Ezekiel 31-32
New American Standard Bible 1995
Pharaoh Warned of Assyria’s Fate
31 In the (A)eleventh year, in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his (B)hordes,
‘Whom are you like in your greatness?
3 ‘Behold, Assyria was a (C)cedar in Lebanon
With beautiful branches and forest shade,
And [a](D)very high,
And its top was among the [b]clouds.
4 ‘The (E)waters made it grow, the [c]deep made it high.
With its rivers it continually [d]extended all around its planting place,
And sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.
5 ‘Therefore (F)its height was loftier than all the trees of the field
And its boughs became many and its branches long
Because of (G)many waters [e]as it spread them out.
6 ‘All the (H)birds of the heavens nested in its boughs,
And under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth,
And all great nations lived under its shade.
7 ‘So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches;
For its [f]roots extended to many waters.
8 ‘The (I)cedars in (J)God’s garden [g]could not match it;
The [h]cypresses [i]could not compare with its boughs,
And the plane trees [j]could not match its branches.
No tree in (K)God’s garden [k]could compare with it in its beauty.
9 ‘I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches,
And all the trees of (L)Eden, which were in the (M)garden of God, were jealous of it.
10 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord [l]God, “Because [m]it is high in stature and has set its top among the [n]clouds, and its (N)heart is haughty in its loftiness, 11 therefore I will give it into the hand of a [o](O)despot of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. According to its wickedness I have (P)driven it away. 12 (Q)Alien (R)tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; on the (S)mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the peoples of the earth have (T)gone down from its shade and left it. 13 On its ruin all the (U)birds of the heavens will dwell, and all the beasts of the field will be on its fallen branches 14 so that all the trees by the waters may not be exalted in their stature, nor set their top among the [p]clouds, nor their [q]well-watered mighty ones stand erect in their height. For they have all been given over to death, to the (V)earth beneath, among the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit.”
15 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day when it went down to Sheol I (W)caused lamentations; I closed the [r]deep over it and held back its rivers. And its many waters were stopped up, and I made Lebanon [s]mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away on account of it. 16 I made the nations (X)quake at the sound of its fall when I made it (Y)go down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit; and all the [t]well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and best of (Z)Lebanon, were (AA)comforted in the earth beneath. 17 They also (AB)went down with it to Sheol to those who were (AC)slain by the sword; and those who were its [u]strength lived (AD)under its shade among the nations.
18 “To which among the trees of Eden are you thus [v]equal in glory and greatness? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth beneath; you will lie in the midst of the (AE)uncircumcised, with those who were slain by the sword. (AF)So is Pharaoh and all his hordes!”’ declares the Lord God.”
Lament over Pharaoh and Egypt
32 In the (AG)twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, take up a (AH)lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him,
‘You [w]compared yourself to a young (AI)lion of the nations,
Yet you are like the (AJ)monster in the seas;
And you (AK)burst forth in your rivers
And muddied the waters with your feet
And [x]fouled their rivers.’”
3 Thus says the Lord [y]God,
“Now I will (AL)spread My net over you
With a company of many peoples,
And they shall lift you up in My net.
4 “I will leave you on the land;
I will cast you on the [z]open field.
And I will cause all the (AM)birds of the heavens to dwell on you,
And I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth [aa]with you.
5 “I will lay your flesh (AN)on the mountains
And fill the valleys with your refuse.
6 “I will also make the land drink the discharge of your (AO)blood
As far as the mountains,
And the ravines will be full of you.
7 “And when I (AP)extinguish you,
I will (AQ)cover the heavens and darken their (AR)stars;
I will cover the (AS)sun with a cloud
And the moon will not give its light.
8 “All the shining (AT)lights in the heavens
I will darken over you
And will set darkness on your land,”
Declares the Lord God.
9 “I will also (AU)trouble the hearts of many peoples when I (AV)bring your destruction among the nations, into lands which you have not known. 10 I will make many peoples (AW)appalled at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and (AX)they will tremble every moment, every man for his own life, on the day of your fall.”
11 For (AY)thus says the Lord God, “The sword of the king of Babylon will come upon you. 12 By the swords of the mighty ones I will cause your hordes to fall; all of them are (AZ)tyrants of the nations,
And they will (BA)devastate the pride of Egypt,
And all its hordes will be destroyed.
13 “I will also destroy all its cattle from beside many waters;
And (BB)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 run like oil,”
Declares the Lord God.
