Ezekiel 32:1-16
Lexham English Bible
A Lament for Pharaoh, King of Egypt
32 And then[a] in the twelfth[b] year, in the twelfth[c] month, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came[d] to me, saying,[e] 2 “Son of man,[f] raise a lament over Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and you must say to him,
‘With a fierce, strong lion among nations you compared yourself,
and you are like the sea monster in the seas,
and you thrash about in your rivers,
and you make water turbid with your feet,
and you make your rivers muddy.
3 Thus says the Lord Yahweh:
Now I will spread my net over you
in the assembly of many peoples,
and I will bring you up in my dragnet.
4 And I will throw you on the ground;
on the surface of the open field I will hurl you,
and I will cause every bird of the heaven to dwell on you,
and I will satisfy the animals[g] of all of the world from you.
5 And I will put your flesh on the mountains,
and I will fill the valleys with your carcass.
6 And I will water the land with your discharge from your blood
on the mountains,
and valleys will be filled from[h] you.
7 And I will cover you at[i] extinguishing your heavens,
and I will make dark their stars,
and I will cover the sun with the cloud,
and the moon will not give its light.
8 All[j] sources of light in the heavens,
I will make them dark over you,
and I will put[k] darkness on your land,’”
declares[l] the Lord Yahweh.
9 “And I will disturb the hearts[m] of many peoples
at my bringing about your captivity among the nations,
to countries that you do not know.
10 And I will cause many peoples to be awestruck over you,
and their kings will shudder over you in horror,
at[n] my brandishing my sword before their faces,
and they will tremble continually,[o]
each person for his life,
on the day of your downfall.”
11 For thus says the Lord Yahweh:
“The sword of the king of Babylon,
it will come to you.
12 By the swords of warriors I will cause to fall your hordes
by the most ruthless of the nations, all of them,
and they will devastate the majesty of Egypt,
and all of its hordes will be destroyed.
13 And I will destroy all her domestic livestock
beside[p] many waters.
The feet of humans[q] will not make them turbid again,
and the hooves of domestic livestock will not make them turbid.
14 Then I will make their waters settle,
and their rivers as the olive oil I will let flow,”
declares[r] the Lord Yahweh.
15 “Then I make the land of Egypt a desolation,
so that the land will be stripped from its fullness
when I strike all of those dwelling in it,
and they will know that I am Yahweh.
16 This is[s] a lament, and they will chant it as a lament; the daughters of the nations will chant it as a lament over Egypt, and over all of its hordes they will chant it as a lament,” declares[t] the Lord Yahweh.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ezekiel 32:1 Literally “and it was/happened”
- Ezekiel 32:1 Literally “two of ten”
- Ezekiel 32:1 Literally “in two ten month”
- Ezekiel 32:1 Literally “was”
- Ezekiel 32:1 Literally “to say”
- Ezekiel 32:2 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 32:4 Hebrew “animal”
- Ezekiel 32:6 Or “with”
- Ezekiel 32:7 Or “by”
- Ezekiel 32:8 Or “every”
- Ezekiel 32:8 Or “give”
- Ezekiel 32:8 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 32:9 Hebrew “heart”
- Ezekiel 32:10 Or “when”
- Ezekiel 32:10 Literally “for moments/seconds”
- Ezekiel 32:13 Literally “from on”
- Ezekiel 32:13 Hebrew “human”
- Ezekiel 32:14 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 32:16 Literally “she is”
- Ezekiel 32:16 Literally “declaration of”
Ezekiel 32:1-16
New English Translation
Lamentation over Pharaoh and Egypt
32 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month,[a] the Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, sing a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:
“‘You were like a lion[b] among the nations,
but you are a monster in the seas;
you thrash about in your streams,
stir up the water with your feet,
and muddy your[c] streams.
3 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘I will throw my net over you[d] in the assembly of many peoples;
and they will haul you up in my dragnet.
4 I will leave you on the ground,
I will fling you on the open field,
I will allow[e] all the birds of the sky to settle[f] on you,
and I will permit[g] all the wild animals[h] to gorge themselves on you.
5 I will put your flesh on the mountains,
and fill the valleys with your maggot-infested carcass.[i]
6 I will drench the land with the flow
of your blood up to the mountains,
and the ravines will be full of your blood.[j]
7 When I extinguish you, I will cover the sky;
I will darken its stars.
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon will not shine.[k]
8 I will darken all the lights in the sky over you,
and I will darken your land,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
9 I will disturb[l] many peoples,
when I bring about your destruction among the nations,
among countries you do not know.
10 I will shock many peoples with you,
and their kings will shiver with horror because of you.
When I brandish my sword before them,
every moment each one will tremble for his life, on the day of your fall.
11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘The sword of the king of Babylon[m] will attack[n] you.
12 By the swords of the mighty warriors I will cause your hordes to fall—
all of them are the most terrifying among the nations.
They will devastate the pride of Egypt,
and all its hordes will be destroyed.
13 I will destroy all its cattle beside the plentiful waters;
and no human foot will disturb[o] the waters[p] again,
nor will the hooves of cattle disturb them.
14 Then I will make their waters calm,[q]
and will make their streams flow like olive oil, declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 When I turn the land of Egypt into desolation
and the land is destitute of everything that fills it,
when I strike all those who live in it,
then they will know that I am the Lord.’
16 This is a lament; they will chant it.
The daughters of the nations will chant it.
They will chant it over Egypt and over all her hordes,
declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 32:1 sn This would be March 3, 585 b.c.
- Ezekiel 32:2 tn The lion was a figure of royalty (Ezek 19:1-9).
- Ezekiel 32:2 tc The Hebrew reads, “their streams”; the LXX reads, “your streams.”
- Ezekiel 32:3 tn The expression “throw my net” is common in Ezekiel (12:13; 17:20; 19:8).
- Ezekiel 32:4 tn Or “cause.”
- Ezekiel 32:4 tn Heb “live.”
- Ezekiel 32:4 tn Or “cause.”
- Ezekiel 32:4 tn Heb “the beasts of the field,” referring to wild as opposed to domesticated animals.
- Ezekiel 32:5 tc The Hebrew text is difficult here, apparently meaning “your height.” Following Symmachus and the Syriac, it is preferable to emend the text to read “your maggots.” See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:203.
- Ezekiel 32:6 tn Heb “from you.”
- Ezekiel 32:7 tn Heb “will not shine its light.” For similar features of cosmic eschatology, see Joel 2:10; 3:15; Amos 5:18-20; Zeph 1:5.
- Ezekiel 32:9 tn Heb “I will provoke the heart of.”
- Ezekiel 32:11 sn The king of Babylon referred to here was Nebuchadnezzar (Ezek 21:19).
- Ezekiel 32:11 tn Heb “approach.”
- Ezekiel 32:13 tn Heb “muddy.”
- Ezekiel 32:13 tn Heb “them,” that is, the waters mentioned in the previous line. The translation clarifies the referent.
- Ezekiel 32:14 tn Heb “sink,” that is, to settle and become clear, not muddied.
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