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
Ezekiel 32
Common English Bible
Egypt the crocodile
32 In the twelfth year, on the first day of the twelfth month, the Lord’s word came to me: 2 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.
3 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.
4 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.
5 Your flesh I will set upon the mountains,
and I will fill the valleys with your gore.
6 With your blood I will soak your irrigated land,[b]
and the streambeds will be filled with you.
7 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.
8 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.
9 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
- Ezekiel 32:2 LXX; MT their
- Ezekiel 32:6 MT adds to the mountains.
- Ezekiel 32:17 LXX; MT lacks the first month.
- Ezekiel 32:18 Or daughter nations
- Ezekiel 32:18 Or the land of the lowest places
- Ezekiel 32:21 Heb Sheol
- Ezekiel 32:24 Or the land of the lowest places
- Ezekiel 32:25 Or he
- Ezekiel 32:27 Heb Sheol
- Ezekiel 32:27 Or sin
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible