Pharaoh Warned of Assyria’s Fate

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

‘Whom are you like in your greatness?
Behold, Assyria was a (C)cedar in Lebanon
With beautiful branches and forest shade,
And [a](D)very high,
And its top was among the [b]clouds.
The (E)waters made it grow, the [c]deep made it high.
With its rivers it continually [d]extended all around its planting place,
And sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.
Therefore (F)its height was loftier than all the trees of the field
And its boughs became many and its branches long
Because of (G)many waters [e]as it spread them out.
All the (H)birds of the sky nested in its twigs,
And under its branches all the animals of the field gave birth,
And all great nations lived under its shade.
So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches;
For its [f]roots extended to many waters.
The (I)cedars in (J)God’s garden [g]could not match it;
The junipers [h]could not compare with its branches,
And the plane trees [i]could not match its branches.
No tree in (K)God’s garden [j]could compare with it in its beauty.
I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches,
And all the trees of (L)Eden, which were in the (M)garden of God, were jealous of it.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 31:3 Lit high of stature
  2. Ezekiel 31:3 As in LXX; MT thick boughs
  3. Ezekiel 31:4 I.e., subterranean waters
  4. Ezekiel 31:4 Lit was going
  5. Ezekiel 31:5 Lit in its sending forth
  6. Ezekiel 31:7 Lit root was
  7. Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did
  8. Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did
  9. Ezekiel 31:8 Lit were not like
  10. Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did

Downfall of Egypt and Assyria

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

‘Who are you like in your greatness?
Think of Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon,(B)
with beautiful branches and shady foliage
and of lofty height.
Its top was among the clouds.[a]
The waters caused it to grow;
the underground springs made it tall,
directing their rivers all around
the place where the tree was planted
and sending their channels
to all the trees of the field.
Therefore the cedar became greater in height
than all the trees of the field.(C)
Its branches multiplied,
and its boughs grew long
as it spread them out
because of the abundant water.(D)
All the birds of the sky
nested in its branches,(E)
and all the animals of the field
gave birth beneath its boughs;
all the great nations lived in its shade.
It was beautiful in its size,
in the length of its limbs,
for its roots extended to abundant water.
The cedars in God’s garden could not eclipse it;(F)
the pine trees couldn’t compare with its branches,
nor could the plane trees match its boughs.
No tree in the garden of God
could compare with it in beauty.

I made it beautiful with its many limbs,
and all the trees of Eden,
which were in God’s garden, envied it.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 31:3 Or thick foliage, also in vv. 10,14