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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 31
New American Standard Bible

Pharaoh Warned of Assyria’s Fate

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

‘Whom are you like in your greatness?
3 Behold, Assyria was a (C)cedar in Lebanon
With beautiful branches and forest shade,
And [a](D)very high,
And its top was among the [b]clouds.
4 The (E)waters made it grow, the [c]deep made it high.
With its rivers it continually [d]extended all around its planting place,
And sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.
5 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 [e]as it spread them out.
6 All the (H)birds of the sky nested in its twigs,
And under its branches all the animals of the field gave birth,
And all great nations lived under its shade.
7 So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches;
For its [f]roots extended to many waters.
8 The (I)cedars in (J)God’s garden [g]could not match it;
The junipers [h]could not compare with its branches,
And the plane trees [i]could not match its branches.
No tree in (K)God’s garden [j]could compare with it in its beauty.
9 I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches,
And all the trees of (L)Eden, which were in the (M)garden of God, were jealous of it.

10 ‘Therefore this is what the Lord [k]God says: “Because [l]it is tall in stature and has put its top among the [m]clouds, and its (N)heart is haughty in its loftiness, 11 I will hand it over to a [n](O)ruler of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. In accordance with its wickedness I have (P)driven it out. 12 (Q)Foreign (R)tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; on the (S)mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its branches have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the peoples of the earth have (T)gone down from its shade and left it. 13 All the (U)birds of the sky will nest on its fallen trunk, and all the animals of the field will [o]rest on its fallen branches, 14 so that all the trees by the waters will not be exalted in their stature, nor put their tops among the [p]clouds, nor will any of their [q]well-watered mighty ones stand straight in their height. For they have all been turned over to death, to the (V)earth beneath, among [r]mankind, [s]with those who go down to the pit.”

15 ‘This is what the Lord God says: “On the day when it went down to Sheol I (W)caused mourning; I closed the [t]deep over it and held back its rivers. And its many waters were stopped up, and I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away on account of it. 16 I made the nations (X)quake from the sound of its fall when I made it (Y)go down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit; and all the [u]well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and best of (Z)Lebanon, were (AA)comforted in the earth beneath. 17 They also (AB)went down with it to Sheol to those who were (AC)slain by the sword; and those who were its [v]strength lived (AD)in its shade among the nations.

18 “To which among the trees of Eden are you so alike in glory and greatness? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth beneath; you will lie in the midst of the (AE)uncircumcised with those who were killed by the sword. (AF)This is Pharaoh and all his hordes!”’ declares the Lord God.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 31:3 Lit high of stature
  2. Ezekiel 31:3 As in LXX; MT thick boughs
  3. Ezekiel 31:4 I.e., subterranean waters
  4. Ezekiel 31:4 Lit was going
  5. Ezekiel 31:5 Lit in its sending forth
  6. Ezekiel 31:7 Lit root was
  7. Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did
  8. Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did
  9. Ezekiel 31:8 Lit were not like
  10. Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did
  11. Ezekiel 31:10 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
  12. Ezekiel 31:10 As in Syriac; MT you are
  13. Ezekiel 31:10 As in LXX; MT thick branches
  14. Ezekiel 31:11 Or mighty one
  15. Ezekiel 31:13 Lit be on
  16. Ezekiel 31:14 As in LXX; MT thick branches
  17. Ezekiel 31:14 Lit drinkers of water
  18. Ezekiel 31:14 Lit sons of mankind
  19. Ezekiel 31:14 Lit to
  20. Ezekiel 31:15 I.e., subterranean waters
  21. Ezekiel 31:16 Lit drinkers of water
  22. Ezekiel 31:17 Lit arm
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