Beginning
31 The Lord gave this message to me on the first day of the 3rd month, in the 11th year: 2 ‘Son of man, say this to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and all his people:
“You think that you are as powerful as any other country!
3 Think about how powerful Assyria was.
At one time, it was as strong as a great cedar tree in Lebanon.
It had beautiful branches that gave shade in the forest.
It was very tall. Its top reached up to the clouds.
4 Springs of water from under the ground helped it to grow very tall.
Rivers passed around the place where the tree was.
Streams from there gave water to all the trees in the forest.
5 So this cedar tree grew taller than all the other trees.
Its branches became large and very long.
It grew very well because it had plenty of water.
6 All kinds of birds built their nests among its leaves.
Under its branches, the wild animals gave birth.
All the great nations lived in its shade.
7 It was great and beautiful, with long branches.
Its roots went down deep into the ground
and they drank plenty of water.
8 The cedar trees in God's garden were not as beautiful.
The branches of the pine trees were not as strong.
No other tree in God's garden was nearly as great or as beautiful.
9 I made that tree beautiful, with all its strong branches.
All the trees in Eden, God's garden, were jealous of that tree.
10 So this is what the Almighty Lord says:
That great tree, Assyria, was very tall. Its top reached up to the clouds. It was very proud because it was so great. 11 Because of that, I put it under the power of the ruler of the nations. He has punished it as it deserved for its sins. In that way, I have removed it. 12 Foreigners from cruel nations have cut it down. They have left it on the ground. Its broken branches lie on the mountains and in the valleys. The people of other nations no longer live in its shade. They have gone away. 13 Now the birds go and sit on the bits of the tree that remain. The wild animals walk over its branches. 14 Because of that, no tree will ever grow as tall again. Even if it receives plenty of water, no tree will grow so tall that its top reaches up to the clouds. All trees will die and fall to the ground. Like people, they must die and go into their graves, under the ground.
15 This is what the Almighty Lord says: This tree has died and it has gone down into its grave. When that happened, I caused people to be very sad. I caused the springs of water to stop. There were no longer streams with plenty of water. I caused the mountains of Lebanon to become dark. All the trees in the forest became dry. 16 The other nations shook when they heard that great tree fall. I had caused it to go down into its grave, deep under the ground, as all people must die. The other strong trees saw what had happened to the great cedar tree. They were the trees of Eden and the best trees of Lebanon that had received plenty of water. They were pleased to see that the great cedar tree had fallen down. 17 The trees that had lived in the great tree's shade also fell and went into their graves. Those are the nations that had helped the great tree to fight its battles. They went to join other soldiers who had died in war.
18 Yes, Egypt is very strong, like the great trees of Eden. You are as great and powerful as any nation. But you will fall to the ground and go into your grave. It happened to Assyria and the other nations, and it will happen to you. You will lie under the ground among people who do not belong to me and who have died in war.
This is a picture of what will happen to Pharaoh and all his people. That is what the Almighty Lord says.” ’[a]
A funeral song for Egypt and its king
32 The Lord gave this message to me on the first day of the 12th month, in the 12th year: 2 ‘Son of man, sing a funeral song about Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Say this to him:
“You have shown your power among the nations,
like a strong lion.
But really you are a monster who lives in the sea.
You live in the rivers of your country.
You beat the water with your feet.
The water of your streams becomes dirty.
3 This is what the Almighty Lord says:
I will bring a big crowd of people together
to catch you in my net.
They will use my net to pull you out of the water.
4 I will throw you onto dry ground
and I will leave you there.
I will bring the birds to fly down from the sky
and sit on you.
I will bring the wild animals to feed themselves on you,
and eat as much as they want.
5 I will put the meat of your body on the mountains.
Your bones will fill the valleys.
6 I will make the ground wet with your blood.
It will pour out of you, up to the mountains.
And it will fill the deep valleys.
7 When I completely destroy you,
I will cover the sky and make the stars become dark.
I will cover the sun with a cloud.
The moon will no longer give any light.
8 I will make the sky over you become dark,
with no lights in it.
Your whole country will become dark.
That is what the Almighty Lord says.
9 When many other nations know that I have destroyed you,
they will be afraid.
Foreign nations that you do not know will be very upset.
10 The people of many countries will be afraid
when they see what I have done to you.
Their kings will shake with fear.
