Beginning
Egypt Learns from Assyria’s Demise
31 On the first day of the third month of the eleventh year of our captivity,[a] this message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of Man, tell this to Pharaoh, king of Egypt and his gangs:
‘Who do you think you are?
What makes you so great?
3 Think about Assyria,[b]
that cedar of Lebanon,
beautiful with its branches,
like a shady forest,
with an awesome height,
its summit touches the clouds.
4 Abundant water made it great,
Subterranean rivers made it grow.
Rivers surrounded the area where it had been planted,
and water channels nourished all the trees in the fields.
5 That’s why it grew taller than any of the trees in the fields.
Its boughs flourished.
Its branches grew luxurious
because all the water made it spread out well.
6 The birds in the sky made nests in its boughs;
all the beasts of the field gave birth under its branches.
All the great nations rested in its shade.
7 ‘Beautiful because it was so great,
with its long branches,
it was rooted in many bodies of water.[c]
8 The cedars in God’s garden could not compare to it;
Fir trees could not match its boughs.
The plane tree[d] never grew branches like it,
and no tree in God’s garden compares to its beauty.
9 I made it beautiful,
including all of its branches;
all the trees in God’s garden of Eden envied it!’”
Assyria’s Fall Due to Arrogance
10 “Therefore this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because of its towering height, with its summit reaching into the clouds, and because it was haughty in its position,[e] 11 I turned it over to the leader of those[f] nations, who dealt with it thoroughly. I have driven it away because of its wickedness. 12 Foreign dictators have trimmed it down to size and abandoned it. Its branches have fallen off on mountains and in all the valleys. Its boughs have broken off in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth have moved out of its shade and abandoned it. 13 All the birds in the sky will live among its ruins, and the wild animals[g] will forage among its branches. 14 As a result, none of its watered trees will grow tall, their tops will never reach to the clouds, and they’ll never grow so high again, because all of them have been appointed[h] to death in the world beneath where human beings go, that is, down to the Pit.’”[i]
Fear at Assyria’s Fall
15 “This is what the Lord God says: ‘On the day that it descended into Sheol,[j] I shut down its water supplies, covered over its deep water, and shut down its rivers. As a result its abundant water sources dried up, and I caused Lebanon to mourn for it. All the trees of the field wilted because of it. 16 I made the nations tremble when they heard that Assyria[k] was falling, descending into Sheol[l] to join those who go down into the Pit.[m] Then all of the trees of Eden in the world below were comforted, including the choicest and best of Lebanon, all of whom were well-watered. 17 They also went down with it into Sheol,[n] to those who had been killed violently[o] and to those who had trusted in its strength by living in its shadow among the nations. 18 So tell me now, which of the trees of Eden compares to you in glory or greatness? Nevertheless, you’ll be brought down, along with those trees of Eden, to the earth below. You’ll lie in the middle of the uncircumcised, with those who have been killed in war.[p] Pharaoh and all his gang will be just like this!’ declares the Lord God.”
Another Prophecy about Egypt
32 On the first day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year of our captivity,[q] a message came to me from the Lord, who had this to say:
2 “Son of Man, start singing this lamentation about Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Tell him,
‘You may have called yourself a lion among nations,
but you’re a monster at sea.
You thrash about in your rivers,
muddy the water with your feet,
and relieve yourself in the rivers.’
3 “This is what the Lord God says:
‘I’m coming fishing for you!
Right in the sight of many nations
they’ll haul you up in my dragnet.
4 I’ll fling you up onto the land;
I’ll haul you into the field,
I’ll make every carrion-eating bird come to dine on you,
and I’ll make all the scavenging animals gorge themselves on you.
5 I’ll cover the mountains with your flesh
and fill their valleys with your rotting carcass.[r]
6 I’ll drench the land with your blood,
right up to the mountains,
and the ravines will overflow
with blood that comes from you!
7 When I extinguish your lights,
I’ll cover the heavens
and darken their stars.
I’ll cover the sun with a cloud
and the moon won’t reflect its light.
8 I’ll darken the bright lights in the sky above you
and bring darkness to your territory,’
declares the Lord God.
9 “‘I’ll bring distress to the hearts of many nations when I destroy you among nations whose territories you have not known. 10 I’ll make many nations be appalled at you, and their kings will be terrified because of you when I brandish my sword right in their face. They will all tremble from fear for their own safety[s] on the day that you fall!’
