Ezekiel 32
New English Translation
Lamentation over Pharaoh and Egypt
32 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month,[a] the Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, sing a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:
“‘You were like a lion[b] among the nations,
but you are a monster in the seas;
you thrash about in your streams,
stir up the water with your feet,
and muddy your[c] streams.
3 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘I will throw my net over you[d] in the assembly of many peoples;
and they will haul you up in my dragnet.
4 I will leave you on the ground,
I will fling you on the open field,
I will allow[e] all the birds of the sky to settle[f] on you,
and I will permit[g] all the wild animals[h] to gorge themselves on you.
5 I will put your flesh on the mountains,
and fill the valleys with your maggot-infested carcass.[i]
6 I will drench the land with the flow
of your blood up to the mountains,
and the ravines will be full of your blood.[j]
7 When I extinguish you, I will cover the sky;
I will darken its stars.
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon will not shine.[k]
8 I will darken all the lights in the sky over you,
and I will darken your land,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
9 I will disturb[l] many peoples,
when I bring about your destruction among the nations,
among countries you do not know.
10 I will shock many peoples with you,
and their kings will shiver with horror because of you.
When I brandish my sword before them,
every moment each one will tremble for his life, on the day of your fall.
11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘The sword of the king of Babylon[m] will attack[n] you.
12 By the swords of the mighty warriors I will cause your hordes to fall—
all of them are the most terrifying among the nations.
They will devastate the pride of Egypt,
and all its hordes will be destroyed.
13 I will destroy all its cattle beside the plentiful waters;
and no human foot will disturb[o] the waters[p] again,
nor will the hooves of cattle disturb them.
14 Then I will make their waters calm,[q]
and will make their streams flow like olive oil, declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 When I turn the land of Egypt into desolation
and the land is destitute of everything that fills it,
when I strike all those who live in it,
then they will know that I am the Lord.’
16 This is a lament; they will chant it.
The daughters of the nations will chant it.
They will chant it over Egypt and over all her hordes,
declares the Sovereign Lord.”
17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month,[r] the Lord’s message came to me: 18 “Son of man, wail[s] over the horde of Egypt. Bring it down;[t] bring[u] her[v] and the daughters of powerful nations down to the lower parts of the earth, along with those who descend to the Pit. 19 Say to them,[w] ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?[x] Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!’ 20 They will fall among those killed by the sword. The sword is drawn; they carry her and all her hordes away. 21 The bravest of the warriors will speak to him from the midst of Sheol along with his allies, saying: ‘The uncircumcised have come down; they lie still, killed by the sword.’
22 “Assyria is there with all her assembly around her grave,[y] all of them struck down by the sword.[z] 23 Their[aa] graves are located in the remote slopes of the Pit.[ab] Her assembly is around her grave, all of them struck down by the sword, those who spread terror in the land of the living.
24 “Elam is there with all her hordes around her grave; all of them struck down by the sword. They went down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, those who spread terror in the land of the living. Now they will bear their shame with those who descend to the Pit. 25 Among the dead they have made a bed for her, along with all her hordes around her grave.[ac] All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for their terror had spread in the land of the living. They bear their shame along with those who descend to the Pit; they are placed among the dead.
26 “Meshech Tubal is there, along with all her hordes around her grave.[ad] All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for they spread their terror in the land of the living. 27 They do not lie with the fallen warriors of ancient times,[ae] who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, having their swords placed under their heads and their shields on their bones,[af] when the terror of these warriors was in the land of the living.
28 “But as for you, in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken, and you will lie with those killed by the sword.
29 “Edom is there with her kings and all her princes. Despite their might they are laid with those killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised and those who descend to the Pit.
30 “All the leaders of the north are there, along with all the Sidonians; despite their might they have gone down in shameful terror with the dead. They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, and bear their shame with those who descend to the Pit.
31 “Pharaoh will see them and be consoled over all his hordes who were killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his army, declares the Sovereign Lord. 32 Indeed, I terrified him in the land of the living, yet he will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 32:1 sn This would be March 3, 585 b.c.
