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A Warning for Pharaoh

32 On March 3,[a] during the twelfth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, mourn for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and give him this message:

“You think of yourself as a strong young lion among the nations,
    but you are really just a sea monster,
heaving around in your own rivers,
    stirring up mud with your feet.
Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
I will send many people
    to catch you in my net
    and haul you out of the water.
I will leave you stranded on the land to die.
    All the birds of the heavens will land on you,
and the wild animals of the whole earth
    will gorge themselves on you.
I will scatter your flesh on the hills
    and fill the valleys with your bones.
I will drench the earth with your gushing blood
    all the way to the mountains,
    filling the ravines to the brim.
When I blot you out,
    I will veil the heavens and darken the stars.
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
    and the moon will not give you its light.
I will darken the bright stars overhead
    and cover your land in darkness.
    I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!

“I will disturb many hearts when I bring news of your downfall to distant nations you have never seen. 10 Yes, I will shock many lands, and their kings will be terrified at your fate. They will shudder in fear for their lives as I brandish my sword before them on the day of your fall. 11 For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“The sword of the king of Babylon
    will come against you.
12 I will destroy your hordes with the swords of mighty warriors—
    the terror of the nations.
They will shatter the pride of Egypt,
    and all its hordes will be destroyed.
13 I will destroy all your flocks and herds
    that graze beside the streams.
Never again will people or animals
    muddy those waters with their feet.
14 Then I will let the waters of Egypt become calm again,
    and they will flow as smoothly as olive oil,
    says the Sovereign Lord.
15 And when I destroy Egypt
    and strip you of everything you own
and strike down all your people,
    then you will know that I am the Lord.
16 Yes, this is the funeral song
    they will sing for Egypt.
Let all the nations mourn.
    Let them mourn for Egypt and its hordes.
    I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

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Footnotes

  1. 32:1 Hebrew On the first day of the twelfth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This event occurred on March 3, 585 B.c.; also see note on 1:1.

A Lament over Pharaoh and Egypt

32 And it happened in the (A)twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “Son of man, take up a (B)lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him,

‘You liken yourself to a young (C)lion of the nations,
Yet you are like the (D)monster in the seas;
And you (E)burst forth in your rivers
And muddied the waters with your feet
And [a]fouled their rivers.’”

Thus says Lord Yahweh,

“So I will (F)spread My net over you
With an assembly of many peoples,
And they shall bring you up in My net.
I will abandon you on the land;
I will hurl you on the [b]open field.
And I will cause all the (G)birds of the sky to dwell on you,
And I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth [c]with you.
I will put your flesh (H)on the mountains
And fill the valleys with your refuse.
I will also make the land drink the discharge of your (I)blood
As far as the mountains,
And the ravines will be full of you.
And when I (J)extinguish you,
I will (K)cover the heavens and darken their (L)stars;
I will cover the (M)sun with a cloud,
And the moon will not give its light.
All the shining (N)lights in the heavens
I will darken over you
And will give darkness on your land,”
Declares Lord Yahweh.

“I will also (O)vex the hearts of many peoples when I (P)bring your destruction among the nations, into lands which you have not known. 10 I will make many peoples [d](Q)appalled at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and (R)they will tremble every moment, every man for his own life, on the day of your downfall.”

11 For (S)thus says Lord Yahweh, “The sword of the king of Babylon will come upon you. 12 By the swords of the mighty ones I will cause your multitude to fall; all of them are (T)ruthless ones of the nations,

And they will (U)devastate the lofty pride of Egypt,
And all its multitude will be destroyed.
13 I will also make all its cattle perish from beside many waters;
And (V)the foot of man will not muddy them anymore,
And the hoofs of beasts will not muddy them.
14 Then I will make their waters settle
And will cause their rivers to [e]run like oil,”
Declares Lord Yahweh.
15 “When I make the land of Egypt a (W)desolation,
And the land is desolate of its fullness,
When I strike all those who inhabit it,
Then they shall (X)know that I am Yahweh.

16 This is a (Y)lamentation, and they shall [f]lament over it. The daughters of the nations shall [g]lament over it. Over Egypt and over all her multitude they shall [h]lament over it,” declares Lord Yahweh.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 32:2 Lit fouled by stamping
  2. Ezekiel 32:4 Lit surface of the field
  3. Ezekiel 32:4 Lit from
  4. Ezekiel 32:10 Or feel desolate
  5. Ezekiel 32:14 Lit go, walk
  6. Ezekiel 32:16 Or chant
  7. Ezekiel 32:16 Or chant
  8. Ezekiel 32:16 Or chant