11 “This is what the Lord God says: ‘The army[t] of the king of Babylon will attack you. 12 I’m going to make your gangs die using the weapons of valiant warriors, all of whom are ruthless people.
‘They will devastate the majesty of Egypt,
destroying all of its hordes.
13 I’m going to destroy all of its livestock
along its many riverbanks.
Human feet won’t muddy the rivers anymore,
nor will the hooves of livestock stir up the water.
14 That’s when I’ll make their waterways flow smoothly,
and their rivers flow like olive oil,’[u]
declares the Lord God.”
15 ‘When I turn the land of Egypt into a desolation,
and the land is emptied of everything that used to fill it,
when I strike everyone who lives there,
they will learn that I am the Lord.’
16 “This has been a lamentation. They will chant it, and the citizens[v] of the nations will chant it, too. They’ll chant it about Egypt and about all of its hordes.”
Babylon’s Invasion of Egypt
17 On the fifteenth day of the first[w] month of the twelfth year of our captivity,[x] a message from the Lord came to me, and this is what it said: 18 “Son of Man, mourn about the hordes of Egypt. Bring them down—that is, her and the citizens[y] of those majestic[z] nations—whose destiny is the deep part of the Pit.[aa]
19 “So who’s more beautiful than you?
You’ll be buried with the uncircumcised.[ab]
20 “They’ll die along with others who are killed violently.[ac] Egypt has been given over to violence,[ad] which will carry off both it and its hordes.”
Egypt Condemned by the Dead
21 “Mighty leaders will address them and those who assist them right out of the middle of Sheol:[ae] ‘They’ve come down and will lie still, these uncircumcised people who have died violently.’[af] 22 Assyria will be there, along with all of those who keep company with her,[ag] all of them killed violently. 23 Her grave will be set in the remotest part of the Pit,[ah] surrounded by those who accompanied her. All of them will have been killed, executed violently, who spread terror throughout the land of the living.
24 “Elam will be there. Its hordes will surround Elam’s[ai] grave. All of them have been killed. They died[aj] violently, and they have descended uncircumcised into the world below after having spread terror throughout the land of the living. They will bear the shame of those who descend to the Pit.[ak] 25 They have prepared a bed for her and for her hordes that surround her graves. All of them are uncircumcised, having been killed violently, because they had spread terror throughout the land of the living. They will bear the shame of those who descend to the Pit[al] and will take their place among the dead.
26 “Meshech and Tubal will be there, along with all of the hordes that surround her grave. Every one of them is uncircumcised, killed violently, because they spread terror throughout the land of the living. 27 They won’t be buried with dead warriors from ancient times, who went straight to Sheol,[am] buried with their war weapons, with their swords placed under their heads and their shields laid on top of their bones, since they spread terror throughout the land of the living. 28 You’ll be broken, and you’ll lie down with the uncircumcised who died violently.
29 “Edom will be there, along with its kings and princes who despite all their power have been killed violently. They, too, are lying dead, along with the uncircumcised; that is, with those who descend into the Pit.[an]
30 “All of the princes from the North are there, along with the Sidonians, who have gone down in shame to join those who have been killed because of all the terror they caused by their military might. They lie dead, uncircumcised, with those who have been killed violently. They will bear their shame, along with those who descend into the Pit.[ao]
31 “When Pharaoh sees them, he will take comfort in his hordes. Pharaoh and all his army will die violently,” says the Lord God, 32 “because he spread terror throughout the land of the living. Therefore he’ll be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, who have been killed violently; that is, Pharaoh and all of his hordes,” declares the Lord God.
Warnings for Watchmen
33 This message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of Man, speak to your nation’s children and tell them: ‘If I bring war[ap] to a land, and the people of that land appoint one of their conscripted men[aq] to serve as a sentinel, 3 and if he notices that violence[ar] is approaching and sounds an alarm to warn the people, 4 then if anyone who hears the sound of the alarm does not heed the warning, when the sword arrives and destroys him, his shed blood will remain his own responsibility.[as] 5 After all, he heard the alarm sounding, but did not heed the warning, so his shed blood will remain his own responsibility.[at] If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved himself.[au] 6 If that sentinel notices that violence is approaching, but does not sound an alarm, then because the nation does not take warning and the sword arrives and destroys their lives because of their guilt, I’ll seek retribution for their shed blood from the[av] one who was acting as sentinel.’”