- Ezekiel 32:2 tn The lion was a figure of royalty (Ezek 19:1-9).
- Ezekiel 32:2 tc The Hebrew reads, “their streams”; the LXX reads, “your streams.”
- Ezekiel 32:3 tn The expression “throw my net” is common in Ezekiel (12:13; 17:20; 19:8).
- Ezekiel 32:4 tn Or “cause.”
- Ezekiel 32:4 tn Heb “live.”
- Ezekiel 32:4 tn Or “cause.”
- Ezekiel 32:4 tn Heb “the beasts of the field,” referring to wild as opposed to domesticated animals.
- Ezekiel 32:5 tc The Hebrew text is difficult here, apparently meaning “your height.” Following Symmachus and the Syriac, it is preferable to emend the text to read “your maggots.” See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:203.
- Ezekiel 32:6 tn Heb “from you.”
- Ezekiel 32:7 tn Heb “will not shine its light.” For similar features of cosmic eschatology, see Joel 2:10; 3:15; Amos 5:18-20; Zeph 1:5.
- Ezekiel 32:9 tn Heb “I will provoke the heart of.”
- Ezekiel 32:11 sn The king of Babylon referred to here was Nebuchadnezzar (Ezek 21:19).
- Ezekiel 32:11 tn Heb “approach.”
- Ezekiel 32:13 tn Heb “muddy.”
- Ezekiel 32:13 tn Heb “them,” that is, the waters mentioned in the previous line. The translation clarifies the referent.
- Ezekiel 32:14 tn Heb “sink,” that is, to settle and become clear, not muddied.
- Ezekiel 32:17 tn March 17, 585 b.c. The LXX adds “first month.”
- Ezekiel 32:18 tn The Hebrew verb is used as a response to death (Jer 9:17-19; Amos 5:16).
- Ezekiel 32:18 sn Through this prophetic lament given by God himself, the prophet activates the judgment described therein. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:217, and L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:136-37.
- Ezekiel 32:18 tn Heb “Bring him down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the earth below.” The verb “bring down” appears in the Hebrew text only once. Because the verb takes several objects here, the repetition of the verb in the translation improves the English style.
- Ezekiel 32:18 tn This apparently refers to personified Egypt.
- Ezekiel 32:19 tc The LXX places this verse after v. 21.tn The words “say to them” are added in the translation for clarity to indicate the shift in addressee from the prophet to Egypt.
- Ezekiel 32:19 tn Heb “pleasantness.”
- Ezekiel 32:22 tn Heb “around him his graves.” The masculine pronominal suffixes are problematic; the expression is best emended to correspond to the phrase “around her grave” in v. 23. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:219.
- Ezekiel 32:22 tn Heb “all of them slain, the ones felled by the sword.” See as well vv. 23-24.
- Ezekiel 32:23 tn Heb “whose.”
- Ezekiel 32:23 tn The only other occurrence of the phrase “remote slopes of the Pit” is in Isa 14:15.
- Ezekiel 32:25 tn Heb “around him her graves,” but the expression is best emended to read “around her grave” (see vv. 23-24).
- Ezekiel 32:26 tn Heb “around him her graves,” but the expression is best emended to read “around her grave” (see vv. 23-24).
- Ezekiel 32:27 tc Heb “of the uncircumcised.” The LXX reads, probably correctly, “from of old” rather than “of the uncircumcised.” The phrases are very similar in spelling. The warriors of Meshech Tubal are described as uncircumcised, so it would be odd for them to not be buried with the uncircumcised. Verse 28 specifically says that they would lie with the uncircumcised.
- Ezekiel 32:27 tc Heb “and their iniquities were over their bones.” The meaning of this statement is unclear. In light of the parallelism (see “swords”) it is preferable to emend עֲוֹנֹתָם (ʿavonotam; “their iniquities”) to צִנּוֹתָם or צִנָּתָם (tsinnotam or tsinnatam; “their shields” or “their shield”) See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:135.
