A Lament Over Egypt

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

“‘Wail(A) and say,
    “Alas for that day!”
For the day is near,(B)
    the day of the Lord(C) is near—
a day of clouds,
    a time of doom for the nations.
A sword will come against Egypt,(D)
    and anguish will come upon Cush.[a](E)
When the slain fall in Egypt,
    her wealth will be carried away
    and her foundations torn down.(F)

Cush and Libya,(G) Lydia and all Arabia,(H) Kub and the people(I) of the covenant land will fall by the sword along with Egypt.(J)

“‘This is what the Lord says:

“‘The allies of Egypt will fall
    and her proud strength will fail.
From Migdol to Aswan(K)
    they will fall by the sword within her,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
“‘They will be desolate
    among desolate lands,
and their cities will lie
    among ruined cities.(L)
Then they will know that I am the Lord,
    when I set fire(M) to Egypt
    and all her helpers are crushed.(N)

“‘On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten Cush(O) out of her complacency. Anguish(P) will take hold of them on the day of Egypt’s doom, for it is sure to come.(Q)

10 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt
    by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar(R) king of Babylon.(S)
11 He and his army—the most ruthless of nations(T)
    will be brought in to destroy the land.
They will draw their swords against Egypt
    and fill the land with the slain.(U)
12 I will dry up(V) the waters of the Nile(W)
    and sell the land to an evil nation;
by the hand of foreigners
    I will lay waste(X) the land and everything in it.

I the Lord have spoken.

13 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘I will destroy the idols(Y)
    and put an end to the images in Memphis.(Z)
No longer will there be a prince in Egypt,(AA)
    and I will spread fear throughout the land.
14 I will lay(AB) waste Upper Egypt,
    set fire to Zoan(AC)
    and inflict punishment on Thebes.(AD)
15 I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,
    the stronghold of Egypt,
    and wipe out the hordes of Thebes.
16 I will set fire(AE) to Egypt;
    Pelusium will writhe in agony.
Thebes will be taken by storm;
    Memphis(AF) will be in constant distress.
17 The young men of Heliopolis(AG) and Bubastis
    will fall by the sword,
    and the cities themselves will go into captivity.
18 Dark will be the day at Tahpanhes(AH)
    when I break the yoke of Egypt;(AI)
    there her proud strength will come to an end.
She will be covered with clouds,
    and her villages will go into captivity.(AJ)
19 So I will inflict punishment(AK) on Egypt,
    and they will know that I am the Lord.’”

Pharaoh’s Arms Are Broken

20 In the eleventh year, in the first month on the seventh day, the word of the Lord came to me:(AL) 21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm(AM) of Pharaoh(AN) king of Egypt. It has not been bound up to be healed(AO) or put in a splint so that it may become strong enough to hold a sword. 22 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt.(AP) I will break both his arms, the good arm as well as the broken one, and make the sword fall from his hand.(AQ) 23 I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries.(AR) 24 I will strengthen(AS) the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword(AT) in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan(AU) before him like a mortally wounded man. 25 I 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 put my sword(AV) into the hand of the king of Babylon and he brandishes it against Egypt.(AW) 26 I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.(AX)

Pharaoh as a Felled Cedar of Lebanon

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

“‘Who can be compared with you in majesty?
Consider Assyria,(BA) once a cedar in Lebanon,(BB)
    with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest;
it towered on high,
    its top above the thick foliage.(BC)
The waters(BD) nourished it,
    deep springs made it grow tall;
their streams flowed
    all around its base
and sent their channels
    to all the trees of the field.(BE)
So it towered higher(BF)
    than all the trees of the field;
its boughs increased
    and its branches grew long,
    spreading because of abundant waters.(BG)
All the birds of the sky
    nested in its boughs,
all the animals of the wild
    gave birth(BH) under its branches;
all the great nations
    lived in its shade.(BI)
It was majestic in beauty,
    with its spreading boughs,
for its roots went down
    to abundant waters.(BJ)
The cedars(BK) in the garden of God
    could not rival it,
nor could the junipers
    equal its boughs,
nor could the plane trees(BL)
    compare with its branches—
no tree in the garden of God
    could match its beauty.(BM)
I made it beautiful
    with abundant branches,
the envy of all the trees of Eden(BN)
    in the garden of God.(BO)

10 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because the great cedar towered over the thick foliage, and because it was proud(BP) of its height, 11 I gave it into the hands of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside,(BQ) 12 and the most ruthless of foreign nations(BR) cut it down and left it. Its boughs fell on the mountains and in all the valleys;(BS) its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left it.(BT) 13 All the birds settled on the fallen tree, and all the wild animals lived among its branches.(BU) 14 Therefore no other trees by the waters are ever to tower proudly on high, lifting their tops above the thick foliage. No other trees so well-watered are ever to reach such a height; they are all destined(BV) for death,(BW) for the earth below, among mortals who go down to the realm of the dead.(BX)

15 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day it was brought down to the realm of the dead I covered the deep springs with mourning for it; I held back its streams, and its abundant waters were restrained. Because of it I clothed Lebanon with gloom, and all the trees of the field withered away.(BY) 16 I made the nations tremble(BZ) at the sound of its fall when I brought it down to the realm of the dead to be with those who go down to the pit. Then all the trees(CA) of Eden,(CB) the choicest and best of Lebanon, the well-watered trees, were consoled(CC) in the earth below.(CD) 17 They too, like the great cedar, had gone down to the realm of the dead, to those killed by the sword,(CE) along with the armed men who lived in its shade among the nations.

18 “‘Which of the trees of Eden can be compared with you in splendor and majesty? Yet you, too, will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth below; you will lie among the uncircumcised,(CF) with those killed by the sword.

“‘This is Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 30:4 That is, the upper Nile region; also in verses 5 and 9

30 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,

Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Howl ye, Woe worth the day!

For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.

And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.

Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.

Thus saith the Lord; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord God.

And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted.

And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed.

In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh.

10 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.

11 He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.

12 And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked: and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I the Lord have spoken it.

13 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.

14 And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No.

15 And I will pour my fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No.

16 And I will set fire in Egypt: Sin shall have great pain, and No shall be rent asunder, and Noph shall have distresses daily.

17 The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the sword: and these cities shall go into captivity.

18 At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.

19 Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

21 Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword.

22 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.

23 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.

24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break Pharaoh's arms, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man.

25 But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt.

26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

31 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?

Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.

The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent her little rivers unto all the trees of the field.

Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.

All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.

Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.

The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.

I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.

10 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;

11 I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.

12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.

13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:

14 To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.

15 Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.

16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.

17 They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.

18 To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.