A Lament Over Pharaoh

32 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month on the first day, the word of the Lord came to me:(A) “Son of man, take up a lament(B) concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:

“‘You are like a lion(C) among the nations;
    you are like a monster(D) in the seas(E)
thrashing about in your streams,
    churning the water with your feet
    and muddying the streams.(F)

“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘With a great throng of people
    I will cast my net over you,
    and they will haul you up in my net.(G)
I will throw you on the land
    and hurl you on the open field.
I will let all the birds of the sky settle on you
    and all the animals of the wild gorge themselves on you.(H)
I will spread your flesh on the mountains
    and fill the valleys(I) with your remains.
I will drench the land with your flowing blood(J)
    all the way to the mountains,
    and the ravines will be filled with your flesh.(K)
When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens
    and darken their stars;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
    and the moon will not give its light.(L)
All the shining lights in the heavens
    I will darken(M) over you;
    I will bring darkness over your land,(N)
declares the Sovereign Lord.
I will trouble the hearts of many peoples
    when I bring about your destruction among the nations,
    among[a] lands you have not known.
10 I will cause many peoples to be appalled at you,
    and their kings will shudder with horror because of you
    when I brandish my sword(O) before them.
On the day(P) of your downfall
    each of them will tremble
    every moment for his life.(Q)

11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘The sword(R) of the king of Babylon(S)
    will come against you.(T)
12 I will cause your hordes to fall
    by the swords of mighty men—
    the most ruthless of all nations.(U)
They will shatter the pride of Egypt,
    and all her hordes will be overthrown.(V)
13 I will destroy all her cattle
    from beside abundant waters
no longer to be stirred by the foot of man
    or muddied by the hooves of cattle.(W)
14 Then I will let her waters settle
    and make her streams flow like oil,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 When I make Egypt desolate
    and strip the land of everything in it,
when I strike down all who live there,
    then they will know that I am the Lord.(X)

16 “This is the lament(Y) they will chant for her. The daughters of the nations will chant it; for Egypt and all her hordes they will chant it, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 32:9 Hebrew; Septuagint bring you into captivity among the nations, / to

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:

“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.’

“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.
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.
I’ll cover the mountains with your flesh
    and fill their valleys with your rotting carcass.[b]
I’ll drench the land with your blood,
    right up to the mountains,
and the ravines will overflow
    with blood that comes from you!
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.
I’ll darken the bright lights in the sky above you
    and bring darkness to your territory,’
        declares the Lord God.

“‘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.”

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 32:1 The Heb. lacks of our captivity
  2. Ezekiel 32:5 So MT; the Syr. Peshittas read your maggots
  3. Ezekiel 32:10 Lit. soul
  4. Ezekiel 32:11 Lit. sword
  5. Ezekiel 32:14 I.e. the rivers will be undisturbed by human activity
  6. Ezekiel 32:16 Lit. daughters