Warning for Ezekiel
7 “Now as for you, Son of Man, I’ve established you as a sentinel for the house of Israel. So whenever you hear a message from me,[aw] you are to warn the people[ax] from me. 8 If I should say to a certain wicked person, ‘You wicked man, you’re certainly about to die,’ but you don’t warn him to turn from his wicked behavior,[ay] he’ll die in his guilt, but I’ll seek retribution for his bloodshed from you.[az] 9 However, if you warn the wicked to turn from his behavior[ba] and he does not do so, he will die in his guilt, and you will have saved yourself.”[bb]
God Hates the Death of the Wicked
10 “‘Now, Son of Man, tell this to the house of Israel:
‘You keep saying, “Our crimes and sins burden us so much that we’re rotting away, so how can we keep on living?”’
11 “Tell them, ‘As certainly as I’m alive and living,’ declares the Lord God, ‘I receive no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Instead, my pleasure is that the wicked repent from their behavior[bc] and live. Turn back! Turn back, all of you, from your wicked behavior! Why do you have to die, you house of Israel?’”
Human Effort is Useless in Sustaining Righteousness
12 “And now, Son of Man, say this to your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous won’t save them when they keep on committing crimes against me, the wickedness of the wicked won’t keep them from remaining away[bd] when they’re turning from their wickedness, and no righteous person will keep on living by their righteousness when they sin.’
13 “If I tell the righteous person that he will certainly live, if he trusts in his own righteousness and commits evil, none of his righteousness will be remembered, and he will die because of the wrong that he commits.
14 “If I tell the wicked person that he will certainly die, if he turns from his sin and acts with justice and righteousness, 15 returning what has been placed as collateral for a loan, paying back what he has taken, following the regulations that promote life, and committing no iniquity, he will certainly live, and not die. 16 None of the sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. Since he did what is just and right, he will certainly live.
17 “Nevertheless, your people’s children keep saying, ‘Living life the Lord’s way[be] isn’t right,’ when all the while it is their way of living[bf] that isn’t right. 18 When a righteous man forsakes his own righteousness and commits evil acts, he will die because of those acts, 19 and when the wicked turn away from their wickedness and do what is just and right, he will certainly live because of that. 20 “And yet you keep saying, ‘Living life[bg] the Lord’s way isn’t right,’ But I will judge every one of you according to the way you live, you house of Israel!”
False Reliance on Abraham’s Heritage
21 On the fifth day of the tenth month of the twelfth year of our captivity, a fugitive who had escaped from Jerusalem came and informed me, “The city has been destroyed.”
22 Now the hand of the Lord had been touching me the evening before that fugitive arrived, so the Lord had given me something to say by the time the messenger[bh] arrived the next morning. He opened my mouth and I no longer had nothing to say to him.[bi] 23 As a result, this message came to me from the Lord:
24 “Son of Man, those who are living among these ruins of the land of Israel keep saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, but he was able to possess the land! As for us, we’re a multitude, and the land has been given to us as an inheritance.’ 25 So tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “You keep eating flesh along with its blood, you keep looking to your idols, and you keep shedding blood, and you’re going to take possession of the land? 26 You keep trusting in your weapons, you continue to commit loathsome deeds, men keep defiling their neighbors’ wives, and you’re going to take possession of the land?’
27 “Tell them this: ‘This is what the Lord God says: “As certainly as I’m alive and living, those who live in the wastelands are certain to die violently,[bj] I’ll give those who die in the open fields to the wild animals for food, and whoever takes refuge in caves and fortified places will die of diseases. 28 Then I’ll turn the land into a desolate ruin and her arrogant strength will come to an abrupt end. The mountains of Israel will become so desolate that no one will be able to travel over them.” 29 ‘Then they’ll learn that I am the Lord, when I’ve turned their land into a desolate wasteland because of all of the loathsome deeds that they’ve committed.’”
The Disobedient Exiles of Babylon
30 “Now as for you, Son of Man, your nation’s children keep gathering together to talk about you beside the walls and at the doorway to their houses. Everyone tells one another, ‘Please come! Let’s go hear what the Lord has to say!’ 31 Then they come to you as a group, sit down right in front of you as if they were my people, hear your words—and then they don’t do what you say—[bk] because they’re seeking only their own desires,[bl] they pursue ill-gotten profits, and they keep following their own self-interests. 32 As far as they are concerned, you sing romantic songs with a beautiful voice and play a musical instrument well. They’ll listen to what you have to say, but they won’t put it into practice! 33 When all of this comes about—and you can be sure that it will!—they’ll learn that a prophet has been in their midst.”
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