Ezekiel 31:1-14

New International Version

Pharaoh as a Felled Cedar of Lebanon

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

“‘Who can be compared with you in majesty?
³Consider Assyria,^(C) once a cedar in Lebanon,^(D)
    with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest;
it towered on high,
    its top above the thick foliage.^(E)
⁴The waters^(F) nourished it,
    deep springs made it grow tall;
their streams flowed
    all around its base
and sent their channels
    to all the trees of the field.^(G)
⁵So it towered higher^(H)
    than all the trees of the field;
its boughs increased
    and its branches grew long,
    spreading because of abundant waters.^(I)
⁶All the birds of the sky
    nested in its boughs,
all the animals of the wild
    gave birth^(J) under its branches;
all the great nations
    lived in its shade.^(K)
⁷It was majestic in beauty,
    with its spreading boughs,
for its roots went down
    to abundant waters.^(L)
⁸The cedars^(M) in the garden of God
    could not rival it,
nor could the junipers
    equal its boughs,
nor could the plane trees^(N)
    compare with its branches—
no tree in the garden of God
    could match its beauty.^(O)
⁹I made it beautiful
    with abundant branches,
the envy of all the trees of Eden^(P)
    in the garden of God.^(Q)

¹⁰“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because the great cedar towered over the thick foliage, and because it was proud^(R) of its height, ¹¹I gave it into the hands of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside,^(S) ¹²and the most ruthless of foreign nations^(T) cut it down and left it. Its boughs fell on the mountains and in all the valleys;^(U) its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left it.^(V) ¹³All the birds settled on the fallen tree, and all the wild animals lived among its branches.^(W) ¹⁴Therefore no other trees by the waters are ever to tower proudly on high, lifting their tops above the thick foliage. No other trees so well-watered are ever to reach such a height; they are all destined^(X) for death,^(Y) for the earth below, among mortals who go down to the realm of the dead.^(Z)