Ezekiel 28:3-31:18

English Standard Version

³^(A)you are indeed wiser ^(B)than ^(C)Daniel;
    no secret is hidden from you;
⁴by your wisdom and your understanding
    ^(D)you have made wealth for yourself,
and have gathered gold and silver
    into your treasuries;
⁵by your great wisdom in your trade
    you have increased your wealth,
    and ^(E)your heart has become proud in your wealth—
⁶therefore thus says the Lord God:
^(F)Because you make your heart
    like the heart of a god,
⁷therefore, behold, I will bring ^(G)foreigners upon you,
    the most ruthless of the nations;
and they shall draw their swords against ^(H)the beauty of your wisdom
    and defile ^(I)your splendor.
⁸^(J)They shall thrust you down into the pit,
    ^(K)and you shall die the death of the slain
    in the heart of the seas.
⁹^(L)Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’
    in the presence of those who kill you,
though ^(M)you are but a man, and no god,
    in the hands of those who slay you?
¹⁰^(N)You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
    by the hand of foreigners;
    ^(O)for I have spoken, declares the Lord God.”

A Lament over the King of Tyre

¹¹Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me: ¹²^(P)“Son of man, ^(Q)raise a lamentation over ^(R)the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God:

“You were the signet of perfection,^[a]
    ^(S)full of wisdom and ^(T)perfect in beauty.
¹³You were in ^(U)Eden, the garden of God;
    ^(V)every precious stone was your covering,
^(W)sardius, topaz, and diamond,
    beryl, onyx, and jasper,
sapphire,^[b] ^(X)emerald, and carbuncle;
    and crafted in gold were your settings
    and your engravings.^[c]
^(Y)On the day that you were created
    they were prepared.
¹⁴You were an anointed ^(Z)guardian cherub.
    I placed you;^[d] you were on ^(AA)the holy mountain of God;
    in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
¹⁵You were blameless in your ways
    ^(AB)from the day you were created,
    till unrighteousness was found in you.
¹⁶In the abundance of ^(AC)your trade
    you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from ^(AD)the mountain of God,
    and I destroyed you,^[e] ^(AE)O guardian cherub,
    from the midst of the stones of fire.
¹⁷^(AF)Your heart was proud because of ^(AG)your beauty;
    you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
    I exposed you before kings,
    to feast their eyes on you.
¹⁸By the multitude of your iniquities,
    in the unrighteousness of your trade
    you profaned your sanctuaries;
so ^(AH)I brought fire out from your midst;
    it consumed you,
and I turned you to ashes on the earth
    ^(AI)in the sight of all who saw you.
¹⁹All who know you among the peoples
    are appalled at you;
^(AJ)you have come to a dreadful end
    and shall be no more forever.”

Prophecy Against Sidon

²⁰The word of the Lord came to me: ²¹^(AK)“Son of man, ^(AL)set your face toward ^(AM)Sidon, and ^(AN)prophesy against her ²²and say, Thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, ^(AO)I am against you, O Sidon,
    and ^(AP)I will manifest my glory in your midst.
And ^(AQ)they shall know that I am the Lord
    ^(AR)when I execute judgments in her
    and ^(AS)manifest my holiness in her;
²³for I will send ^(AT)pestilence into her,
    and blood into her streets;
and the slain shall fall in her midst,
    by the sword that is against her on every side.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.

²⁴“And for the house of Israel ^(AU)there shall be no more a brier to prick or ^(AV)a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors ^(AW)who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.

Israel Gathered in Security

²⁵“Thus says the Lord God: ^(AX)When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and ^(AY)manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, ^(AZ)then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob. ²⁶^(BA)And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, ^(BB)when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors ^(BC)who have treated them with contempt. ^(BD)Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.”

