone down to the pit:

¹⁹^(AJ)‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?
Go down and ^(AK)be laid to rest with the uncircumcised.’

²⁰They shall fall amid those ^(AL)who are slain by the sword. Egypt^[d] is delivered to the sword; drag her away, and ^(AM)all her multitudes. ²¹The mighty chiefs ^(AN)shall speak of them, ^(AO)with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: ‘They have come down, they lie still, ^(AP)the uncircumcised, ^(AQ)slain by the sword.’

²²^(AR)“Assyria is there, and all her company, ^(AS)its graves all around it, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, ²³whose graves are set in ^(AT)the uttermost parts of the pit; and her company is all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, ^(AU)who spread terror ^(AV)in the land of the living.

²⁴^(AW)“Elam is ^(AX)there, and all her multitude around her grave; all of them ^(AY)slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into ^(AZ)the world below, who spread their terror in the land of the living; and ^(BA)they bear their shame ^(BB)with those who go down to the pit. ²⁵^(BC)They have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, ^(BD)her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are placed among the slain.

²⁶^(BE)“Meshech-Tubal is ^(BF)there, and all her multitude, ^(BG)her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread their terror in the land of the living. ²⁷And ^(BH)they do not lie with the mighty, the fallen from among the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living. ²⁸But as for you, you shall be broken ^(BI)and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.

²⁹^(BJ)“Edom is ^(BK)there, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.

³⁰“The princes ^(BL)of the north are there, all of them, and all the ^(BM)Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, ^(BN)for all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and ^(BO)bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

³¹“When Pharaoh sees them, he ^(BP)will be comforted for ^(BQ)all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord God. ³²^(BR)For I spread terror ^(BS)in the land of the living; and he shall be laid to rest among ^(BT)the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel Is Israel's Watchman

33 The word of the Lord came to me: ²^(BU)“Son of man, speak to ^(BV)your people and say to them, If ^(BW)I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their ^(BX)watchman, ³and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and ^(BY)blows the trumpet and warns the people, ⁴then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, ^(BZ)his blood shall be upon his own head. ⁵^(CA)He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. ⁶^(CB)But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, ^(CC)that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.

⁷^(CD)“So you, ^(CE)son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. ^(CF)Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. ⁸^(CG)If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, ^(CH)and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, ^(CI)that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. ⁹^(CJ)But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, ^(CK)that person shall die in his iniquity, ^(CL)but you will have delivered your soul.

Why Will You Die, Israel?

¹⁰“And you, ^(CM)son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and ^(CN)we rot away because of them. ^(CO)How then can we live?’ ¹¹Say to them, ^(CP)As I live, declares the Lord God, ^(CQ)I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; ^(CR)turn back, turn back from your evil ways, ^(CS)for why will you die, O house of Israel?