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
Legacy Standard Bible
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, 2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his (B)multitude,
‘To whom do you liken yourself in your greatness?
3 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.
4 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.
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 [c]as it spread them out.
6 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.
7 So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its foliage;
For its [d]roots extended to many waters.
8 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.
9 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.
10 ‘Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, “Because [i]it is lofty in height and has put its top among the [j]clouds, and its (N)heart is high up in its loftiness, 11 therefore I will give it into the hand of a [k](O)dominant one of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. According to its wickedness I have (P)driven it away. 12 (Q)Strangers—(R)ruthless ones of the nations have cut it down and abandoned it; on the (S)mountains and in all the valleys its foliage have fallen, and its boughs 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 abandoned it. 13 On its downfall all the (U)birds of the sky will dwell, and all the beasts of the field will be on its fallen branches 14 so that all the trees by the waters may not be lofty in their height, nor put their top among the [l]clouds, nor their dominant ones—all the [m]well-watered ones—stand in their loftiness. For they have all been given over to death, to the (V)earth beneath, among the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit.”
15 ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “On the day when it went down to Sheol I (W)caused mourning; I covered it with the [n]deep over it and held back its rivers. And its many waters were stopped up, and I made Lebanon [o]mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away on account of it. 16 I made the nations (X)quake at the sound of its downfall when I made it (Y)go down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of (Z)Lebanon, all the [p]well-watered ones, 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 [q]strength lived (AD)under its shade among the nations.
18 “To which among the trees of Eden do you thus liken yourself 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 slain by the sword. (AF)So is Pharaoh and all his multitude!”’ declares Lord Yahweh.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 31:3 As in Gr; M.T. thick boughs
- Ezekiel 31:4 Subterranean waters
- Ezekiel 31:5 Lit in its sending forth
- Ezekiel 31:7 Lit root was
- Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did
- Ezekiel 31:8 Or Phoenician junipers
- Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did
- Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did
- Ezekiel 31:10 Lit you are
- Ezekiel 31:10 Or thick boughs
- Ezekiel 31:11 Lit ram
- Ezekiel 31:14 Or thick boughs
- Ezekiel 31:14 Lit drinkers of water
- Ezekiel 31:15 Subterranean waters
- Ezekiel 31:15 Lit be darkened
- Ezekiel 31:16 Lit drinkers of water
- Ezekiel 31:17 Lit arm
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