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A Lament over Pharaoh and Egypt

32 And it happened in the (A)twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “Son of man, take up a (B)lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him,

‘You liken yourself to a young (C)lion of the nations,
Yet you are like the (D)monster in the seas;
And you (E)burst forth in your rivers
And muddied the waters with your feet
And [a]fouled their rivers.’”

Thus says Lord Yahweh,

“So I will (F)spread My net over you
With an assembly of many peoples,
And they shall bring you up in My net.
I will abandon you on the land;
I will hurl you on the [b]open field.
And I will cause all the (G)birds of the sky to dwell on you,
And I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth [c]with you.
I will put your flesh (H)on the mountains
And fill the valleys with your refuse.
I will also make the land drink the discharge of your (I)blood
As far as the mountains,
And the ravines will be full of you.
And when I (J)extinguish you,
I will (K)cover the heavens and darken their (L)stars;
I will cover the (M)sun with a cloud,
And the moon will not give its light.
All the shining (N)lights in the heavens
I will darken over you
And will give darkness on your land,”
Declares Lord Yahweh.

“I will also (O)vex the hearts of many peoples when I (P)bring your destruction among the nations, into lands which you have not known. 10 I will make many peoples [d](Q)appalled at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and (R)they will tremble every moment, every man for his own life, on the day of your downfall.”

11 For (S)thus says Lord Yahweh, “The sword of the king of Babylon will come upon you. 12 By the swords of the mighty ones I will cause your multitude to fall; all of them are (T)ruthless ones of the nations,

And they will (U)devastate the lofty pride of Egypt,
And all its multitude will be destroyed.
13 I will also make all its cattle perish from beside many waters;
And (V)the foot of man will not muddy them anymore,
And the hoofs of beasts will not muddy them.
14 Then I will make their waters settle
And will cause their rivers to [e]run like oil,”
Declares Lord Yahweh.
15 “When I make the land of Egypt a (W)desolation,
And the land is desolate of its fullness,
When I strike all those who inhabit it,
Then they shall (X)know that I am Yahweh.

16 This is a (Y)lamentation, and they shall [f]lament over it. The daughters of the nations shall [g]lament over it. Over Egypt and over all her multitude they shall [h]lament over it,” declares Lord Yahweh.

17 Now it happened in the (Z)twelfth year, on the (AA)fifteenth of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me saying, 18 “Son of man, (AB)wail for the hordes of Egypt and (AC)bring it down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the (AD)nether world, with those who go down to the pit;

19 ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?
Go down and make your bed with the (AE)uncircumcised.’

20 They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword. [i]She is given over to the sword; they have (AF)drawn her and all her multitude away. 21 The [j](AG)dominant among the mighty ones shall speak of him and his helpers from the midst of Sheol, ‘They have gone down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.’

22 (AH)Assyria is there and all her assembly; [k]her graves are round about [l]her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, 23 whose (AI)graves are put in the remotest parts of the pit, and her assembly is all round about her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, who put terror in the land of the living.

24 (AJ)Elam is there and all her multitude all around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised to the (AK)lower parts of the earth, who put their terror in the (AL)land of the living and (AM)bore their dishonor with those who went down to the pit. 25 They have put a (AN)bed for her among the slain with all her multitude. Her graves are all around it; all of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword (although their terror was put in the land of the living), and they bore their dishonor with those who go down to the pit; [m]they were put in the midst of the slain.

26 (AO)Meshech, (AP)Tubal, and all their multitude are there; their graves are all around them. All of them were slain by the sword (AQ)uncircumcised, though they put their terror in the land of the living. 27 (AR)Nor do they lie beside the fallen (AS)mighty ones of the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war and whose swords were put under their heads; but the punishment for their (AT)iniquity rested on their bones, though the terror of these mighty ones was once in the land of the living. 28 But as for you, in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken and lie with those slain by the sword.

29 “There also is (AU)Edom, its kings, and all its [n]princes, who [o]for all their might are put with those slain by the sword; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.

30 “There also are the [p]chiefs of the (AV)north, all of them, and all the (AW)Sidonians, who in spite of the terror resulting from their might, in shame went down with the slain. So they lay down uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bore their dishonor with those who go down to the pit.

31 “These Pharaoh will see, and he will be (AX)comforted for all his multitude slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his military force,” declares Lord Yahweh. 32 “Though I put a terror of him in the land of the living, yet he will be made to lie down among the uncircumcised along with those slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his hordes,” declares Lord Yahweh.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 32:2 Lit fouled by stamping
  2. Ezekiel 32:4 Lit surface of the field
  3. Ezekiel 32:4 Lit from
  4. Ezekiel 32:10 Or feel desolate
  5. Ezekiel 32:14 Lit go, walk
  6. Ezekiel 32:16 Or chant
  7. Ezekiel 32:16 Or chant
  8. Ezekiel 32:16 Or chant
  9. Ezekiel 32:20 Or The sword is given
  10. Ezekiel 32:21 Lit rams
  11. Ezekiel 32:22 Lit his
  12. Ezekiel 32:22 Lit him
  13. Ezekiel 32:25 As in ancient versions; M.T. he was
  14. Ezekiel 32:29 Or leaders
  15. Ezekiel 32:29 Or in
  16. Ezekiel 32:30 Or princes

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