Ezekiel 32
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Lamentation over Pharaoh and Egypt
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 Mortal, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:
You consider yourself a lion among the nations,
but you are like a dragon in the seas;
you thrash about in your streams,
trouble the water with your feet,
and foul your[a] streams.(A)
3 Thus says the Lord God:
In an assembly of many peoples
I will throw my net over you,
and I[b] will haul you up in my dragnet.(B)
4 I will throw you on the ground;
on the open field I will fling you
and will cause all the birds of the air to settle on you,
and I will let the wild animals of the whole earth gorge themselves on you.(C)
5 I will strew your flesh on the mountains
and fill the valleys with your carcass.[c]
6 I will drench the land with your flowing blood
up to the mountains,
and the watercourses will be filled with you.(D)
7 When I blot you out, 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.(E)
8 All the shining lights of the heavens
I will darken above you
and put darkness on your land,
says the Lord God.
9 I will trouble the hearts of many peoples
as I carry you captive[d] among the nations,
into countries you have not known.(F)
10 I will make many peoples appalled at you;
their kings shall shudder because of you.
When I brandish my sword before them,
they shall tremble every moment
for their lives, each one of them,
on the day of your downfall.(G)
11 For thus says the Lord God:
The sword of the king of Babylon shall come against you.(H)
12 I will cause your hordes to fall
by the swords of mighty ones,
all of them most terrible among the nations.
They shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt,
and all its hordes shall perish.(I)
13 I will destroy all its livestock
from beside abundant waters,
and no human foot shall trouble them any more,
nor shall the hoofs of cattle trouble them.(J)
14 Then I will make their waters clear
and cause their streams to run like oil, says the Lord God.
15 When I make the land of Egypt desolate
and when the land is stripped of all that fills it,
when I strike down all who live in it,
then they shall know that I am the Lord.(K)
16 This is a lamentation; it shall be chanted.
The women of the nations shall chant it.
Over Egypt and all its hordes they shall chant it,
says the Lord God.(L)
Dirge over Egypt
17 In the twelfth year, in the first month,[e] on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:
18 Mortal, wail over the hordes of Egypt
and send them down,
with Egypt[f] and the daughters of majestic nations,
to the world below,
with those who go down to the Pit.(M)
19 “Whom do you surpass in beauty?
Go down! Be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!”(N)
20 They shall fall among those who are killed by the sword. Egypt[g] has been handed over to the sword; both it and its hordes will be carried away.[h] 21 The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: “They have come down; they lie still, the uncircumcised, killed by the sword.”(O)
22 Assyria is there and all its company, their graves all around it, all of them killed, fallen by the sword.(P) 23 Their graves are set in the uttermost parts of the Pit. Its company is all around its grave, all of them killed, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.(Q)
24 Elam is there and all its hordes around its grave, all of them killed, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into the world below, who spread terror in the land of the living. They bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.(R) 25 They have made Elam[i] a bed among the slain with all its hordes, their graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, killed 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.(S)
26 Meshech and Tubal are there, and all their multitude, their graves all around them, all of them uncircumcised, pierced by the sword, for they spread terror in the land of the living.(T) 27 And they do not lie with the fallen warriors of long ago[j] who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads and whose shields[k] are upon their bones; for the terror of the warriors was in the land of the living.(U) 28 So you shall be broken and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are killed by the sword.
29 Edom is there, its kings and all its 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.(V)
30 The princes of the north are there, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, for all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.(W)
31 When Pharaoh sees them, he will be consoled for all his hordes—Pharaoh and all his army, killed by the sword, says the Lord God. 32 For he[l] spread terror in the land of the living; therefore he shall be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword—Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord God.
Footnotes
- 32.2 Heb their
- 32.3 Gk Vg: Heb they
- 32.5 Symmachus Syr Vg: Heb your height
- 32.9 Gk: Heb bring your destruction
- 32.17 Gk: Heb lacks in the first month
- 32.18 Heb it
- 32.20 Heb It
- 32.20 Cn: Heb carry away both it and its hordes
- 32.25 Heb it
- 32.27 Gk OL: Heb of the uncircumcised
- 32.27 Cn: Heb iniquities
- 32.32 Cn: Heb I
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