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The Lofty Cedar
31 In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes:
Whom are you like in your greatness?(A)
3 Consider Assyria, a cedar of Lebanon,
with fair branches and forest shade,
and of great height,
its top among the clouds.(B)
4 The waters nourished it;
the deep made it grow tall,
flowing with its rivers
around the place it was planted,
sending forth its streams
to all the trees of the field.(C)
5 So it towered high
above all the trees of the field;
its boughs grew large
and its branches long,
from abundant water in its shoots.(D)
6 All the birds of the air
made their nests in its boughs;
under its branches all the animals of the field
gave birth to their young,
and in its shade
all great nations lived.(E)
7 It was beautiful in its greatness,
in the length of its branches,
for its roots went down
to abundant water.
8 The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it
nor the fir trees equal its boughs;
the plane trees were as nothing
compared with its branches;
no tree in the garden of God
was like it in beauty.(F)
9 I made it beautiful
with its mass of branches,
the envy of all the trees of Eden
that were in the garden of God.
10 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because it[a] towered high and set its top among the clouds and its heart was proud of its height,(G) 11 I gave it into the hand of the prince of the nations; he has dealt with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out.(H) 12 Foreigners from the most terrible of the nations have cut it down and left it. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs lie broken in all the watercourses of the land, and all the peoples of the earth went away from its shade and left it.(I)
13 On its fallen trunk settle
all the birds of the air,
and among its boughs lodge
all the wild animals.(J)
14 All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to lofty height or set their tops among the clouds and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height.
For all of them are handed over to death,
to the world below;
along with mortals,
with those who go down to the Pit.(K)
15 Thus says the Lord God: On the day it went down to Sheol I closed the deep over it and covered it; I restrained its rivers, and its mighty waters were checked. I clothed Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it.(L) 16 I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the Pit, and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that were well watered, were consoled in the world below.(M) 17 They also went down to Sheol with it, to those killed by the sword, along with its allies,[b] those who lived in its shade among the nations.(N)
18 Which among the trees of Eden was like you in glory and in greatness? Now you shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the world below; you shall lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are killed by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his horde, says the Lord God.(O)
Lamentation over Pharaoh and Egypt
32 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:
You consider yourself a lion among the nations,
but you are like a dragon in the seas;
you thrash about in your streams,
trouble the water with your feet,
and foul your[c] streams.(P)
3 Thus says the Lord God:
In an assembly of many peoples
I will throw my net over you,
and I[d] will haul you up in my dragnet.(Q)
4 I will throw you on the ground;
on the open field I will fling you
and will cause all the birds of the air to settle on you,
and I will let the wild animals of the whole earth gorge themselves on you.(R)
5 I will strew your flesh on the mountains
and fill the valleys with your carcass.[e]
6 I will drench the land with your flowing blood
up to the mountains,
and the watercourses will be filled with you.(S)
7 When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens
and make their stars dark;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon shall not give its light.(T)
8 All the shining lights of the heavens
I will darken above you
and put darkness on your land,
says the Lord God.
9 I will trouble the hearts of many peoples
as I carry you captive[f] among the nations,
into countries you have not known.(U)
10 I will make many peoples appalled at you;
their kings shall shudder because of you.
When I brandish my sword before them,
they shall tremble every moment
for their lives, each one of them,
on the day of your downfall.(V)
11 For thus says the Lord God:
The sword of the king of Babylon shall come against you.(W)
12 I will cause your hordes to fall
by the swords of mighty ones,
all of them most terrible among the nations.
They shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt,
and all its hordes shall perish.(X)
13 I will destroy all its livestock
from beside abundant waters,
and no human foot shall trouble them any more,
nor shall the hoofs of cattle trouble them.(Y)
14 Then I will make their waters clear
and cause their streams to run like oil, says the Lord God.
15 When I make the land of Egypt desolate
and when the land is stripped of all that fills it,
when I strike down all who live in it,
then they shall know that I am the Lord.(Z)
16 This is a lamentation; it shall be chanted.
The women of the nations shall chant it.
Over Egypt and all its hordes they shall chant it,
says the Lord God.(AA)
Dirge over Egypt
17 In the twelfth year, in the first month,[g] on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:
18 Mortal, wail over the hordes of Egypt
and send them down,
with Egypt[h] and the daughters of majestic nations,
to the world below,
with those who go down to the Pit.(AB)
19 “Whom do you surpass in beauty?
Go down! Be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!”(AC)
20 They shall fall among those who are killed by the sword. Egypt[i] has been handed over to the sword; both it and its hordes will be carried away.[j] 21 The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: “They have come down; they lie still, the uncircumcised, killed by the sword.”(AD)
22 Assyria is there and all its company, their graves all around it, all of them killed, fallen by the sword.(AE) 23 Their graves are set in the uttermost parts of the Pit. Its company is all around its grave, all of them killed, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.(AF)
24 Elam is there and all its hordes around its grave, all of them killed, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into the world below, who spread terror in the land of the living. They bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.(AG) 25 They have made Elam[k] a bed among the slain with all its hordes, their graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit; they are placed among the slain.(AH)
26 Meshech and Tubal are there, and all their multitude, their graves all around them, all of them uncircumcised, pierced by the sword, for they spread terror in the land of the living.(AI) 27 And they do not lie with the fallen warriors of long ago[l] who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads and whose shields[m] are upon their bones; for the terror of the warriors was in the land of the living.(AJ) 28 So you shall be broken and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are killed by the sword.
29 Edom is there, its kings and all its princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the Pit.(AK)
30 The princes of the north are there, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, for all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.(AL)
31 When Pharaoh sees them, he will be consoled for all his hordes—Pharaoh and all his army, killed by the sword, says the Lord God. 32 For he[n] spread terror in the land of the living; therefore he shall be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword—Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord God.
Warnings against Rejecting God’s Grace
14 Pursue peace with everyone and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble and through it many become defiled.(A) 16 See to it that no one becomes an immoral and godless person, as Esau was, who sold his birthright for a single meal.(B) 17 You know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, even though he sought the blessing[a] with tears.(C)
18 You have not come to something[b] that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest,(D) 19 and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them.(E) 20 (For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.”(F) 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”)(G) 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,(H) 23 and to the assembly[c] of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,(I) 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.(J)
25 See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking, for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven!(K) 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.”(L) 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what is shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.(M) 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe, 29 for indeed our God is a consuming fire.(N)
Psalm 113
God the Helper of the Needy
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord;
praise the name of the Lord.(A)
2 Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time on and forevermore.(B)
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised.(C)
4 The Lord is high above all nations
and his glory above the heavens.(D)
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,(E)
6 who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?(F)
7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!(G)
Psalm 114
God’s Wonders at the Exodus
1 [a]When Israel went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,(H)
2 Judah became God’s[b] sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.(I)
3 The sea looked and fled;
Jordan turned back.(J)
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.(K)
5 Why is it, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
6 O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.