I was looking, and behold,
^(A)A tree in the midst of the earth,
And its height was great.
¹¹ The tree grew and became strong;
Its height reached to the heavens,
And it could be seen to the ends of all the earth.
¹² Its leaves were lovely,
Its fruit abundant,
And in it was food for all.
^(B)The beasts of the field found shade under it,
The birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches,
And all flesh was fed from it.

^(E)‘Chop down the tree and cut off its branches,
Strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit.
^(F)Let the beasts get out from under it,
And the birds from its branches.

⁵ ‘Therefore ^(C)its height was exalted above all the trees of the field;
Its boughs were multiplied,
And its branches became long because of the abundance of water,
As it sent them out.
⁶ All the ^(D)birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs;
Under its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young;
And in its shadow all great nations ^[b]made their home.

⁷ ‘Thus it was beautiful in greatness and in the length of its branches,
Because its roots reached to abundant waters.
⁸ The cedars in the ^(E)garden of God could not hide it;
The fir trees were not like its boughs,
And the ^[c]chestnut trees were not like its branches;
No tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty.
⁹ I made it beautiful with a multitude of branches,
So that all the trees of Eden envied it,
That were in the garden of God.’

²⁰ The ^(A)breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord,
^(B)Was caught in their pits,
Of whom we said, “Under his shadow
We shall live among the nations.”