Prophecy Against Egypt

29 ^(BE)In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ²^(BF)“Son of man, ^(BG)set your face against ^(BH)Pharaoh king of Egypt, ^(BI)and prophesy against him and ^(BJ)against all Egypt; ³speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God:

^(BK)“Behold, I am against you,
    Pharaoh king of Egypt,
^(BL)the great dragon that lies
    in the midst of his streams,
^(BM)that says, ‘My Nile is my own;
    I made it for myself.’
⁴I will ^(BN)put hooks in your jaws,
    and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales;
and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams,
    with all the fish of your streams
    that stick to your scales.
⁵^(BO)And I will cast you out into the wilderness,
    you and all the fish of your streams;
you shall fall ^(BP)on the open field,
    and ^(BQ)not be brought together or gathered.
To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens
    ^(BR)I give you as food.

⁶Then all the inhabitants of Egypt ^(BS)shall know that I am the Lord.

“Because you^[f] have been ^(BT)a staff of reed to the house of Israel, ⁷^(BU)when they grasped you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to shake.^[g] ⁸Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(BV)Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast, ⁹and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. ^(BW)Then they will know that I am the Lord.

^(BX)“Because you^[h] said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’ ¹⁰therefore, ^(BY)behold, I am against you and ^(BZ)against your streams, and ^(CA)I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, ^(CB)from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. ¹¹^(CC)No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. ¹²^(CD)And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. ^(CE)I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.

¹³“For thus says the Lord God: At the end of forty years ^(CF)I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered, ¹⁴and ^(CG)I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to ^(CH)the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. ¹⁵It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, ^(CI)and never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. ¹⁶And it shall never again be ^(CJ)the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. ^(CK)Then they will know that I am the Lord God.”

¹⁷^(CL)In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸^(CM)“Son of man, ^(CN)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her. ¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(CO)Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; ^(CP)and he shall carry off its wealth^[i] ^(CQ)and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. ²⁰^(CR)I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, declares the Lord God.

²¹“On that day ^(CS)I will cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel, and ^(CT)I will open your lips among them. ^(CU)Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

A Lament for Egypt

30 The word of the Lord came to me: ²^(CV)“Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God:

^(CW)“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’
³    ^(CX)For the day is near,
    ^(CY)the day of the Lord is near;
it will be ^(CZ)a day of clouds,
    a time of doom for^[j] the nations.
⁴^(DA)A sword shall come upon Egypt,
    ^(DB)and anguish shall be in ^(DC)Cush,
when the slain fall in Egypt,
    and ^(DD)her wealth^[k] is carried away,
    and ^(DE)her foundations are torn down.

⁵^(DF)Cush, and ^(DG)Put, and Lud, and ^(DH)all Arabia, and Libya,^[l] and the people of the land that is in league,^[m] shall fall with them by the sword.

⁶“Thus says the Lord:
^(DI)Those who support Egypt shall fall,
    and ^(DJ)her proud might shall come down;
^(DK)from Migdol to Syene
    they shall fall within her by the sword,
declares the Lord God.
⁷^(DL)And they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries,
    and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste.
⁸^(DM)Then they will know that I am the Lord,
    when ^(DN)I have set fire to Egypt,
    and ^(DO)all her helpers are broken.

⁹“On that day ^(DP)messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting ^(DQ)people of Cush, and ^(DR)anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt's doom;^[n] for, behold, it comes!

¹⁰“Thus says the Lord God:

^(DS)“I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt,
    by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
¹¹He and his people with him, ^(DT)the most ruthless of nations,
    shall be brought in to destroy the land,
^(DU)and they shall draw their swords against Egypt
    and fill the land with the slain.
¹²And ^(DV)I will ^(DW)dry up the Nile
    and will sell the land into the hand of ^(DX)evildoers;
^(DY)I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it,
    by the hand of ^(DZ)foreigners;
^(EA)I am the Lord; I have spoken.

