Ezekiel 32:1-16
Holman Christian Standard Bible
A Lament for Pharaoh
32 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, lament(A) for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:
You compare yourself to a lion of the nations,
but[a] you are like a monster(B) in the seas.
You thrash about in your rivers,
churn up the waters with your feet,
and muddy the[b] rivers.”
3 This is what the Lord God says:
I will spread My net over you(C)
with an assembly of many peoples,
and they[c] will haul you up in My net.
4 I will abandon you on the land
and hurl you on the open field.
I will cause all the birds of the sky
to settle on you
and let the beasts of the entire earth
eat their fill of you.(D)
5 I will put your flesh on the mountains(E)
and fill the valleys with your carcass.
6 I will drench the land
with the flow of your blood,
even to the mountains;
the ravines will be filled with your gore.
7 When I snuff you out,
I will cover the heavens
and darken their stars.
I will cover the sun with a cloud,(F)
and the moon will not give its light.
8 I will darken all the shining lights
in the heavens over you,
and will bring darkness on your land.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.
9 I will trouble the hearts of many peoples,
when I bring about your destruction
among the nations,
in countries you do not know.
10 I will cause many nations to be appalled at you,
and their kings will shudder with fear because of you(G)
when I brandish My sword in front of them.
On the day of your downfall
each of them will tremble
every moment(H) for his life.
11 For this is what the Lord God says:
The sword of Babylon’s king
will come against you!
12 I will make your hordes fall
by the swords of warriors,
all of them ruthless men from the nations.(I)
They will ravage Egypt’s pride,
and all its hordes will be destroyed.
13 I will slaughter all its cattle
that are beside many waters.
No human foot will churn them again,
and no cattle hooves will disturb them.(J)
14 Then I will let their waters settle
and will make their rivers flow like oil.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.
15 When I make the land of Egypt a desolation,
so that it is emptied of everything in it,
when I strike down all who live there,
then they will know that I am Yahweh.(K)
16 “This is a lament that will be chanted;(L) the women of the nations will chant it. They will chant it over Egypt and all its hordes.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ezekiel 32:2 Or Lion of the nations, you are destroyed;
- Ezekiel 32:2 Lit their
- Ezekiel 32:3 LXX, Vg read I
Ezekiel 32:1-16
International Standard Version
Another Prophecy about Egypt
32 On the first day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year of our captivity,[a] a message came to me from the Lord, who had this to say:
2 “Son of Man, start singing this lamentation about Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Tell him,
‘You may have called yourself a lion among nations,
but you’re a monster at sea.
You thrash about in your rivers,
muddy the water with your feet,
and relieve yourself in the rivers.’
3 “This is what the Lord God says:
‘I’m coming fishing for you!
Right in the sight of many nations
they’ll haul you up in my dragnet.
4 I’ll fling you up onto the land;
I’ll haul you into the field,
I’ll make every carrion-eating bird come to dine on you,
and I’ll make all the scavenging animals gorge themselves on you.
5 I’ll cover the mountains with your flesh
and fill their valleys with your rotting carcass.[b]
6 I’ll drench the land with your blood,
right up to the mountains,
and the ravines will overflow
with blood that comes from you!
7 When I extinguish your lights,
I’ll cover the heavens
and darken their stars.
I’ll cover the sun with a cloud
and the moon won’t reflect its light.
8 I’ll darken the bright lights in the sky above you
and bring darkness to your territory,’
declares the Lord God.
9 “‘I’ll bring distress to the hearts of many nations when I destroy you among nations whose territories you have not known. 10 I’ll make many nations be appalled at you, and their kings will be terrified because of you when I brandish my sword right in their face. They will all tremble from fear for their own safety[c] on the day that you fall!’
11 “This is what the Lord God says: ‘The army[d] of the king of Babylon will attack you. 12 I’m going to make your gangs die using the weapons of valiant warriors, all of whom are ruthless people.
‘They will devastate the majesty of Egypt,
destroying all of its hordes.
13 I’m going to destroy all of its livestock
along its many riverbanks.
Human feet won’t muddy the rivers anymore,
nor will the hooves of livestock stir up the water.
14 That’s when I’ll make their waterways flow smoothly,
and their rivers flow like olive oil,’[e]
declares the Lord God.”
15 ‘When I turn the land of Egypt into a desolation,
and the land is emptied of everything that used to fill it,
when I strike everyone who lives there,
they will learn that I am the Lord.’
16 “This has been a lamentation. They will chant it, and the citizens[f] of the nations will chant it, too. They’ll chant it about Egypt and about all of its hordes.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ezekiel 32:1 The Heb. lacks of our captivity
- Ezekiel 32:5 So MT; the Syr. Peshittas read your maggots
- Ezekiel 32:10 Lit. soul
- Ezekiel 32:11 Lit. sword
- Ezekiel 32:14 I.e. the rivers will be undisturbed by human activity
- Ezekiel 32:16 Lit. daughters
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