Ezekiel 31-32
New King James Version
Egypt Cut Down Like a Great Tree(A)
31 Now it came to pass in the (B)eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude:
(C)‘Whom are you like in your greatness?
3 (D)Indeed Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon,
With fine branches that shaded the forest,
And of high stature;
And its top was among the thick boughs.
4 (E)The waters made it grow;
Underground waters gave it height,
With their rivers running around the place where it was planted,
And sent out [a]rivulets to all the trees of the field.
5 ‘Therefore (F)its height was exalted above all the trees of the field;
Its boughs were multiplied,
And its branches became long because of the abundance of water,
As it sent them out.
6 All the (G)birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs;
Under its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young;
And in its shadow all great nations [b]made their home.
7 ‘Thus it was beautiful in greatness and in the length of its branches,
Because its roots reached to abundant waters.
8 The cedars in the (H)garden of God could not hide it;
The fir trees were not like its boughs,
And the [c]chestnut trees were not like its branches;
No tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty.
9 I made it beautiful with a multitude of branches,
So that all the trees of Eden envied it,
That were in the garden of God.’
10 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have increased in height, and it set its top among the thick boughs, and (I)its heart was [d]lifted up in its height, 11 therefore I will deliver it into the hand of the (J)mighty one of the nations, and he shall surely deal with it; I have driven it out for its wickedness. 12 And aliens, (K)the most terrible of the nations, have cut it down and left it; its branches have fallen (L)on the mountains and in all the valleys; its boughs lie (M)broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the peoples of the earth have gone from under its shadow and left it.
13 ‘On (N)its ruin will remain all the birds of the heavens,
And all the beasts of the field will come to its branches—
14 So that no trees by the waters may ever again exalt themselves for their height, nor set their tops among the thick boughs, that no tree which drinks water may ever be high enough to reach up to them.
‘For (O)they have all been delivered to death,
(P)To the depths of the earth,
Among the children of men who go down to the Pit.’
15 “Thus says the Lord God: ‘In the day when it (Q)went down to [e]hell, I caused mourning. I covered the deep because of it. I restrained its rivers, and the great waters were held back. I caused Lebanon to [f]mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted because of it. 16 I made the nations (R)shake at the sound of its fall, when I (S)cast it down to [g]hell together with those who descend into the Pit; and (T)all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, (U)were comforted in the depths of the earth. 17 They also went down to hell with it, with those slain by the sword; and those who were its strong arm (V)dwelt in its shadows among the nations.
18 (W)‘To which of the trees in Eden will you then be likened in glory and greatness? Yet you shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the depths of the earth; (X)you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude,’ says the Lord God.”
Lamentation for Pharaoh and Egypt
32 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the (Y)twelfth month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, (Z)take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:
(AA)‘You are like a young lion among the nations,
And (AB)you are like a monster in the seas,
(AC)Bursting forth in your rivers,
Troubling the waters with your feet,
And (AD)fouling their rivers.
3 ‘Thus says the Lord God:
“I will therefore (AE)spread My net over you with a company of many people,
And they will draw you up in My net.
4 Then (AF)I will leave you on the land;
I will cast you out on the open fields,
(AG)And cause to [h]settle on you all the birds of the heavens.
And with you I will fill the beasts of the whole earth.
5 I will lay your flesh (AH)on the mountains,
And fill the valleys with your carcass.
6 “I will also water the land with the flow of your blood,
Even to the mountains;
And the riverbeds will be full of you.
7 When I put out your light,
(AI)I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
And the moon shall not give her light.
8 All the [i]bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you,
And bring darkness upon your land,”
Says the Lord God.
9 ‘I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known. 10 Yes, I will make many peoples astonished at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and (AJ)they shall tremble every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of your fall.
11 (AK)‘For thus says the Lord God: “The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. 12 By the swords of the mighty warriors, all of them (AL)the most terrible of the nations, I will cause your multitude to fall.
(AM)“They shall plunder the pomp of Egypt,
And all its multitude shall be destroyed.
13 Also I will destroy all its animals
From beside its great waters;
(AN)The foot of man shall muddy them no more,
Nor shall the hooves of animals muddy them.
14 Then I will make their waters [j]clear,
And make their rivers run like oil,”
Says the Lord God.
15 “When I make the land of Egypt desolate,
And the country is destitute of all that once filled it,
When I strike all who dwell in it,
(AO)Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
16 “This is the (AP)lamentation
With which they shall lament her;
The daughters of the nations shall lament her;
They shall lament for her, for Egypt,
And for all her multitude,”
Says the Lord God.’ ”
Egypt and Others Consigned to the Pit
17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, (AQ)that the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
18 “Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt,
And (AR)cast them down to the depths of the earth,
Her and the daughters of the famous nations,
With those who go down to the Pit:
19 ‘Whom (AS)do you surpass in beauty?
(AT)Go down, be placed with the uncircumcised.’
20 “They shall fall in the midst of those slain by the sword;
She is delivered to the sword,
(AU)Drawing her and all her multitudes.
21 (AV)The strong among the mighty
Shall speak to him out of the midst of hell
With those who help him:
‘They have (AW)gone down,
They lie with the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.’
22 “Assyria(AX) is there, and all her company,
With their graves all around her,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword.
