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Ezekiel 31
Lexham English Bible

Pharaoh Is Warned Through Assyria’s Destruction

31 And then[a] in the eleventh[b] year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came[c] to me, saying,[d] 2 “Son of man,[e] say to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his crowd,[f]

‘To whom are you like in your greatness?
3 Look! Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon,
    with beautiful branches[g] and a forest giving shade,
and very high,[h]
    and its treetop was between the clouds.
4 Waters made it great,
    the deep made it grow high;
its rivers were going all around its planting area,[i]
    and its channels it sent out
    to all of the trees of the field.
5 Therefore it became tall,
    with its height more than all of the trees of the field,
and its branches became numerous,
    and its branches became long
    from its sending its shoots from abundant water.[j]
6 In its branches all the birds[k] of the heaven[l] made their nest,
    and under its branches all the animals[m] of the field gave birth,
    and in its shadow all the many nations lived.
7 And it was beautiful in its greatness,
    in the length of its branches,
    for its root was toward much water.
8 Cedars in the garden of God
    could not be equal to it;
fir trees[n] could not resemble its branches,
    and plane trees were not even like its branches;
any tree even in the garden of God
    could not resemble it in its beauty.
9 I made it beautiful with the abundance of its branches,
    and all of the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God envied it.’”

10 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because[o] it was tall in height and it set its treetop between[p] thick clouds, and he took pride in his tallness,[q] 11 then[r] I gave it into the hand of the leader of nations; he dealt thoroughly[s] with it according to its wickedness. I drove it out. 12 And strangers cut it off, the most ruthless of nations, and they abandoned it. On the mountains and in all of the valleys its branches fell, and its branches were broken in all the river channels of the land, and all the peoples of the world went out from its shadow, and they abandoned it. 13 On its fallen trunk all the birds[t] of the heaven[u] now dwell, and all the animals of the field were on its branches. 14 This occurred so that all of the trees with abundant water will not become tall, and they will not set their treetop between[v] their thick foliage,[w] and so thatall of the trees that are abundantly watered[x] will not stand up to them[y] in their tallness, for all of them, they have been given over to death, to the world below in the midst of mortals,[z] to the people going down to the grave.”[aa]

15 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “On the day of its going down to Sheol, I caused mourning; I covered over it with the deep, and I withheld its rivers, and many waters were restrained, and I brought gloom over it; Lebanon and all of the trees of the field, they had fainted because of it. 16 From the sound of its downfall I caused nations to shake when I made it go down to Sheol, with the people going down to the grave,[ab] and so in the world below all of the trees of Eden, the choice and the best of Lebanon, all the well-watered trees[ac] were comforted! 17 They also went down with it to Sheol to those who died by the sword,[ad] and its army who had lived in its shadow in the midst of nations.

18 To whom could you be compared, whether in glory or in majesty[ae] among the trees of Eden? And yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the world below; in the midst of the uncircumcised you will lie with those who died by the sword.[af] That is Pharaoh and his entire[ag] crowd!”[ah] declares[ai] the Lord Yahweh.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 31:1 Literally “and it happened/it was”
  2. Ezekiel 31:1 Literally “on one ten”
  3. Ezekiel 31:1 Literally “was”
  4. Ezekiel 31:1 Literally “to say”
  5. Ezekiel 31:2 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  6. Ezekiel 31:2 Or “hordes”
  7. Ezekiel 31:3 Hebrew “branch”
  8. Ezekiel 31:3 Literally “high of height”
  9. Ezekiel 31:4 Literally “base of its tree”; NRSV, “in the place where it was planted”
  10. Ezekiel 31:5 Literally “from water much at sending shoots its”
  11. Ezekiel 31:6 Hebrew “bird”
  12. Ezekiel 31:6 Or “sky”
  13. Ezekiel 31:6 Hebrew “animal”
  14. Ezekiel 31:8 Or possibly, juniper
  15. Ezekiel 31:10 Literally “because that”
  16. Ezekiel 31:10 Hebrew “to between”
  17. Ezekiel 31:10 Literally “and his heart he raised in his tallness”
  18. Ezekiel 31:11 Or “and”
  19. Ezekiel 31:11 Literally “doing he did”
  20. Ezekiel 31:13 Hebrew “bird”
  21. Ezekiel 31:13 Or “sky”
  22. Ezekiel 31:14 Or “among”
  23. Ezekiel 31:14 Or “clouds”
  24. Ezekiel 31:14 Literally “all of the drinkers of water”
  25. Ezekiel 31:14 Literally “will not stand to them”
  26. Ezekiel 31:14 Literally “sons of men,” or “children of humankind”
  27. Ezekiel 31:14 Or “pit”
  28. Ezekiel 31:16 Or “the pit”
  29. Ezekiel 31:16 Literally “all ofthe drinkers of water”
  30. Ezekiel 31:17 Literally “to the slain of the sword”
  31. Ezekiel 31:18 Literally “To who you are like as in glory and in majesty”
  32. Ezekiel 31:18 Literally “the slain of the sword”
  33. Ezekiel 31:18 Literally “all his hordes/crowd”
  34. Ezekiel 31:18 Or “hordes”
  35. Ezekiel 31:18 Literally “declaration of”
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Ezekiel 31
New English Translation

