Ezekiel 31:1-9
Expanded Bible
A Cedar Tree
31 It was in the eleventh year [C since King Jehoiachin’s exile (1:2)], in the third month, on the first day of the month [C June 21, 587 bc]. The ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to me, saying: 2 “·Human [T Son of man; 2:1], say to the king of Egypt and his people:
‘·No one [L Who…?] is like you in your greatness.
3 [L Look; T Behold] Assyria was once like a cedar tree in Lebanon
with beautiful branches that shaded the forest.
It was ·very tall [a towering height];
its top was among the clouds.
4 Much water made the tree grow;
the deep springs made it tall.
Rivers flowed
around ·the bottom of the tree [its place of planting]
and sent their ·streams [channels]
to all other trees ·in the countryside [of the field].
5 So the tree was taller
than all the other trees ·in the countryside [of the field].
Its ·limbs [boughs] became large and its branches long
because of ·so much [abundant] water.
6 All the birds of the ·sky [heavens]
made their nests in the tree’s ·limbs [boughs; Dan. 4:12, 21].
And all the ·wild animals [beasts of the field]
gave birth under its branches.
All great nations
lived in the tree’s shade.
7 So the tree was great and beautiful,
with its long branches,
because its roots reached down to ·much [abundant] water.
8 The cedar trees in the garden of God [C Eden]
were not as great as it was.
The ·pine [fir; juniper] trees
·did not have such great [could not equal its] ·limbs [boughs].
The plane trees
did not have such branches.
No tree in the garden of God
was as beautiful as this tree.
9 I made it beautiful
with many branches,
and all the trees of Eden in the garden of God
·wanted to be like [envied] it.
Ezekiel 31:1-9
Amplified Bible
Pharaoh Warned of Assyria’s Fate
31 In the eleventh year [after King Jehoiachin was taken captive to Babylon], in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes,
‘Whom are you like in your greatness?
3
‘Behold (listen carefully), Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon
With beautiful branches and with forest shade,
And of high stature,
With its top among the clouds.
4
‘The waters nourished it, the deep [underground waters] made it grow tall.
Its rivers ran all around the place where it was planted,
Sending out its streams to all the trees (other nations) of the field.
5
‘Therefore it towered higher than all the trees of the forest
And its boughs multiplied and its branches grew long;
Because there was so much water they spread outward.
6
‘All the birds of the sky made their nests in its twigs,
And under its branches all the animals of the field gave birth [to their young],
And all of the great nations lived under its shadow.
7
‘So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches;
For its roots extended [downward] to great waters.
8
‘The cedars in the garden of God could not hide or rival it;
The cypress trees did not have boughs like it,
And the [a]plane trees did not have branches like it.
No tree in the garden of God was like it in its beauty.
9
‘I made it beautiful with the great mass of its branches,
So that all the trees of [b]Eden which were in the garden of God were jealous of it (Assyria).
Notas al pie
- Ezekiel 31:8 This enormous tree may grow to a height of a hundred feet. The diameter of its base may vary from six to ten feet.
- Ezekiel 31:9 The traditional site of Eden was within the general area of the Assyrian Empire. However, this does not imply that Assyria was in the garden of God described in Gen 2:8.
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