Ezekiel 32
Christian Standard Bible
A Lament for Pharaoh
32 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, lament(A) for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him,
‘You compare yourself to a lion of the nations,
but[a] you are like a monster[b](B) in the seas.
You thrash about in your rivers,
churn up the waters with your feet,
and muddy the[c] rivers.
3 “‘This is what the Lord God says:
I will spread my net over you(C)
with an assembly of many peoples,
and they[d] will haul you up in my net.
4 I will abandon you on the land
and throw you onto the open field.
I will cause all the birds of the sky
to settle on you
and let the wild creatures of the entire earth
eat their fill of you.(D)
5 I will put your flesh on the mountains(E)
and fill the valleys with your carcass.
6 I will drench the land
with the flow of your blood,
even to the mountains;
the ravines will be filled with your gore.
7 “‘When I snuff you out,
I will cover the heavens
and darken their stars.
I will cover the sun with a cloud,(F)
and the moon will not give its light.
8 I will darken all the shining lights
in the heavens over you,
and will bring darkness on your land.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.
9 “‘I will trouble the hearts of many peoples,
when I bring about your destruction
among the nations,
in countries you have not known.
10 I will cause many peoples to be appalled at you,
and their kings will shudder with fear because of you(G)
when I brandish my sword in front of them.
On the day of your downfall
each of them will tremble
every moment(H) for his life.
11 “‘For this is what the Lord God says:
The sword of Babylon’s king
will come against you!
12 I will make your hordes fall
by the swords of warriors,
all of them ruthless men from the nations.(I)
They will ravage Egypt’s pride,
and all its hordes will be destroyed.
13 I will slaughter all its cattle
that are beside many waters.
No human foot will churn them again,
and no cattle hooves will disturb them.(J)
14 Then I will let their waters settle
and will make their rivers flow like oil.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.
15 When I make the land of Egypt a desolation,
so that it is emptied of everything in it,
when I strike down all who live there,
then they will know that I am the Lord.(K)
16 “‘The daughters of the nations will chant that lament.(L) They will chant it over Egypt and all its hordes. This is the declaration of the Lord God.’”
Egypt in Sheol
17 In the twelfth year,[e] on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, wail over the hordes of Egypt and bring Egypt and the daughters of mighty nations down to the underworld,[f] to be with those who descend to the Pit:(M)
19 Who do you surpass in loveliness?
Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!
20 They will fall among those slain by the sword.
A sword is appointed!(N)
They drag her and all her hordes away.
21 Warrior leaders will speak
from the middle of Sheol
about him[g] and his allies:
‘They have come down;
the uncircumcised lie
slain by the sword.’(O)
22 “Assyria is there with her whole assembly;
her graves are all around her.
All of them are slain, fallen by the sword.
23 Her graves are set in the deepest regions of the Pit,
and her assembly is all around her burial place.
All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—
those who once spread terror
in the land of the living.
24 “Elam(P) is there
with all her hordes around her grave.
All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—
those who went down to the underworld uncircumcised,
who once spread their terror
in the land of the living.
They bear their disgrace
with those who descend to the Pit.
25 Among the slain
they prepare a bed for Elam
with all her hordes.
Her graves are all around her.
All of them are uncircumcised,
slain by the sword,
although their terror was once spread
in the land of the living.
They bear their disgrace
with those who descend to the Pit.
They are placed among the slain.
26 “Meshech and Tubal[h](Q) are there,
with all their hordes.
Their graves are all around them.
All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword,
although their terror was once spread
in the land of the living.
27 They do not lie down
with the fallen warriors of the uncircumcised,[i]
who went down to Sheol
with their weapons of war,
whose swords were placed under their heads[j]
and their shields[k]
rested on their bones,
although the terror of these warriors
was once in the land of the living.
28 But you will be shattered
and will lie down among the uncircumcised,
with those slain by the sword.(R)
29 “Edom(S) is there, her kings and all her princes,
who, despite their strength, have been placed
among those slain by the sword.
