Lament over Pharaoh and Egypt

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

‘You [a]compared 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 [b]fouled their rivers.’”

Thus says the Lord [c]God,

“Now I will (F)spread My net over you
With a company of many peoples,
And they shall lift you up in My net.
“I will leave you on the land;
I will cast you on the [d]open field.
And I will cause all the (G)birds of the heavens to dwell on you,
And I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth [e]with you.
“I will lay 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 set darkness on your land,”
Declares the Lord God.

“I will also (O)trouble 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 (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 fall.”

11 For (S)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 (T)tyrants of the nations,

And they will (U)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 (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 run like oil,”
Declares the Lord God.
15 “When I make the land of Egypt a (W)desolation,
And the land is destitute of that which filled it,
When I smite all those who live in it,
Then they shall (X)know that I am the Lord.

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

17 In the (Z)twelfth year, on the (AA)fifteenth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me saying, 18 “Son of man, (AB)wail for the hordes of Egypt and (AC)bring it down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the (AD)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 (AE)uncircumcised.’

20 They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword. [i]She is given over to the sword; they have (AF)drawn her and all her hordes away. 21 The (AG)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 (AH)Assyria is there and all her company; [j]her graves are round about [k]her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, 23 whose (AI)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 [l]spread terror in the land of the living.

24 (AJ)Elam is there and all her hordes around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised to the (AK)lower parts of the earth, who instilled their terror in the (AL)land of the living and (AM)bore their disgrace with those who went down to the pit. 25 They have made a (AN)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 [m]instilled in the land of the living), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit; [n]they were put in the midst of the slain.

26 (AO)Meshech, (AP)Tubal and all their hordes are there; their graves [o]surround them. All of them were slain by the sword (AQ)uncircumcised, though they instilled their terror in the land of the living. 27 (AR)Nor do they lie beside the fallen [p](AS)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 (AT)iniquity rested on their bones, though the terror of these [q]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 (AU)Edom, its kings and all its [r]princes, who [s]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 [t]chiefs of the (AV)north, all of them, and all the (AW)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 (AX)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

  1. Ezekiel 32:2 Or were like
  2. Ezekiel 32:2 Lit fouled by stamping
  3. Ezekiel 32:3 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
  4. Ezekiel 32:4 Lit surface of the field
  5. Ezekiel 32:4 Lit from
  6. Ezekiel 32:16 Or lament
  7. Ezekiel 32:16 Or lament
  8. Ezekiel 32:16 Or lament
  9. Ezekiel 32:20 Or The sword is given
  10. Ezekiel 32:22 Lit his
  11. Ezekiel 32:22 Lit him
  12. Ezekiel 32:23 Lit gave, and so throughout the ch
  13. Ezekiel 32:25 Lit given
  14. Ezekiel 32:25 So with ancient versions; M.T. reads he was
  15. Ezekiel 32:26 Lit are around him
  16. Ezekiel 32:27 Or mighty ones
  17. Ezekiel 32:27 Or mighty ones
  18. Ezekiel 32:29 Or leaders
  19. Ezekiel 32:29 Or in
  20. Ezekiel 32:30 Or princes