A Lament over Pharaoh and Egypt

32 (A)In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: (B)“Son of man, (C)raise a lamentation over (D)Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:

“You consider yourself (E)a lion of the nations,
    but you are like (F)a dragon (G)in the seas;
(H)you burst forth in your rivers,
    trouble the waters with your feet,
    and foul their rivers.
Thus says the Lord God:
    (I)I will throw my net over you
    with a host of (J)many peoples,
    and (K)they will haul you up in my dragnet.
And (L)I will cast you on the ground;
    on the open field I will fling you,
and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle on you,
    and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you.
I will strew your flesh (M)upon the mountains
    and fill the valleys with your carcass.[a]
I will drench the land even to the mountains
    with your flowing blood,
    and the ravines will be full of you.
(N)When I blot you out, (O)I will cover the heavens
    and make their stars dark;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
    and the moon shall not give its light.
All the bright lights of heaven
    will I make dark over you,
    and (P)put darkness on your land,
declares the Lord God.

“I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries that you have not known. 10 (Q)I will make many peoples appalled at you, and the hair of their kings shall bristle with horror because of you, when (R)I brandish my sword before them. (S)They shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall.

11 “For thus says the Lord God: (T)The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. 12 I will cause (U)your multitude to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them (V)most ruthless of nations.

(W)“They shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt,
    and all its multitude[b] shall perish.
13 I will destroy all its beasts
    from beside many waters;
(X)and no foot of man shall trouble them anymore,
    nor shall the hoofs of beasts trouble them.
14 Then (Y)I will make their waters clear,
    and cause their rivers to run like oil,
declares the Lord God.
15 When I make the land of Egypt desolate,
    and when the land (Z)is desolate of all that fills it,
when I strike down all who dwell in it,
    then (AA)they will know that I am the Lord.

16 (AB)This is a lamentation that shall be chanted; the daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt, and over (AC)all her multitude, shall they chant it, declares the Lord God.”

17 (AD)In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month,[c] on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 (AE)“Son of man, (AF)wail over (AG)the multitude of Egypt, and (AH)send them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, (AI)to the world below, to those who have gone down to the pit:

19 (AJ)‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?
    Go down and (AK)be laid to rest with the uncircumcised.’

20 They shall fall amid those (AL)who are slain by the sword. Egypt[d] is delivered to the sword; drag her away, and (AM)all her multitudes. 21 The mighty chiefs (AN)shall speak of them, (AO)with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: ‘They have come down, they lie still, (AP)the uncircumcised, (AQ)slain by the sword.’

22 (AR)“Assyria is there, and all her company, (AS)its graves all around it, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, 23 whose graves are set in (AT)the uttermost parts of the pit; and her company is all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, (AU)who spread terror (AV)in the land of the living.

24 (AW)“Elam is (AX)there, and all her multitude around her grave; all of them (AY)slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into (AZ)the world below, who spread their terror in the land of the living; and (BA)they bear their shame (BB)with those who go down to the pit. 25 (BC)They have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, (BD)her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are placed among the slain.

26 (BE)“Meshech-Tubal is (BF)there, and all her multitude, (BG)her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread their terror in the land of the living. 27 And (BH)they do not lie with the mighty, the fallen from among the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living. 28 But as for you, you shall be broken (BI)and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.

29 (BJ)“Edom is (BK)there, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.

30 “The princes (BL)of the north are there, all of them, and all the (BM)Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, (BN)for all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and (BO)bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

31 “When Pharaoh sees them, he (BP)will be comforted for (BQ)all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord God. 32 (BR)For I spread terror (BS)in the land of the living; and he shall be laid to rest among (BT)the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 32:5 Hebrew your height
  2. Ezekiel 32:12 Or wealth
  3. Ezekiel 32:17 Hebrew lacks in the twelfth month
  4. Ezekiel 32:20 Hebrew She

Egypt the crocodile

32 In the twelfth year, on the first day of the twelfth month, the Lord’s word came to me: Human one, sing a lament for Pharaoh, Egypt’s king. Say to him:

You consider yourself a young lion among the nations,
    but you are like the sea monster!
You thrash about in your rivers,
    you roil the waters with your feet,
    and you muddy your[a] rivers.

