Ezekiel 32
New English Translation
Lamentation over Pharaoh and Egypt
32 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month,[a] the Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, sing a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:
“‘You were like a lion[b] 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 your[c] streams.
3 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘I will throw my net over you[d] in the assembly of many peoples;
and they will haul you up in my dragnet.
4 I will leave you on the ground,
I will fling you on the open field,
I will allow[e] all the birds of the sky to settle[f] on you,
and I will permit[g] all the wild animals[h] to gorge themselves on you.
5 I will put your flesh on the mountains,
and fill the valleys with your maggot-infested carcass.[i]
6 I will drench the land with the flow
of your blood up to the mountains,
and the ravines will be full of your blood.[j]
7 When 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.[k]
8 I will darken all the lights in the sky over you,
and I will darken your land,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
9 I will disturb[l] many peoples,
when I bring about your destruction among the nations,
among countries you do not know.
10 I 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.
11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘The sword of the king of Babylon[m] will attack[n] you.
12 By 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.
13 I will destroy all its cattle beside the plentiful waters;
and no human foot will disturb[o] the waters[p] again,
nor will the hooves of cattle disturb them.
14 Then I will make their waters calm,[q]
and will make their streams flow like olive oil, declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 When 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.’
16 This 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.”
17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month,[r] the Lord’s message came to me: 18 “Son of man, wail[s] over the horde of Egypt. Bring it down;[t] bring[u] her[v] and the daughters of powerful nations down to the lower parts of the earth, along with those who descend to the Pit. 19 Say to them,[w] ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?[x] Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!’ 20 They will fall among those killed by the sword. The sword is drawn; they carry her and all her hordes away. 21 The bravest of the warriors will speak to him from the midst of Sheol along with his allies, saying: ‘The uncircumcised have come down; they lie still, killed by the sword.’
22 “Assyria is there with all her assembly around her grave,[y] all of them struck down by the sword.[z] 23 Their[aa] graves are located in the remote slopes of the Pit.[ab] Her assembly is around her grave, all of them struck down by the sword, those who spread terror in the land of the living.
24 “Elam is there with all her hordes around her grave; all of them struck down by the sword. They went down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, those who spread terror in the land of the living. Now they will bear their shame with those who descend to the Pit. 25 Among the dead they have made a bed for her, along with all her hordes around her grave.[ac] All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for their terror had spread in the land of the living. They bear their shame along with those who descend to the Pit; they are placed among the dead.
26 “Meshech Tubal is there, along with all her hordes around her grave.[ad] All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for they spread their terror in the land of the living. 27 They do not lie with the fallen warriors of ancient times,[ae] who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, having their swords placed under their heads and their shields on their bones,[af] when the terror of these warriors was in the land of the living.
28 “But as for you, in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken, and you will lie with those killed by the sword.
29 “Edom is there with her kings and all her princes. Despite their might they are laid with those killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised and those who descend to the Pit.
30 “All the leaders of the north are there, along with all the Sidonians; despite their might they have gone down in shameful terror with the dead. They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, and bear their shame with those who descend to the Pit.
31 “Pharaoh will see them and be consoled over all his hordes who were killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his army, declares the Sovereign Lord. 32 Indeed, I terrified him in the land of the living, yet he will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 32:1 sn This would be March 3, 585 b.c.
- Ezekiel 32:2 tn The lion was a figure of royalty (Ezek 19:1-9).
- Ezekiel 32:2 tc The Hebrew reads, “their streams”; the LXX reads, “your streams.”
- Ezekiel 32:3 tn The expression “throw my net” is common in Ezekiel (12:13; 17:20; 19:8).
- Ezekiel 32:4 tn Or “cause.”
- Ezekiel 32:4 tn Heb “live.”
- Ezekiel 32:4 tn Or “cause.”
- Ezekiel 32:4 tn Heb “the beasts of the field,” referring to wild as opposed to domesticated animals.
- Ezekiel 32:5 tc The Hebrew text is difficult here, apparently meaning “your height.” Following Symmachus and the Syriac, it is preferable to emend the text to read “your maggots.” See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:203.
- Ezekiel 32:6 tn Heb “from you.”
- Ezekiel 32:7 tn Heb “will not shine its light.” For similar features of cosmic eschatology, see Joel 2:10; 3:15; Amos 5:18-20; Zeph 1:5.
- Ezekiel 32:9 tn Heb “I will provoke the heart of.”
- Ezekiel 32:11 sn The king of Babylon referred to here was Nebuchadnezzar (Ezek 21:19).
- Ezekiel 32:11 tn Heb “approach.”
- Ezekiel 32:13 tn Heb “muddy.”
- Ezekiel 32:13 tn Heb “them,” that is, the waters mentioned in the previous line. The translation clarifies the referent.
- Ezekiel 32:14 tn Heb “sink,” that is, to settle and become clear, not muddied.
- Ezekiel 32:17 tn March 17, 585 b.c. The LXX adds “first month.”
- Ezekiel 32:18 tn The Hebrew verb is used as a response to death (Jer 9:17-19; Amos 5:16).
- Ezekiel 32:18 sn Through this prophetic lament given by God himself, the prophet activates the judgment described therein. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:217, and L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:136-37.