23 (AY)Her graves are set in the recesses of the Pit,
And her company is all around her grave,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword,
Who (AZ)caused terror in the land of the living.
24 “There is (BA)Elam and all her multitude,
All around her grave,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword,
Who have (BB)gone down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth,
(BC)Who caused their terror in the land of the living;
Now they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.
25 They have set her (BD)bed in the midst of the slain,
With all her multitude,
With her graves all around it,
All of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword;
Though their terror was caused
In the land of the living,
Yet they bear their shame
With those who go down to the Pit;
It was put in the midst of the slain.
26 “There are (BE)Meshech and Tubal and all their multitudes,
With all their graves around it,
All of them (BF)uncircumcised, slain by the sword,
Though they caused their terror in the land of the living.
27 (BG)They do not lie with the mighty
Who are fallen of the uncircumcised,
Who have gone down to hell with their weapons of war;
They have laid their swords under their heads,
But their iniquities will be on their bones,
Because of the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
28 Yes, you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised,
And lie with those slain by the sword.
29 “There is (BH)Edom,
Her kings and all her princes,
Who despite their might
Are laid beside those slain by the sword;
They shall lie with the uncircumcised,
And with those who go down to the Pit.
30 (BI)There are the princes of the north,
All of them, and all the (BJ)Sidonians,
Who have gone down with the slain
In shame at the terror which they caused by their might;
They lie uncircumcised with those slain by the sword,
And bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.
31 “Pharaoh will see them
And be (BK)comforted over all his multitude,
Pharaoh and all his army,
Slain by the sword,”
Says the Lord God.
32 “For I have caused My terror in the land of the living;
And he shall be placed in the midst of the uncircumcised
With those slain by the sword,
Pharaoh and all his multitude,”
Says the Lord God.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 31:4 Or channels
- Ezekiel 31:6 Lit. dwelled
- Ezekiel 31:8 Or plane, Heb. armon
- Ezekiel 31:10 Proud
- Ezekiel 31:15 Or Sheol
- Ezekiel 31:15 Lit. be darkened
- Ezekiel 31:16 Or Sheol
- Ezekiel 32:4 Lit. sit or dwell
- Ezekiel 32:8 Or shining
- Ezekiel 32:14 Lit. sink; settle, grow clear
Hebrews 12:14-29
New King James Version
14 (A)Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, (B)without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone (C)fall short of the grace of God; lest any (D)root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; 16 lest there be any (E)fornicator or [a]profane person like Esau, (F)who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was (G)rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
The Glorious Company
18 For you have not come [b]to (H)the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and [c]darkness and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it (I)begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: (J)“And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned [d]or shot with an arrow.” 21 And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, (K)“I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the [e]general assembly and church of (L)the firstborn (M)who are registered in heaven, to God (N)the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men (O)made perfect, 24 to Jesus (P)the Mediator of the new covenant, and to (Q)the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things (R)than that of Abel.
Hear the Heavenly Voice
25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For (S)if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, (T)“Yet once more I [f]shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the (U)removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we [g]may (V)serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For (W)our God is a consuming fire.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Hebrews 12:16 godless
- Hebrews 12:18 NU to that which
- Hebrews 12:18 NU gloom
- Hebrews 12:20 NU, M omit the rest of v. 20.
- Hebrews 12:23 festal gathering
- Hebrews 12:26 NU will shake
- Hebrews 12:28 M omits may
Psalm 113-114
New King James Version
The Majesty and Condescension of God
113 Praise[a] the Lord!
(A)Praise, O servants of the Lord,
Praise the name of the Lord!
2 (B)Blessed be the name of the Lord
From this time forth and forevermore!
3 (C)From the rising of the sun to its going down
The Lord’s name is to be praised.
4 The Lord is (D)high above all nations,
(E)His glory above the heavens.
5 (F)Who is like the Lord our God,
Who dwells on high,
6 (G)Who humbles Himself to behold
The things that are in the heavens and in the earth?
7 (H)He raises the poor out of the dust,
And lifts the (I)needy out of the ash heap,
8 That He may (J)seat him with princes—
With the princes of His people.
9 (K)He grants the [b]barren woman a home,
Like a joyful mother of children.
Praise the Lord!
The Power of God in His Deliverance of Israel(L)
114 When (M)Israel went out of Egypt,
The house of Jacob (N)from a people [c]of strange language,
2 (O)Judah became His sanctuary,
And Israel His dominion.
3 (P)The sea saw it and fled;
(Q)Jordan turned back.
4 (R)The mountains skipped like rams,
The little hills like lambs.
5 (S)What ails you, O sea, that you fled?
O Jordan, that you turned back?
6 O mountains, that you skipped like rams?
O little hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 (T)Who turned the rock into a pool of water,
The flint into a fountain of waters.
Footnotes
- Psalm 113:1 Heb. Hallelujah
- Psalm 113:9 childless
- Psalm 114:1 who spoke unintelligibly
Proverbs 27:18-20
New King James Version
18 (A)Whoever [a]keeps the fig tree will eat its fruit;
So he who waits on his master will be honored.
19 As in water face reflects face,
So a man’s heart reveals the man.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 27:18 protects or tends
- Proverbs 27:20 Or Sheol
- Proverbs 27:20 Heb. Abaddon
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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