The Lord God proclaims:

In the company of many peoples
    I will spread my net over you,
        and I will haul you up in my dragnet.
I will cast you out on the earth
    and throw you on the open ground.
    I will cause all the birds in the sky to settle on you,
    and all the beasts of the earth to devour you.
Your flesh I will set upon the mountains,
    and I will fill the valleys with your gore.
With your blood I will soak your irrigated land,[b]
    and the streambeds will be filled with you.
When you are snuffed out, I will cover the sky,
    and I will darken the stars.
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
    and the moon won’t radiate its light.
As for the shining lights of the heavens,
    I will make them dark over you,
    and set darkness over your land.
This is what the Lord God says.

I will trouble the hearts of many peoples
    when I bring about your destruction
    with nations from lands you didn’t know.
10 I will make many peoples appalled because of you.
    Their kings will shudder violently on your account
    when I brandish my sword before them.
They will tremble for their lives again and again
    on the day of your downfall.

11 The Lord God proclaims: The sword of the king of Babylon is coming against you! 12 I will make your hordes fall by the swords of mighty men, the most terrifying of the nations, all of them. They will bring an end to Egypt’s pride, and all of its hordes will be destroyed. 13 I will remove all its livestock from beside the plentiful waters so that neither human foot nor livestock’s hoof will trouble it again. 14 At that time, I will allow the waters to run clear, and make its rivers flow like oil. This is what the Lord God says. 15 When I turn the land of Egypt into a wasteland and the land is deprived of all that fills it, and when I strike down those who live there, then they will know that I am the Lord. 16 This is a lament, and it will be sung as a lament. The daughters of the nations will lament for Egypt, and they will also lament for Egypt’s hordes. This is what the Lord God says.

17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the first month,[c] the Lord’s word came to me: 18 Human one, mourn for Egypt’s hordes.

Send Egypt down
    with the mighty nations subject[d] to it,
    to the world below,[e]
    among those who go down to the pit.
19 Whom do you surpass in beauty?
    Go down and take your bed with the uncircumcised,
20     among those who fall slain by the sword.

A sword is appointed, and all his hordes will carry him off. 21 The mighty chieftains, those who once came to his aid, will speak to him from the middle of the underworld,[f] for the uncircumcised have gone down and have lain down, slain by the sword.

Vanished glory

22 Assyria is there, and all its assembly round about his grave,
    all of them slain, fallen by the sword,
23     who were assigned graves in the deepest region of the pit.
His assembly surrounded his grave,
    all of them slain, fallen by the sword,
        who caused terror in the land of the living.

24 Elam is there, her entire horde round about her grave,
    all of them slain, fallen by the sword,
    who went down uncircumcised to the world below,[g]
    who caused terror in the land of the living.
    They bore their shame like those who go down to the pit.
25 Among the slain they made a bed for her,
    with all her hordes round about her grave,
    all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword,
    for they caused terror in the land of the living.
    They bore their shame like those who go down to the pit;
    in the midst of the slain she[h] was placed.

26 Meshech and Tubal are there, and all their hordes around their graves,
    all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword,
    for they caused terror in the land of the living.

27 They don’t lie with the mighty men fallen among the uncircumcised. When they went down to the underworld[i] with their weapons of war, they put their swords under their heads and their shields[j] over their bones. The terror of the mighty men is in the land of the living.

28 But you, you will be broken among the uncircumcised, and you will lie with those who are slain by the sword.

29 Edom is there, its kings and all its princes,
    who, though strong, were put with those slain by the sword.
        They lie with the uncircumcised,
        like those who go down to the pit.

30 All the princes of the north are there,
    and all the Sidonians who went down with the slain;
        in spite of the terror of their strength, they were disgraced.
    They lie uncircumcised with those slain by the sword.
They bore their shame like those who go down to the pit.

31 When Pharaoh sees them,
    he will be sorry for all his hordes who are slain by the sword—
        Pharaoh and all his army.
This is what the Lord God says,
32 Though it was I who put his terror in the land of the living,
    he will be laid out among the uncircumcised,
    with those slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his horde.
This is what the Lord God says.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 32:2 LXX; MT their
  2. Ezekiel 32:6 MT adds to the mountains.
  3. Ezekiel 32:17 LXX; MT lacks the first month.
  4. Ezekiel 32:18 Or daughter nations
  5. Ezekiel 32:18 Or the land of the lowest places
  6. Ezekiel 32:21 Heb Sheol
  7. Ezekiel 32:24 Or the land of the lowest places
  8. Ezekiel 32:25 Or he
  9. Ezekiel 32:27 Heb Sheol
  10. Ezekiel 32:27 Or sin