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32 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, “Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him,

“You were likened to a young lion of the nations;
    yet you are as a monster in the seas.
You broke out with your rivers,
    and troubled the waters with your feet,
    and fouled their rivers.”
The Lord Yahweh says:
    “I will spread out my net on you with a company of many peoples;
    and they will bring you up in my net.
I will leave you on the land.
    I will cast you out on the open field,
and will cause all the birds of the sky to settle on you.
    I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth with you.
I will lay your flesh on the mountains,
    and fill the valleys with your height.
I will also water the land in which you swim with your blood,
    even to the mountains.
    The watercourses will be full of you.
When I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens
    and make its stars dark.
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
    and the moon won’t give its light.
I will make all the bright lights of the sky dark over you,
    and set darkness on your land,” says the Lord Yahweh.
“I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples,
    when I bring your destruction among the nations,
    into the countries which you have not known.
10 Yes, I will make many peoples amazed at you,
    and their kings will be horribly afraid for you,
when I brandish my sword before them.
    They will tremble at every moment,
every man for his own life,
    in the day of your fall.”
11 For the Lord Yahweh says:
    “The sword of the king of Babylon will come on you.
12 I will cause your multitude to fall by the swords of the mighty.
    They are all the ruthless of the nations.
They will bring the pride of Egypt to nothing,
    and all its multitude will be destroyed.
13 I will destroy also all its animals from beside many waters.
    The foot of man won’t trouble them any more,
    nor will the hoofs of animals trouble them.
14 Then I will make their waters clear,
    and cause their rivers to run like oil,”
    says the Lord Yahweh.
15 “When I make the land of Egypt desolate and waste,
    a land destitute of that of which it was full,
when I strike all those who dwell therein,
    then they will know that I am Yahweh.

16 “‘“This is the lamentation with which they will lament. The daughters of the nations will lament with this. They will lament with it over Egypt, and over all her multitude,” says the Lord Yahweh.’”

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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.