A Cedar in Lebanon

31 In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month,[a] the Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and his hordes:

“‘Who are you like in your greatness?
3 Consider Assyria,[b] a cedar in Lebanon,[c]
with beautiful branches, like a forest giving shade,
and extremely tall;
its top reached into the clouds.
4 The water made it grow;
underground springs made it grow tall.
Rivers flowed all around the place it was planted,
while smaller channels watered all the trees of the field.[d]
5 Therefore it grew taller than all the trees of the field;
its boughs grew large and its branches grew long,
because of the plentiful water in its shoots.[e]
6 All the birds of the sky nested in its boughs;
under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth;
in its shade all the great[f] nations lived.
7 It was beautiful in its loftiness, in the length of its branches;
for its roots went down deep to plentiful waters.
8 The cedars in the garden of God could not eclipse it,
nor could the fir trees[g] match its boughs;
the plane trees were as nothing compared to its branches;
no tree in the garden of God could rival its beauty.
9 I made it beautiful with its many branches;
all the trees of Eden, in the garden of God, envied it.

10 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because it was tall in stature, and its top reached into the clouds, and it was proud of its height, 11 I gave it over to the leader of the nations. He has judged it thoroughly,[h] as its sinfulness deserves. I have thrown it out. 12 Foreigners from the most terrifying nations have cut it down and left it to lie there on the mountains. In all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs lie broken in the ravines of the land. All the peoples of the land[i] have departed[j] from its shade and left it. 13 On its ruins all the birds of the sky will live, and all the wild animals[k] will walk[l] on its branches. 14 For this reason no watered trees will grow so tall; their tops will not reach into the clouds, nor will the well-watered ones grow that high.[m] For all of them have been appointed to die in the lower parts of the earth;[n] they will be among mere mortals,[o] with those who descend to the Pit.

15 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day it[p] went down to Sheol I caused observers to lament.[q] I covered it with the deep and held back its rivers; its plentiful water was restrained. I clothed Lebanon in black for it, and all the trees of the field wilted because of it. 16 I made the nations shake at the sound of its fall, when I threw it down to Sheol, along with those who descend to the Pit.[r] Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and the best of Lebanon, all that were well-watered, were comforted in the earth below. 17 Those who lived in its shade, its allies[s] among the nations, also went down with it to Sheol, to those killed by the sword. 18 Which of the trees of Eden was like you in majesty and loftiness? You will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth; you will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword! This is what will happen to Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 31:1 sn June 21, 587 b.c.
  2. Ezekiel 31:3 sn Either Egypt or the Lord compares Egypt to Assyria, which is described in vv. 3-17 through the metaphor of a majestic tree. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:185. Like Egypt, Assyria had been a great world power, but in time God brought the Assyrians down. Egypt should learn from history the lesson that no nation, no matter how powerful, can withstand the judgment of God. Rather than following the text here, some prefer to emend the proper name Assyria to a similar sounding common noun meaning “boxwood” (see Ezek 27:6), which would make a fitting parallel to “cedar of Lebanon” in the following line. In this case vv. 3-18 in their entirety refer to Egypt, not Assyria. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:121-27.
  3. Ezekiel 31:3 sn Lebanon was known for its cedar trees (Judg 9:15; 1 Kgs 4:33; 5:6; 2 Kgs 14:9; Ezra 3:7; Pss 29:5; 92:12; 104:16).
  4. Ezekiel 31:4 tn Heb “Waters made it grow; the deep made it grow tall. It [the deep] was flowing with its rivers around the place it [the tree] was planted. It [the deep] sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.”
  5. Ezekiel 31:5 tn Heb “when it sends forth.” Repointing the consonants of the Masoretic text would render the proposed reading of “shoots” (cf. NRSV).
  6. Ezekiel 31:6 tn Or “many.”
  7. Ezekiel 31:8 tn Or “cypress trees” (cf. NASB, NLT); NIV “pine trees.”
  8. Ezekiel 31:11 tn Heb “acting he has acted with regard to it.” The infinitive absolute precedes the main verb to emphasize the certainty and decisiveness of the action depicted.
  9. Ezekiel 31:12 tn Or “earth” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
  10. Ezekiel 31:12 tn Heb “gone down.”
  11. Ezekiel 31:13 tn Heb “the beasts of the field,” referring to wild as opposed to domesticated animals.
  12. Ezekiel 31:13 tn Heb “be.”
  13. Ezekiel 31:14 tn Heb “and they will not stand to them in their height, all the drinkers of water.”
  14. Ezekiel 31:14 tn Heb “for death, to the lower earth.”
  15. Ezekiel 31:14 tn Heb “the sons of men.”
  16. Ezekiel 31:15 tn Or “he.”
  17. Ezekiel 31:15 tn Heb “I caused lamentation.” D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 2:194-95) proposes an alternative root that would give the meaning: “I gated back the waters,” i.e., shut off the water supply.
  18. Ezekiel 31:16 sn For the expression “going down to the Pit,” see Ezek 26:20 and 32:18, 24, 29.
  19. Ezekiel 31:17 tn Heb “its arm.”
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Ezekiel 30
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