- Ezekiel 32:18 tn Heb “Bring him down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the earth below.” The verb “bring down” appears in the Hebrew text only once. Because the verb takes several objects here, the repetition of the verb in the translation improves the English style.
- Ezekiel 32:18 tn This apparently refers to personified Egypt.
- Ezekiel 32:19 tc The LXX places this verse after v. 21.tn The words “say to them” are added in the translation for clarity to indicate the shift in addressee from the prophet to Egypt.
- Ezekiel 32:19 tn Heb “pleasantness.”
- Ezekiel 32:22 tn Heb “around him his graves.” The masculine pronominal suffixes are problematic; the expression is best emended to correspond to the phrase “around her grave” in v. 23. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:219.
- Ezekiel 32:22 tn Heb “all of them slain, the ones felled by the sword.” See as well vv. 23-24.
- Ezekiel 32:23 tn Heb “whose.”
- Ezekiel 32:23 tn The only other occurrence of the phrase “remote slopes of the Pit” is in Isa 14:15.
- Ezekiel 32:25 tn Heb “around him her graves,” but the expression is best emended to read “around her grave” (see vv. 23-24).
- Ezekiel 32:26 tn Heb “around him her graves,” but the expression is best emended to read “around her grave” (see vv. 23-24).
- Ezekiel 32:27 tc Heb “of the uncircumcised.” The LXX reads, probably correctly, “from of old” rather than “of the uncircumcised.” The phrases are very similar in spelling. The warriors of Meshech Tubal are described as uncircumcised, so it would be odd for them to not be buried with the uncircumcised. Verse 28 specifically says that they would lie with the uncircumcised.
- Ezekiel 32:27 tc Heb “and their iniquities were over their bones.” The meaning of this statement is unclear. In light of the parallelism (see “swords”) it is preferable to emend עֲוֹנֹתָם (ʿavonotam; “their iniquities”) to צִנּוֹתָם or צִנָּתָם (tsinnotam or tsinnatam; “their shields” or “their shield”) See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:135.
Ezekiel 32
Jubilee Bible 2000
32 ¶ And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, raise up lamentations upon Pharaoh king of Egypt and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as the whale in the seas, that dost dry up thy rivers, and trouble the waters with thy feet, and foul their streams.
3 Thus hath the Lord GOD said: I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many peoples, and they shall bring thee up in my net.
4 Then I will leave thee upon the land; I will cast thee forth upon the open field and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee.
5 And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains and fill the valleys with thy height.
6 I will also water with thy blood the land in which thou dost swim, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.
7 And when thou art dead, I will cover the heavens and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
8 All the bright lights of heaven I will make dark because of thee and set darkness upon thy land, said the Lord GOD.
9 I will also make the hearts of many peoples sad when I shall bring thy destruction upon the Gentiles, into the countries which thou hast not known.
10 And I will make many peoples amazed at thee and their kings shall be horribly afraid because of thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall.
11 For thus hath the Lord GOD said: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee.
12 By the swords of the mighty I will cause thy people to fall; they shall all be the strong of the Gentiles and they shall destroy the pride of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be undone.
13 I will also destroy all the beasts thereof from upon the many waters; neither shall the foot of man, nor the hoofs of beasts foul them any more.
14 Then I will make their waters deepen and cause their channels to run like oil, said the Lord GOD.
15 When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate and the fullness of the land shall be taken away when I shall smite all those that dwell therein, then they shall know that I am the LORD.
16 This is the lamentation, and they shall sing it; the daughters of the Gentiles shall sing it: they shall lament over Egypt and over all her multitude, said the Lord GOD.
17 ¶ It also came to pass in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
18 Son of man, lament over the multitude of Egypt and cast him down and the habitations of the strong Gentiles into the lower parts of the earth with those that go down into the grave.
19 Because thou art so beautiful, go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised.
20 They shall fall in the midst of those that are slain by the sword; he is delivered to the sword; bring him and all his peoples.
21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with those that help him: they are gone down; they lie with the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
22 Asshur is there and all his company; his graves are about him; all of them slain, fallen by the sword:
23 whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and his company is round about his grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living.
24 There is Elam and all his multitude round about his grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the lowest parts of the earth because they spread their terror in the land of the living; yet they have borne their shame with those that go down to the grave.
25 They have set him a bed in the midst of the slain with all his multitude: his graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword because they spread their terror in the land of the living, yet they have borne their shame with those that go down to the pit; he was put in the midst of the dead.
26 There is Meshech, Tubal, and all his multitude; his graves are round about him, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword because they had caused their terror in the land of the living.
27 And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, who are gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their sins shall be upon their bones because they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
28 Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised and shalt lie with those that are slain with the sword.
29 There is Edom, his kings, and all his princes, which with their might are laid with those that were slain by the sword; they shall lie with the uncircumcised and with those that go down to the pit.
30 There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, who are gone down with the slain with their terror, ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with those that are slain by the sword and bear their shame with those that go down to the pit.
31 Pharaoh shall see them and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, said the Lord GOD.
32 Because I have spread my terror in the land of the living, he shall also lay in the midst of the uncircumcised with those that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, said the Lord GOD.
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