Ezekiel 31
New Living Translation
Egypt Compared to Fallen Assyria
31 On June 21,[a] during the eleventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of man, give this message to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and all his hordes:
“To whom would you compare your greatness?
3 You are like mighty Assyria,
which was once like a cedar of Lebanon,
with beautiful branches that cast deep forest shade
and with its top high among the clouds.
4 Deep springs watered it
and helped it to grow tall and luxuriant.
The water flowed around it like a river,
streaming to all the trees nearby.
5 This great tree towered high,
higher than all the other trees around it.
It prospered and grew long thick branches
because of all the water at its roots.
6 The birds nested in its branches,
and in its shade all the wild animals gave birth.
All the great nations of the world
lived in its shadow.
7 It was strong and beautiful,
with wide-spreading branches,
for its roots went deep
into abundant water.
8 No other cedar in the garden of God
could rival it.
No cypress had branches to equal it;
no plane tree had boughs to compare.
No tree in the garden of God
came close to it in beauty.
9 Because I made this tree so beautiful,
and gave it such magnificent foliage,
it was the envy of all the other trees of Eden,
the garden of God.
10 “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because Egypt[b] became proud and arrogant, and because it set itself so high above the others, with its top reaching to the clouds, 11 I will hand it over to a mighty nation that will destroy it as its wickedness deserves. I have already discarded it. 12 A foreign army—the terror of the nations—has cut it down and left it fallen on the ground. Its branches are scattered across the mountains and valleys and ravines of the land. All those who lived in its shadow have gone away and left it lying there.
13 “The birds roost on its fallen trunk,
and the wild animals lie among its branches.
14 Let the tree of no other nation
proudly exult in its own prosperity,
though it be higher than the clouds
and it be watered from the depths.
For all are doomed to die,
to go down to the depths of the earth.
They will land in the pit
along with everyone else on earth.
15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When Assyria went down to the grave,[c] I made the deep springs mourn. I stopped its rivers and dried up its abundant water. I clothed Lebanon in black and caused the trees of the field to wilt. 16 I made the nations shake with fear at the sound of its fall, for I sent it down to the grave with all the others who descend to the pit. And all the other proud trees of Eden, the most beautiful and the best of Lebanon, the ones whose roots went deep into the water, took comfort to find it there with them in the depths of the earth. 17 Its allies, too, were all destroyed and had passed away. They had gone down to the grave—all those nations that had lived in its shade.
18 “O Egypt, to which of the trees of Eden will you compare your strength and glory? You, too, will be brought down to the depths with all these other nations. You will lie there among the outcasts[d] who have died by the sword. This will be the fate of Pharaoh and all his hordes. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”
Ezekiel 31
International Standard Version
Egypt Learns from Assyria’s Demise
31 On the first day of the third month of the eleventh year of our captivity,[a] this message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of Man, tell this to Pharaoh, king of Egypt and his gangs:
‘Who do you think you are?
What makes you so great?
3 Think about Assyria,[b]
that cedar of Lebanon,
beautiful with its branches,
like a shady forest,
with an awesome height,
its summit touches the clouds.
4 Abundant water made it great,
Subterranean rivers made it grow.
Rivers surrounded the area where it had been planted,
and water channels nourished all the trees in the fields.
5 That’s why it grew taller than any of the trees in the fields.
Its boughs flourished.
Its branches grew luxurious
because all the water made it spread out well.
6 The birds in the sky made nests in its boughs;
all the beasts of the field gave birth under its branches.
All the great nations rested in its shade.
7 ‘Beautiful because it was so great,
with its long branches,
it was rooted in many bodies of water.[c]
8 The cedars in God’s garden could not compare to it;
Fir trees could not match its boughs.
The plane tree[d] never grew branches like it,
and no tree in God’s garden compares to its beauty.
9 I made it beautiful,
including all of its branches;
all the trees in God’s garden of Eden envied it!’”
Assyria’s Fall Due to Arrogance
10 “Therefore this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because of its towering height, with its summit reaching into the clouds, and because it was haughty in its position,[e] 11 I turned it over to the leader of those[f] nations, who dealt with it thoroughly. I have driven it away because of its wickedness. 12 Foreign dictators have trimmed it down to size and abandoned it. Its branches have fallen off on mountains and in all the valleys. Its boughs have broken off in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth have moved out of its shade and abandoned it. 13 All the birds in the sky will live among its ruins, and the wild animals[g] will forage among its branches. 14 As a result, none of its watered trees will grow tall, their tops will never reach to the clouds, and they’ll never grow so high again, because all of them have been appointed[h] to death in the world beneath where human beings go, that is, down to the Pit.’”[i]
Fear at Assyria’s Fall
15 “This is what the Lord God says: ‘On the day that it descended into Sheol,[j] I shut down its water supplies, covered over its deep water, and shut down its rivers. As a result its abundant water sources dried up, and I caused Lebanon to mourn for it. All the trees of the field wilted because of it. 16 I made the nations tremble when they heard that Assyria[k] was falling, descending into Sheol[l] to join those who go down into the Pit.[m] Then all of the trees of Eden in the world below were comforted, including the choicest and best of Lebanon, all of whom were well-watered. 17 They also went down with it into Sheol,[n] to those who had been killed violently[o] and to those who had trusted in its strength by living in its shadow among the nations. 18 So tell me now, which of the trees of Eden compares to you in glory or greatness? Nevertheless, you’ll be brought down, along with those trees of Eden, to the earth below. You’ll lie in the middle of the uncircumcised, with those who have been killed in war.[p] Pharaoh and all his gang will be just like this!’ declares the Lord God.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 31:1 The Heb. lacks of our captivity
- Ezekiel 31:3 Lit. Asshur
- Ezekiel 31:7 Lit. many waters
- Ezekiel 31:8 I.e., a species of trees that could readily be stripped of their bark; cf. Gen 30:37
- Ezekiel 31:10 Lit. heart
- Ezekiel 31:11 Lit. to the hand of the leader of the
- Ezekiel 31:13 Lit. the animals of the field
- Ezekiel 31:14 Lit. given
- Ezekiel 31:14 I.e. the realm of eternal punishment in the afterlife
- Ezekiel 31:15 I.e. the realm of the afterlife
- Ezekiel 31:16 Lit. he
- Ezekiel 31:16 I.e. the realm of the afterlife
- Ezekiel 31:16 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
- Ezekiel 31:17 I.e. the realm of the afterlife
- Ezekiel 31:17 Lit. killed by the sword
- Ezekiel 31:18 Lit. killed by the sword
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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