Egypt Cut Down Like a Great Tree(A)

31 Now it came to pass in the (B)eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude:

(C)‘Whom are you like in your greatness?
(D)Indeed Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon,
With fine branches that shaded the forest,
And of high stature;
And its top was among the thick boughs.
(E)The waters made it grow;
Underground waters gave it height,
With their rivers running around the place where it was planted,
And sent out [a]rivulets to all the trees of the field.

‘Therefore (F)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.
All the (G)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.

‘Thus it was beautiful in greatness and in the length of its branches,
Because its roots reached to abundant waters.
The cedars in the (H)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.
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.’

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 31:4 Or channels
  2. Ezekiel 31:6 Lit. dwelled
  3. Ezekiel 31:8 Or plane, Heb. armon

31 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

“Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: “‘Whom art thou like in thy greatness?

Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.

The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field.

Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters when he shot forth.

All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young; and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.

Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches, for his root was by great waters.

The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him; the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches, nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.

I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches, so that all the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God envied him.

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