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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: 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)
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)
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)
I will strew your flesh on the mountains
    and fill the valleys with your carcass.[c]
I will drench the land with your flowing blood
    up to the mountains,
    and the watercourses will be filled with you.(D)
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)
All the shining lights of the heavens
    I will darken above you
    and put darkness on your land,
            says the Lord God.
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

  1. 32.2 Heb their
  2. 32.3 Gk Vg: Heb they
  3. 32.5 Symmachus Syr Vg: Heb your height
  4. 32.9 Gk: Heb bring your destruction
  5. 32.17 Gk: Heb lacks in the first month
  6. 32.18 Heb it
  7. 32.20 Heb It
  8. 32.20 Cn: Heb carry away both it and its hordes
  9. 32.25 Heb it
  10. 32.27 Gk OL: Heb of the uncircumcised
  11. 32.27 Cn: Heb iniquities
  12. 32.32 Cn: Heb I

A Lament for Pharaoh, King of Egypt

32 And then[a] in the twelfth[b] year, in the twelfth[c] month, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came[d] to me, saying,[e] “Son of man,[f] raise a lament over Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and you must say to him,

With a fierce, strong lion among nations you compared yourself,
    and you are like the sea monster in the seas,
    and you thrash about in your rivers,
    and you make water turbid with your feet,
    and you make your rivers muddy.

Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

Now I will spread my net over you
    in the assembly of many peoples,
    and I will bring you up in my dragnet.
And I will throw you on the ground;
    on the surface of the open field I will hurl you,
and I will cause every bird of the heaven to dwell on you,
    and I will satisfy the animals[g] of all of the world from you.
And I will put your flesh on the mountains,
    and I will fill the valleys with your carcass.
And I will water the land with your discharge from your blood
    on the mountains,
    and valleys will be filled from[h] you.
And I will cover you at[i] extinguishing your heavens,
    and I will make dark their stars,
and I will cover the sun with the cloud,
    and the moon will not give its light.
All[j] sources of light in the heavens,
    I will make them dark over you,
    and I will put[k] darkness on your land,’”

declares[l] the Lord Yahweh.

“And I will disturb the hearts[m] of many peoples
    at my bringing about your captivity among the nations,
    to countries that you do not know.
10 And I will cause many peoples to be awestruck over you,
    and their kings will shudder over you in horror,
at[n] my brandishing my sword before their faces,
    and they will tremble continually,[o]
each person for his life,
    on the day of your downfall.”

11 For thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“The sword of the king of Babylon,
    it will come to you.
12 By the swords of warriors I will cause to fall your hordes
    by the most ruthless of the nations, all of them,
and they will devastate the majesty of Egypt,
    and all of its hordes will be destroyed.
13 And I will destroy all her domestic livestock
    beside[p] many waters.
The feet of humans[q] will not make them turbid again,
    and the hooves of domestic livestock will not make them turbid.
14 Then I will make their waters settle,
    and their rivers as the olive oil I will let flow,”

declares[r] the Lord Yahweh.

15 “Then I make the land of Egypt a desolation,
    so that the land will be stripped from its fullness
when I strike all of those dwelling in it,
    and they will know that I am Yahweh.

16 This is[s] a lament, and they will chant it as a lament; the daughters of the nations will chant it as a lament over Egypt, and over all of its hordes they will chant it as a lament,” declares[t] the Lord Yahweh.

17 And then[u] in the twelfth[v] year, on the fifteenth[w] day of the month, the word of Yahweh came[x] to me, saying,[y] 18 “Son of man,[z] mourn over the hordes of Egypt, and make her go down, and with her the daughters of mighty nations, down to the deep underworld[aa] with the people going down to the grave.[ab] 19 You are more lovely than whom?[ac] Go down and be laid in rest with the uncircumcised. 20 In the midst of the people slain by the sword it[ad] is given they will fall to a sword; they carried her[ae] off and all of her[af] hordes. 21 The chiefs of the warriors will speak to him from the middle of Sheol; with his helpers they have gone down; the uncircumcised lie still, those slain by the sword.[ag]

22 Assyria is there and all of its assembly; all around it are its graves, all of them killed, those fallen by the sword, 23 who[ah] will be given its graves in the remote areas of the pit, and its assembly will be all around its grave, all of them killed, fallen by the sword, those who spread terror in the land of the living.