They lie down with the uncircumcised,
with those who descend to the Pit.
30 All the leaders of the north(T)
and all the Sidonians(U) are there.
They went down in shame with the slain,
despite the terror their strength inspired.
They lie down uncircumcised
with those slain by the sword.
They bear their disgrace
with those who descend to the Pit.
31 “Pharaoh will see them
and be comforted(V) over all his hordes—
Pharaoh and his whole army,
slain by the sword.”
This is the declaration of the Lord God.
32 “For I will spread my[l] terror
in the land of the living,
so Pharaoh and all his hordes
will be laid to rest among the uncircumcised,
with those slain by the sword.”
This is the declaration of the Lord God.
Footnotes
- 32:2 Or ‘Lion of the nations, you are destroyed;
- 32:2 Or crocodile
- 32:2 Lit their
- 32:3 LXX, Vg read I
- 32:17 LXX reads year, in the first month,
- 32:18 Lit the lower parts of the earth, also in v. 24
- 32:21 Either Pharaoh or Egypt
- 32:26 Lit Meshech-tubal
- 32:27 LXX reads of antiquity
- 32:27 Or Do they not... heads?
- 32:27 Emended; MT reads iniquities
- 32:32 Alt Hb tradition, LXX, Syr read his
Ezekiel 32
International Standard Version
Another Prophecy about Egypt
32 On the first day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year of our captivity,[a] a message came to me from the Lord, who had this to say:
2 “Son of Man, start singing this lamentation about Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Tell him,
‘You may have called yourself a lion among nations,
but you’re a monster at sea.
You thrash about in your rivers,
muddy the water with your feet,
and relieve yourself in the rivers.’
3 “This is what the Lord God says:
‘I’m coming fishing for you!
Right in the sight of many nations
they’ll haul you up in my dragnet.
4 I’ll fling you up onto the land;
I’ll haul you into the field,
I’ll make every carrion-eating bird come to dine on you,
and I’ll make all the scavenging animals gorge themselves on you.
5 I’ll cover the mountains with your flesh
and fill their valleys with your rotting carcass.[b]
6 I’ll drench the land with your blood,
right up to the mountains,
and the ravines will overflow
with blood that comes from you!
7 When I extinguish your lights,
I’ll cover the heavens
and darken their stars.
I’ll cover the sun with a cloud
and the moon won’t reflect its light.
8 I’ll darken the bright lights in the sky above you
and bring darkness to your territory,’
declares the Lord God.
9 “‘I’ll bring distress to the hearts of many nations when I destroy you among nations whose territories you have not known. 10 I’ll make many nations be appalled at you, and their kings will be terrified because of you when I brandish my sword right in their face. They will all tremble from fear for their own safety[c] on the day that you fall!’
11 “This is what the Lord God says: ‘The army[d] of the king of Babylon will attack you. 12 I’m going to make your gangs die using the weapons of valiant warriors, all of whom are ruthless people.
‘They will devastate the majesty of Egypt,
destroying all of its hordes.
13 I’m going to destroy all of its livestock
along its many riverbanks.
Human feet won’t muddy the rivers anymore,
nor will the hooves of livestock stir up the water.
14 That’s when I’ll make their waterways flow smoothly,
and their rivers flow like olive oil,’[e]
declares the Lord God.”
15 ‘When I turn the land of Egypt into a desolation,
and the land is emptied of everything that used to fill it,
when I strike everyone who lives there,
they will learn that I am the Lord.’
16 “This has been a lamentation. They will chant it, and the citizens[f] of the nations will chant it, too. They’ll chant it about Egypt and about all of its hordes.”