¹³“Thus says the Lord God:

^(EB)“I will destroy the idols
    and put an end to the images in ^(EC)Memphis;
^(ED)there shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt;
    so ^(EE)I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
¹⁴I will make ^(EF)Pathros a desolation
    and will set fire to ^(EG)Zoan
    ^(EH)and will execute judgments on ^(EI)Thebes.
¹⁵And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,
    the stronghold of Egypt,
    and cut off the multitude^[o] of Thebes.
¹⁶And I will set fire to Egypt;
    Pelusium shall be in great agony;
Thebes shall be breached,
    and ^(EJ)Memphis shall face enemies^[p] by day.
¹⁷The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword,
    and the women^[q] shall go into captivity.
¹⁸At ^(EK)Tehaphnehes ^(EL)the day shall be dark,
    when I break there the yoke bars of Egypt,
and ^(EM)her proud might shall come to an end in her;
    she shall be covered by a cloud,
    and her daughters shall go into captivity.
¹⁹Thus ^(EN)I will execute judgments on Egypt.
    ^(EO)Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon

²⁰^(EP)In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ²¹^(EQ)“Son of man, ^(ER)I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, ^(ES)it has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. ²²Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and ^(ET)will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. ²³^(EU)I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. ²⁴And ^(EV)I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put ^(EW)my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him ^(EX)like a man mortally wounded. ²⁵I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. ^(EY)Then they shall know that I am the Lord, ^(EZ)when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. ²⁶And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

Pharaoh to Be Slain

31 ^(FA)In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ²^(FB)“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to ^(FC)his multitude:

^(FD)“Whom are you like in your greatness?
³    Behold, ^(FE)Assyria was a ^(FF)cedar in ^(FG)Lebanon,
with beautiful branches and ^(FH)forest shade,
    ^(FI)and of towering height,
    its top among the clouds.^[r]
⁴The waters nourished it;
    the deep made it grow tall,
making ^(FJ)its rivers flow
    around the place of its planting,
sending forth its streams
    to all the trees of the field.
⁵So ^(FK)it towered high
    above all the trees of the field;
its boughs grew large
    and its branches long
    from ^(FL)abundant water in its shoots.
⁶^(FM)All the birds of the heavens
    made their nests in its boughs;
under its branches all the beasts of the field
    gave birth to their young,
and under its shadow
    lived all great nations.
⁷It was ^(FN)beautiful in its greatness,
    in the length of its branches;
^(FO)for its roots went down
    to abundant waters.
⁸^(FP)The cedars ^(FQ)in the garden of God could not rival it,
    nor the fir trees equal its boughs;
neither were the plane trees
    like its branches;
no tree ^(FR)in the garden of God
    was its equal in beauty.
⁹I made it beautiful
    in the mass of its branches,
and all the trees of ^(FS)Eden envied it,
    that were in the garden of God.

¹⁰“Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because ^(FT)it^[s] towered high and set its top among the clouds,^[t] and ^(FU)its heart was proud of its height, ¹¹I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. ¹²^(FV)Foreigners, ^(FW)the most ruthless of nations, have cut it down and left it. ^(FX)On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs have been broken in all ^(FY)the ravines of the land, and ^(FZ)all the peoples of the earth have gone away from its shadow and left it. ¹³^(GA)On its fallen trunk dwell all the birds of the heavens, and on its branches are all the beasts of the field. ¹⁴^(GB)All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to towering height or set their tops among the clouds,^[u] and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height. For they are all given over to death, ^(GC)to the world ^(GD)below, among the children of man,^[v] with those who go down to the pit.

¹⁵“Thus says the Lord God: On the day ^(GE)the cedar^[w] went down to Sheol I caused mourning; I closed the deep over it, and restrained its rivers, and many waters were stopped. I clothed Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. ¹⁶^(GF)I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall, ^(GG)when I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit. ^(GH)And all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, ^(GI)were comforted in the world below. ¹⁷They also went down to Sheol with it, ^(GJ)to those who are slain by the sword; yes, ^(GK)those who were its arm, ^(GL)who lived under its shadow among the nations.

¹⁸^(GM)“Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness ^(GN)among the trees of Eden? ^(GO)You shall be brought down with ^(GP)the trees of Eden to the world below. ^(GQ)You shall lie among the uncircumcised, ^(GR)with those who are slain by the sword.