Ezekiel 31-32

English Standard Version

Pharaoh to Be Slain

31 ^(A)In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ²^(B)“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to ^(C)his multitude:

^(D)“Whom are you like in your greatness?
³    Behold, ^(E)Assyria was a ^(F)cedar in ^(G)Lebanon,
with beautiful branches and ^(H)forest shade,
    ^(I)and of towering height,
    its top among the clouds.^[a]
⁴The waters nourished it;
    the deep made it grow tall,
making ^(J)its rivers flow
    around the place of its planting,
sending forth its streams
    to all the trees of the field.
⁵So ^(K)it towered high
    above all the trees of the field;
its boughs grew large
    and its branches long
    from ^(L)abundant water in its shoots.
⁶^(M)All the birds of the heavens
    made their nests in its boughs;
under its branches all the beasts of the field
    gave birth to their young,
and under its shadow
    lived all great nations.
⁷It was ^(N)beautiful in its greatness,
    in the length of its branches;
^(O)for its roots went down
    to abundant waters.
⁸^(P)The cedars ^(Q)in the garden of God could not rival it,
    nor the fir trees equal its boughs;
neither were the plane trees
    like its branches;
no tree ^(R)in the garden of God
    was its equal in beauty.
⁹I made it beautiful
    in the mass of its branches,
and all the trees of ^(S)Eden envied it,
    that were in the garden of God.

¹⁰“Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because ^(T)it^[b] towered high and set its top among the clouds,^[c] and ^(U)its heart was proud of its height, ¹¹I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. ¹²^(V)Foreigners, ^(W)the most ruthless of nations, have cut it down and left it. ^(X)On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs have been broken in all ^(Y)the ravines of the land, and ^(Z)all the peoples of the earth have gone away from its shadow and left it. ¹³^(AA)On its fallen trunk dwell all the birds of the heavens, and on its branches are all the beasts of the field. ¹⁴^(AB)All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to towering height or set their tops among the clouds,^[d] and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height. For they are all given over to death, ^(AC)to the world ^(AD)below, among the children of man,^[e] with those who go down to the pit.

¹⁵“Thus says the Lord God: On the day ^(AE)the cedar^[f] went down to Sheol I caused mourning; I closed the deep over it, and restrained its rivers, and many waters were stopped. I clothed Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. ¹⁶^(AF)I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall, ^(AG)when I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit. ^(AH)And all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, ^(AI)were comforted in the world below. ¹⁷They also went down to Sheol with it, ^(AJ)to those who are slain by the sword; yes, ^(AK)those who were its arm, ^(AL)who lived under its shadow among the nations.

¹⁸^(AM)“Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness ^(AN)among the trees of Eden? ^(AO)You shall be brought down with ^(AP)the trees of Eden to the world below. ^(AQ)You shall lie among the uncircumcised, ^(AR)with those who are slain by the sword.

^(AS)“This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.”

A Lament over Pharaoh and Egypt

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

“You consider yourself ^(AX)a lion of the nations,
    but you are like ^(AY)a dragon ^(AZ)in the seas;
^(BA)you burst forth in your rivers,
    trouble the waters with your feet,
    and foul their rivers.
³Thus says the Lord God:
    ^(BB)I will throw my net over you
    with a host of ^(BC)many peoples,
    and ^(BD)they will haul you up in my dragnet.
⁴And ^(BE)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 ^(BF)upon the mountains
    and fill the valleys with your carcass.^[g]
⁶I will drench the land even to the mountains
    with your flowing blood,
    and the ravines will be full of you.
⁷^(BG)When I blot you out, ^(BH)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 ^(BI)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^(BJ)I will make many peoples appalled at you, and the hair of their kings shall bristle with horror because of you, when ^(BK)I brandish my sword before them. ^(BL)They shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall.

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

^(BP)“They shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt,
    and all its multitude^[h] shall perish.
¹³I will destroy all its beasts
    from beside many waters;
^(BQ)and no foot of man shall trouble them anymore,
    nor shall the hoofs of beasts trouble them.
¹⁴Then ^(BR)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 ^(BS)is desolate of all that fills it,
when I strike down all who dwell in it,
    then ^(BT)they will know that I am the Lord.

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

¹⁷^(BW)In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month,^[i] on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸^(BX)“Son of man, ^(BY)wail over ^(BZ)the multitude of Egypt, and ^(CA)send them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, ^(CB)to the world below, to those who have gone down to the pit:

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

²⁰They shall fall amid those ^(CE)who are slain by the sword. Egypt^[j] is delivered to the sword; drag her away, and ^(CF)all her multitudes. ²¹The mighty chiefs ^(CG)shall speak of them, ^(CH)with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: ‘They have come down, they lie still, ^(CI)the uncircumcised, ^(CJ)slain by the sword.’

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

²⁴^(CP)“Elam is ^(CQ)there, and all her multitude around her grave; all of them ^(CR)slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into ^(CS)the world below, who spread their terror in the land of the living; and ^(CT)they bear their shame ^(CU)with those who go down to the pit. ²⁵^(CV)They have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, ^(CW)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^(CX)“Meshech-Tubal is ^(CY)there, and all her multitude, ^(CZ)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 ^(DA)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 ^(DB)and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.

²⁹^(DC)“Edom is ^(DD)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 ^(DE)of the north are there, all of them, and all the ^(DF)Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, ^(DG)for all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and ^(DH)bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

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