15 “When I make the land of Egypt a (BC)desolation,
And the land is destitute of that which filled it,
When I smite all those who live in it,
Then they shall (BD)know that I am the Lord.
16 This is a (BE)lamentation and they shall [ab]chant it. The daughters of the nations shall [ac]chant it. Over Egypt and over all her hordes they shall [ad]chant it,” declares the Lord God.
17 In the (BF)twelfth year, on the (BG)fifteenth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me saying, 18 “Son of man, (BH)wail for the hordes of Egypt and (BI)bring it down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the (BJ)nether world, with those who go down to the pit;
19 ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?
Go down and make your bed with the (BK)uncircumcised.’
20 They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword. [ae]She is given over to the sword; they have (BL)drawn her and all her hordes away. 21 The (BM)strong among the mighty ones shall speak of him and his helpers from the midst of Sheol, ‘They have gone down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.’
22 “(BN)Assyria is there and all her company; [af]her graves are round about [ag]her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, 23 whose (BO)graves are set in the remotest parts of the pit and her company is round about her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, who [ah]spread terror in the land of the living.
24 “(BP)Elam is there and all her hordes around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised to the (BQ)lower parts of the earth, who instilled their terror in the (BR)land of the living and (BS)bore their disgrace with those who went down to the pit. 25 They have made a (BT)bed for her among the slain with all her hordes. Her graves are around it, they are all uncircumcised, slain by the sword (although their terror was [ai]instilled in the land of the living), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit; [aj]they were put in the midst of the slain.
26 “(BU)Meshech, (BV)Tubal and all their hordes are there; their graves [ak]surround them. All of them were slain by the sword (BW)uncircumcised, though they instilled their terror in the land of the living. 27 (BX)Nor do they lie beside the fallen [al](BY)heroes of the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war and whose swords were laid under their heads; but the punishment for their (BZ)iniquity rested on their bones, though the terror of these [am]heroes was once in the land of the living. 28 But in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken and lie with those slain by the sword.
29 “There also is (CA)Edom, its kings and all its [an]princes, who [ao]for all their might are laid with those slain by the sword; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.
30 “There also are the [ap]chiefs of the (CB)north, all of them, and all the (CC)Sidonians, who in spite of the terror resulting from their might, in shame went down with the slain. So they lay down uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit.
31 “These Pharaoh will see, and he will be (CD)comforted for all his hordes slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his army,” declares the Lord God. 32 “Though I instilled a terror of him in the land of the living, yet he will be made to lie down among the uncircumcised along with those slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his hordes,” declares the Lord God.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 31:3 Lit high of stature
- Ezekiel 31:3 So Gr; M.T. thick boughs
- Ezekiel 31:4 I.e. subterranean waters
- Ezekiel 31:4 Lit was going
- Ezekiel 31:5 Lit in its sending forth
- Ezekiel 31:7 Lit root was
- Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did
- Ezekiel 31:8 Or Phoenician junipers
- Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did
- Ezekiel 31:8 Lit were not like
- Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did
- Ezekiel 31:10 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
- Ezekiel 31:10 Lit you are
- Ezekiel 31:10 Or thick boughs
- Ezekiel 31:11 Or mighty one
- Ezekiel 31:14 Or thick boughs
- Ezekiel 31:14 Lit drinkers of water
- Ezekiel 31:15 I.e. subterranean waters
- Ezekiel 31:15 Lit be darkened
- Ezekiel 31:16 Lit drinkers of water
- Ezekiel 31:17 Lit arm
- Ezekiel 31:18 Lit like
- Ezekiel 32:2 Or were like
- Ezekiel 32:2 Lit fouled by stamping
- Ezekiel 32:3 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
- Ezekiel 32:4 Lit surface of the field
- Ezekiel 32:4 Lit from
- Ezekiel 32:16 Or lament
- Ezekiel 32:16 Or lament
- Ezekiel 32:16 Or lament
- Ezekiel 32:20 Or The sword is given
- Ezekiel 32:22 Lit his
- Ezekiel 32:22 Lit him
- Ezekiel 32:23 Lit gave, and so throughout the ch
- Ezekiel 32:25 Lit given
- Ezekiel 32:25 So with ancient versions; M.T. reads he was
- Ezekiel 32:26 Lit are around him
- Ezekiel 32:27 Or mighty ones
- Ezekiel 32:27 Or mighty ones
- Ezekiel 32:29 Or leaders
- Ezekiel 32:29 Or in
- Ezekiel 32:30 Or princes
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