Ezekiel 32:17-33:20
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Another Lament over Egypt. 17 [a]On the fifteenth day of that month in the twelfth year, the word of the Lord came to me:
18 Son of man, wail over the hordes of Egypt—
you and the women of mighty nations—
Send them down to the underworld,
with those who go down into the pit.
19 Whom do you excel in beauty? Go down!
Be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!
20 Among those slain by the sword they will fall,
for the sword has been appointed!
Seize Egypt and all its hordes.(A)
21 Out of Sheol the mighty warriors
will speak to him and his allies:
Let them descend and lie down among the uncircumcised,
those slain by the sword!(B)
22 There is Assyria and all its company,
around it are its graves,
all of them slain, fallen by the sword.
23 The graves are set
in the recesses of the pit;
Its company is assembled
around its grave,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword,
those who spread terror in the land of the living.(C)
24 There is Elam and all its horde
around its grave,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword;
they descended uncircumcised
into the underworld,
Those who spread their terror
in the land of the living.
They bear their disgrace
with those who go down into the pit.
25 Among the slain is set its bed,
with all its horde around its grave;
All of them uncircumcised,
slain by the sword
Because of the terror they spread
in the land of the living.
They bear their disgrace
with those who go down into the pit.
Among the slain it is set!
26 There is Meshech and Tubal[b] and all the hordes
surrounding it with their graves.
All of them uncircumcised,
slain by the sword
Because they spread their terror
in the land of the living.(D)
27 They do not rest with the warriors
who fell in ancient times,
who went down to Sheol fully armed.
Their swords were placed under their heads
and their shields laid over their bones;
For there was terror of these warriors
in the land of the living.
28 But as for you, among the uncircumcised
you will be broken and laid to rest
with those slain by the sword.
29 There is Edom, all its kings and princes,
who, despite their might,
are put with those slain by the sword.
They lie among the uncircumcised,
with those who go down into the pit.(E)
30 There are the generals of the north
and all the Sidonians
Who have gone down with the slain,
because of the terror their might inspired.
They lie uncircumcised
with those slain by the sword,
And bear their shame with those
who have gone down into the pit.(F)
31 When Pharaoh sees them,
he will be consoled on behalf of all his hordes,
slain by the sword—
Pharaoh and all his army—
oracle of the Lord God.
32 I spread terror of him
in the land of the living;
Now he is laid among the uncircumcised,
with those slain by the sword—
Pharaoh and all his horde—
oracle of the Lord God.
IV. Hope for the Future
Chapter 33
The Prophet as Sentinel. 1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, speak to your people and tell them: When I bring the sword against a land, if the people of that land select one of their number as a sentinel[c] for them,(G) 3 and the sentinel sees the sword coming against the land, he should blow the trumpet to warn the people.(H) 4 If they hear the trumpet but do not take the warning and a sword attacks and kills them, their blood will be on their own heads.(I) 5 They heard the trumpet blast but ignored the warning; their blood is on them. If they had heeded the warning, they could have escaped with their lives. 6 If, however, the sentinel sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the sword attacks and takes someone’s life, his life will be taken for his own sin, but I will hold the sentinel responsible for his blood.
7 (J)You, son of man—I have appointed you as a sentinel for the house of Israel; when you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them for me. 8 When I say to the wicked, “You wicked, you must die,” and you do not speak up to warn the wicked about their ways, they shall die in their sins, but I will hold you responsible for their blood. 9 If, however, you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, but they do not, then they shall die in their sins, but you shall save your life.
Individual Retribution. 10 As for you, son of man, speak to the house of Israel: You people say, “Our crimes and our sins weigh us down; we are rotting away because of them. How can we survive?”(K) 11 (L)Answer them: As I live—oracle of the Lord God—I swear I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! Why should you die, house of Israel?
12 As for you, son of man, say to your people: The justice of the just will not save them on the day they sin; the wickedness of the wicked will not bring about their downfall on the day they turn from their wickedness. No, the just cannot save their lives on the day they sin.(M) 13 Even though I say to the just that they shall surely live, if they, relying on their justice, do wrong, none of their just deeds shall be remembered; because of the wrong they have done, they shall die.(N) 14 And though I say to the wicked that they shall die, if they turn away from sin and do what is just and right— 15 returning pledges, restoring stolen goods, walking by statutes that bring life, doing nothing wrong—they shall surely live; they shall not die.(O) 16 None of the sins they committed shall be remembered against them. If they do what is right and just, they shall surely live.
17 Your people say, “The way of the Lord is not fair!” But it is their way that is not fair. 18 When the just turn away from justice and do wrong, they shall die for it.(P) 19 When the wicked turn away from wickedness and do what is right and just, because of this they shall live. 20 But still you say, “The way of the Lord is not fair!” I will judge each of you according to your ways, house of Israel.
Footnotes
- 32:17–32 The description of Pharaoh in Sheol shifts rapidly between the single individual and the collective body, between corpses speaking and corpses lying inert, between singular (his, hers, its) and plural (them, theirs) pronouns to emphasize that all the enemies of Israel come to the same end.
- 32:26 Meshech and Tubal: see note on 38:2.
- 33:2 Sentinel: the theme of the sentinel’s duty initiates a new commission to announce salvation (chaps. 33–48), just as the same command (3:17–21) opened Ezekiel’s ministry to announce judgment (chaps. 3–24).
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.