When I wave my sword in front of them,
they will not stop shaking!
At the time that your life finishes,
they will also fear death.
11 This is what the Almighty Lord says:
The king of Babylon will attack you with his army.
12 His brave soldiers will fight against you.
I will cause them to destroy your army.
They are the most cruel of all the nations.
They will stop Egypt's people being proud of their power.
They will destroy all Egypt's armies.
13 I will destroy all Egypt's cows that live beside its great rivers.
So no people or animals will walk in the water any more.
They will not cause the water to become dirty.
14 Then I will cause the water in the rivers to be clean again.
The water will move freely like olive oil.
That is what the Almighty Lord says.
15 I will cause Egypt to become an empty place.
I will remove everything that grows on the land.
I will kill all the people who live there.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
16 That is the funeral song that they will sing about Egypt. Women of many nations will sing it. They will sing it because of the death of Egypt and all her people. That is what the Almighty Lord says.’
17 In the 12th year, the Lord gave this message to me on the 15th day of the month: 18 ‘Son of man, weep for the many people of Egypt. Send them down to the place of dead people, deep under the ground. They will be there in their graves with the people of other powerful nations. 19 Say to them, “You think you are more beautiful than the people of other nations. But you too must go down to lie in your graves among those who do not belong to God.”
20 An enemy has come to attack Egypt! Many of its people will die among the soldiers who die in battle. The enemy will take many of Egypt's people away as their prisoners. 21 In the place of dead people, brave soldiers will welcome the people of Egypt and those who helped them. They will say, “They have come down to join us who do not belong to God. They have died in battle and now they lie in their graves.”
22 The people of Assyria and its whole army are there in their graves! All of them died in battle. 23 Their graves are in the deepest parts of the deep hole of death. Soldiers who fought with them lie all around. They were very cruel to people when they were alive. But they died in battle and now they lie in their graves.
24 The people of Elam and its whole army are also there! All of them died in battle too. They were cruel to many people when they were alive. Now they have gone down deep below the ground, as people who do not belong to God. They are ashamed to join with other people in the deep hole of death. 25 Elam lies there on a bed that people have prepared for her. All Elam's soldiers lie around its grave. None of them belongs to God and they have all died in battle. When they were alive, they made people very afraid. But now they are ashamed, as they lie in their graves among other dead people in the deep hole of death.
26 Meshech and Tubal are also there in their graves, with their soldiers all around. When they were alive, they made people very afraid. Now they have all died in battle and none of them belongs to God. 27 They do not lie with the brave dead soldiers of long ago. Those men went down into their graves with honour. People buried them with their weapons. They put their swords under their heads. When those brave men were alive, they caused people to be very afraid of them.
28 You too, Egypt, will lie in your grave among those who do not belong to God. You will lie beside other people who died in battle.
29 Edom is there, too, with its kings and leaders. They were powerful, but now they lie in their graves, among those who have died in battle. They have gone down into the deep hole of death with those who do not belong to God.
30 All the rulers of the north are there, as well as all the people of Sidon. They used their power to make people very afraid. But now they are ashamed, like other people who have gone down into the deep hole of death. They lie in their graves with those who have died in battle, and they do not belong to God.
31 The Almighty Lord says this: Pharaoh will not feel so sad when he sees all these other dead people in their graves. He and his whole army will know that they are not the only people to have died in battle. 32 When he was alive, I caused him to make people very afraid. But Pharaoh and all his great army will lie in their graves among other people who died in battle. They will lie with people who do not belong to God. That is what I, the Almighty Lord, have said.’
Ezekiel must warn his people
33 The Lord gave this message to me: 2 ‘Son of man, speak to your people. Say to them, “Think about what might happen if I send an army to attack a country. The people of that country might choose one of their own men to be a guard to warn them about danger.[b] 3 Then, if the guard sees that enemy soldiers are ready to attack, he must blow a trumpet to warn his people. 4 Someone might hear the sound of the trumpet, but he does nothing to keep himself safe. If enemy soldiers then come and kill that person, he is guilty of his own death. 5 He deserves to die because he heard the sound of the trumpet, but he did nothing. When the trumpet warned him of danger, he should have got ready. If he had done that, he would have saved his life. 6 But the guard might not blow the trumpet when he sees the enemy. He might not warn his people that the enemy is ready to attack them. Then enemy soldiers might kill some of his people. Those people will die because of their sins. But the guard will be guilty of their death, because he did not warn them of danger.”