24 Elam is there and all of its hordes, all around its grave, all of them dead who fell by the sword, those who went down uncircumcised to the depths of the underworld,[ai] those who spread their terror to the land of the living, and now they bear their disgrace with the people going down to the grave.[aj] 25 In the midst of the slain they made a bed for her with all of her hordes all around its graves, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, for their terror was spread in the land of the living, and they now bear their disgrace with the people going down to the grave;[ak] in the midst of the slain it was placed.

26 Meshech and Tubal are there and all of its hordes, all around him its graves, all of them uncircumcised and killed by the sword, for they gave their terror in the land of the living. 27 And they do not lie with warriors fallen from long ago, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war,[al] and they placed their sword under their heads, and their shields[am] were on their bones, for the terror of the warriors was in the land of the living. 28 And you[an] too in the midst of uncircumcised people will be broken, and you will lie with those slain by the sword.

29 There is Edom, its kings and all of its leaders who are laid along with their might with those killed by the sword; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with the people going down to the grave.[ao]

30 There are also the princes of the north, all of them, all of the Sidonians who have gone down, being ashamed to lie with the slain because[ap] of their terror that they caused from their might, and they lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, and they bear their disgrace along with the people going down to the grave.[aq]

31 Pharaoh will see them, and he will be comforted over all of his hordes killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all of his army,” declares[ar] the Lord Yahweh. 32 “For[as] he spread[at] my terror in the land of the living, and so he will be laid down in the midst of the uncircumcised with those killed by the sword: Pharaoh and all of his hordes,”declares[au] the Lord Yahweh.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 32:1 Literally “and it was/happened”
  2. Ezekiel 32:1 Literally “two of ten”
  3. Ezekiel 32:1 Literally “in two ten month”
  4. Ezekiel 32:1 Literally “was”
  5. Ezekiel 32:1 Literally “to say”
  6. Ezekiel 32:2 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  7. Ezekiel 32:4 Hebrew “animal”
  8. Ezekiel 32:6 Or “with”
  9. Ezekiel 32:7 Or “by”
  10. Ezekiel 32:8 Or “every”
  11. Ezekiel 32:8 Or “give”
  12. Ezekiel 32:8 Literally “declaration of”
  13. Ezekiel 32:9 Hebrew “heart”
  14. Ezekiel 32:10 Or “when”
  15. Ezekiel 32:10 Literally “for moments/seconds”
  16. Ezekiel 32:13 Literally “from on”
  17. Ezekiel 32:13 Hebrew “human”
  18. Ezekiel 32:14 Literally “declaration of”
  19. Ezekiel 32:16 Literally “she is
  20. Ezekiel 32:16 Literally “declaration of”
  21. Ezekiel 32:17 Literally “and it happened/was”
  22. Ezekiel 32:17 Literally “two of ten”
  23. Ezekiel 32:17 Literally “in the five ten of”
  24. Ezekiel 32:17 Literally “was”
  25. Ezekiel 32:17 Literally “to say”
  26. Ezekiel 32:18 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  27. Ezekiel 32:18 Literally “to the world/earth deeps/depth”
  28. Ezekiel 32:18 Or “pit” or “netherworld”
  29. Ezekiel 32:19 Literally “from whom are you lovely”
  30. Ezekiel 32:20 Or “she”; that is, Egypt
  31. Ezekiel 32:20 Or “it”
  32. Ezekiel 32:20 Or “its”
  33. Ezekiel 32:21 Literally “the slain of the sword”
  34. Ezekiel 32:23 That is, Assyria
  35. Ezekiel 32:24 Literally “land/earth/world”
  36. Ezekiel 32:24 Or “pit” or “sheol”
  37. Ezekiel 32:25 Or “pit”
  38. Ezekiel 32:27 Literally “with the weapons of war their”
  39. Ezekiel 32:27 Reading “their shields” for “their guilt”
  40. Ezekiel 32:28 Evidently refers to Egypt
  41. Ezekiel 32:29 Or “pit”
  42. Ezekiel 32:30 Or “in spite of” (cf. NJPS, NIV)
  43. Ezekiel 32:30 Or “pit”
  44. Ezekiel 32:31 Literally “declaration of”
  45. Ezekiel 32:32 Or “although”
  46. Ezekiel 32:32 Hebrew “I gave”
  47. Ezekiel 32:32 Literally “declaration of”