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Egypt Will Be Brought Down to Sheol

31 Now it happened in the (A)eleventh year, in the third month, on the first of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his (B)multitude,

‘To whom do you liken yourself in your greatness?
Behold, Assyria was a (C)cedar in Lebanon
With beautiful branches and forest shade
And (D)lofty in height,
And its top was among the [a]clouds.
The (E)waters made it grow; the [b]deep made it high.
With its rivers it was going all around its planting place
And sent out its conduits to all the trees of the field.
Therefore (F)its height was loftier than all the trees of the field,
And its boughs became many and its branches long
Because of (G)many waters [c]as it spread them out.
All the (H)birds of the sky nested in its boughs,
And under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth,
And all great nations lived under its shade.
So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its foliage;
For its [d]roots extended to many waters.
The (I)cedars in (J)God’s garden [e]could not match it;
The [f]cypresses [g]could not liken themselves with its boughs,
And the plane trees were not like its branches.
No tree in (K)God’s garden [h]could liken itself with it in its beauty.
I made it beautiful with the multitude of its foliage,
And all the trees of (L)Eden, which were in the (M)garden of God, were jealous of it.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 31:3 As in Gr; M.T. thick boughs
  2. Ezekiel 31:4 Subterranean waters
  3. Ezekiel 31:5 Lit in its sending forth
  4. Ezekiel 31:7 Lit root was
  5. Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did
  6. Ezekiel 31:8 Or Phoenician junipers
  7. Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did
  8. Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did

Egypt is not Assyria

31 In the eleventh year, on the first day of the third month, the Lord’s word came to me: Human one, say to Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, and his troops:

With whom do you compare in your greatness?
Consider Assyria, a cedar of Lebanon:
    beautiful branches, dense shade, towering height;
    indeed, its top went up between the clouds.
Waters nourished it; the deep raised it up,
    because its streams flowed around the place where it was planted.
From there, water trickled down to all the other trees of the field.
    And so it became higher than all the trees of the field.
Its branches became abundant; its boughs grew long.
    Because of the plentiful water, it grew freely.
All the birds in the sky made nests in its branches;
    all the beasts of the field gave birth under its boughs,
        and in its shade, every great nation lived.
It became beautiful in its greatness and in its lush foliage,
    because it took root in plentiful water.
No cedar was its equal in God’s garden.
    The fir trees didn’t have anything like its branches,
        and the plane trees had nothing like its boughs.
None of the trees in God’s garden could compare to it in its beauty.
As for its beauty—I made it so, with its abundant foliage.
All the trees of Eden envied it,
    all that were in God’s garden.

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Pharaoh as a Felled Cedar of Lebanon

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

“‘Who can be compared with you in majesty?
Consider Assyria,(C) once a cedar in Lebanon,(D)
    with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest;
it towered on high,
    its top above the thick foliage.(E)
The waters(F) 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.(G)
So it towered higher(H)
    than all the trees of the field;
its boughs increased
    and its branches grew long,
    spreading because of abundant waters.(I)
All the birds of the sky
    nested in its boughs,
all the animals of the wild
    gave birth(J) under its branches;
all the great nations
    lived in its shade.(K)
It was majestic in beauty,
    with its spreading boughs,
for its roots went down
    to abundant waters.(L)
The cedars(M) in the garden of God
    could not rival it,
nor could the junipers
    equal its boughs,
nor could the plane trees(N)
    compare with its branches—
no tree in the garden of God
    could match its beauty.(O)
I made it beautiful
    with abundant branches,
the envy of all the trees of Eden(P)
    in the garden of God.(Q)

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