7 Son of man, I have chosen you to be a guard for Israel's people. You must listen to the messages that I give you. Then you must use what I say to warn the Israelites. 8 I might say to a wicked person, “You will certainly die because of your sins.” Then you must warn that wicked person to stop doing wicked things. If you do not warn him, he will die because of his sins. But I will say that you are guilty of his death. 9 If you do warn him and he refuses to change, he will die because of his sins. But you will have saved your own life.
10 Son of man, give Israel's people this message: “You are saying, ‘The punishment for our sins is too much for us. We are dying because of all the bad things that we have done. What should we do so that we can continue to live?’ ”
11 Tell them, “It does not make me happy to punish wicked people with death. I, the Almighty Lord, promise you this, as surely as I live. I want wicked people to stop doing wrong things so that they may continue to live. So stop doing evil things! Israel's people, you do not have to die. Turn back to me!”
12 Son of man, you must say to your people, “If a righteous person refuses to obey me, I will punish him. The good things that he has done will not save him. And if a wicked person stops doing bad things, he will no longer be guilty. Righteous people will not continue to live if they start to do bad things.”
13 I may say to righteous people that they will certainly continue to live. But then they may trust in the good things that they have done. They may think that I will not punish them if they start to do evil things. But if they do that, I will destroy them because of their sins. I will not even think about the good things that they did at an earlier time.
14 Also, I may say to wicked people, “You will certainly die because of your sins.” But then they may stop doing bad things. They may start to do things that are good and right. 15 For example, a wicked person might give back something that he has taken from someone as a guarantee. Or he might give back things that he has robbed from people. A wicked person might start to obey the laws that give life. He might stop doing evil things. If wicked people change like that, then they will continue to live. They will not die as punishment for their sins. 16 I will not think about the sins that they have done. Now that they have started to do things that are good and right, they will certainly continue to live.
17 Your people, the Israelites, are saying: “The Lord is not fair in the things that he does!” But it is the people themselves who live in a way that is not fair. 18 If a righteous person stops doing good things and he starts to do evil things, he will die. He deserves to die because of his sins. 19 Also, if a wicked person stops doing bad things and he starts to do things that are good and right, he will continue to live. He deserves to live because he has changed. 20 But you Israelites continue to say, “The Lord is not fair!” But I will judge each of you in a way that you deserve for the things that you have done.’
Ezekiel hears news about Jerusalem
21 This is what happened 12 years after we had come to Babylon as prisoners. It was on the 5th day of the 10th month of that year. A man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me in Babylon.[c] He said, ‘Enemies have taken Jerusalem for themselves.’ 22 Before that man arrived, the Lord had taken hold of me in the night. He had opened my mouth so that I was able to speak again.[d]
23 Then the Lord gave this message to me:
24 ‘Son of man, there are people who continue to live in the places in Israel that have become heaps of stones. Those Israelites are saying, “Abraham was only one man, but God gave him the whole land of Israel. We are many people. So we can be sure that the land now belongs to us.”
25 Because they say that, you must tell them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: You eat meat which still has blood in it. You worship your idols. You also murder people. So you do not deserve to have the land for yourselves. 26 You use violence to get the things that you want. You do disgusting things. You have sex with other men's wives. So you should certainly not have the land!”
27 Say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: I promise you this, as surely as I live. Soldiers will kill the people who live among the heaps of stones. I will cause wild animals to eat the people who live in the fields. Diseases will kill the people who hide in strong buildings and in caves. 28 I will make the land become empty, like a desert. You will no longer be proud of your power. Israel's mountains will become empty places that nobody travels through. 29 I will cause the land to become heaps of stones where nobody lives. I will do that to punish the people for the disgusting things that they have done. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
30 Son of man, the Israelites who are here with you in Babylon are talking about you. They meet together near the walls of the city and at the doors of their houses. They are saying to each other, “Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.”
31 They are my people and they come as a crowd to listen to you. They sit and they listen to your words. But they do not obey what you say. They say that they love me. But really they like to cheat people to get things for themselves. 32 They like to hear your voice. For them, you are like someone who sings beautiful songs about love. They listen to your words but they do not obey them.
33 All these things that I have said will certainly happen. When my people see them happen, they will know that a prophet has lived among them.’
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.