Babylon’s Invasion of Egypt
17 On the fifteenth day of the first[g] month of the twelfth year of our captivity,[h] a message from the Lord came to me, and this is what it said: 18 “Son of Man, mourn about the hordes of Egypt. Bring them down—that is, her and the citizens[i] of those majestic[j] nations—whose destiny is the deep part of the Pit.[k]
19 “So who’s more beautiful than you?
You’ll be buried with the uncircumcised.[l]
20 “They’ll die along with others who are killed violently.[m] Egypt has been given over to violence,[n] which will carry off both it and its hordes.”
Egypt Condemned by the Dead
21 “Mighty leaders will address them and those who assist them right out of the middle of Sheol:[o] ‘They’ve come down and will lie still, these uncircumcised people who have died violently.’[p] 22 Assyria will be there, along with all of those who keep company with her,[q] all of them killed violently. 23 Her grave will be set in the remotest part of the Pit,[r] surrounded by those who accompanied her. All of them will have been killed, executed violently, who spread terror throughout the land of the living.
24 “Elam will be there. Its hordes will surround Elam’s[s] grave. All of them have been killed. They died[t] violently, and they have descended uncircumcised into the world below after having spread terror throughout the land of the living. They will bear the shame of those who descend to the Pit.[u] 25 They have prepared a bed for her and for her hordes that surround her graves. All of them are uncircumcised, having been killed violently, because they had spread terror throughout the land of the living. They will bear the shame of those who descend to the Pit[v] and will take their place among the dead.
26 “Meshech and Tubal will be there, along with all of the hordes that surround her grave. Every one of them is uncircumcised, killed violently, because they spread terror throughout the land of the living. 27 They won’t be buried with dead warriors from ancient times, who went straight to Sheol,[w] buried with their war weapons, with their swords placed under their heads and their shields laid on top of their bones, since they spread terror throughout the land of the living. 28 You’ll be broken, and you’ll lie down with the uncircumcised who died violently.
29 “Edom will be there, along with its kings and princes who despite all their power have been killed violently. They, too, are lying dead, along with the uncircumcised; that is, with those who descend into the Pit.[x]
30 “All of the princes from the North are there, along with the Sidonians, who have gone down in shame to join those who have been killed because of all the terror they caused by their military might. They lie dead, uncircumcised, with those who have been killed violently. They will bear their shame, along with those who descend into the Pit.[y]
31 “When Pharaoh sees them, he will take comfort in his hordes. Pharaoh and all his army will die violently,” says the Lord God, 32 “because he spread terror throughout the land of the living. Therefore he’ll be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, who have been killed violently; that is, Pharaoh and all of his hordes,” declares the Lord God.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 32:1 The Heb. lacks of our captivity
- Ezekiel 32:5 So MT; the Syr. Peshittas read your maggots
- Ezekiel 32:10 Lit. soul
- Ezekiel 32:11 Lit. sword
- Ezekiel 32:14 I.e. the rivers will be undisturbed by human activity
- Ezekiel 32:16 Lit. daughters
- Ezekiel 32:17 The Heb. lacks the first
- Ezekiel 32:17 The Heb. lacks of our captivity
- Ezekiel 32:18 Lit. daughters
- Ezekiel 32:18 Or powerful
- Ezekiel 32:18 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
- Ezekiel 32:19 I.e. as one who does not honor God, and so throughout the chapter
- Ezekiel 32:20 Lit. killed with the sword, and so throughout the chapter
- Ezekiel 32:20 Lit. to the sword, and so throughout the chapter
- Ezekiel 32:21 I.e. the realm of the afterlife
- Ezekiel 32:21 Lit. by the sword, and so throughout the chapter
- Ezekiel 32:22 I.e. the nation personified as a woman
- Ezekiel 32:23 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
- Ezekiel 32:24 Lit. its
- Ezekiel 32:24 Lit. fell
- Ezekiel 32:24 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
- Ezekiel 32:25 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
- Ezekiel 32:27 I.e. the realm of the afterlife
- Ezekiel 32:29 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
- Ezekiel 32:30 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
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