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Egypt Is Compared to a Cedar Tree
31 On the first day of the third month of the eleventh year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me. 2 “Mortal man,” he said, “say to the king of Egypt and all his people:
How powerful you are!
What can I compare you to?
3 You are like[a] a cedar in Lebanon,
With beautiful, shady branches,
A tree so tall it reaches the clouds.[b]
4 There was water to make it grow,
And underground rivers to feed it.
They watered the place where the tree was growing
And sent streams to all the trees of the forest.
5 Because it was well-watered,
It grew taller than other trees.
Its branches grew thick and long.
6 Every kind of bird built nests in its branches;
The wild animals bore their young in its shelter;
The nations of the world rested in its shade.
7 How beautiful the tree was—
So tall, with such long branches.
Its roots reached down to the deep-flowing streams.
8 (A)No cedar in God's garden could compare with it.
No fir tree ever had such branches,
And no plane tree such limbs.
No tree in God's own garden was so beautiful.
9 I made it beautiful, with spreading branches.
It was the envy of every tree in Eden, the garden of God.
10 “Now then, I, the Sovereign Lord, will tell you what is going to happen to that tree that grew until it reached the clouds.[c] As it grew taller it grew proud; 11 so I have rejected it and will let a foreign ruler have it. He will give that tree what it deserves for its wickedness. 12 Ruthless foreigners will cut it down and leave it. Its branches and broken limbs will fall on every mountain and valley in the country. All the nations that have been living in its shade will go away. 13 The birds will come and perch on the fallen tree, and the wild animals will walk over its branches. 14 And so from now on, no tree, no matter how well-watered it is, will grow that tall again or push its top through the clouds[d] and reach such a height. All of them are doomed to die like mortals, doomed to join those who go down to the world of the dead.”
15 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “On the day when the tree goes to the world of the dead, I will make the underground waters cover it as a sign of mourning. I will hold back the rivers and not let the many streams flow out. Because the tree has died, I will bring darkness over the Lebanon Mountains and make all the trees of the forest wither. 16 When I send it down to the world of the dead, the noise of its downfall will shake the nations. All the trees of Eden and all the choice, well-watered trees of Lebanon who have gone to the world below will be pleased at its downfall. 17 They will go with it to the world of the dead to join those that have already fallen. And all who live under its shadow will be scattered among the nations.[e]
18 “The tree is the king of Egypt and all his people. Not even the trees in Eden were so tall and impressive. But now, like the trees of Eden, it will go down to the world of the dead and join the ungodly and those killed in battle. I have spoken,” says the Sovereign Lord.
The King of Egypt Is Compared to a Crocodile
32 On the first day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me. 2 “Mortal man,” he said, “give a solemn warning to the king of Egypt. Give him this message from me: You act like a lion among the nations, but you are more like a crocodile splashing through a river. You muddy the water with your feet and pollute the rivers. 3 When many nations gather, I will catch you in my net and let them drag the net ashore. 4 I will throw you out on the ground and bring all the birds and animals of the world to feed on you. 5 I will cover mountains and valleys with your rotting corpse. 6 I will pour out your blood until it spreads over the mountains and fills the streams. 7 (B)When I destroy you, I will cover the sky and blot out the stars. The sun will hide behind the clouds, and the moon will give no light. 8 I will put out all the lights of heaven and plunge your world into darkness. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.
9 “Many nations will be troubled when I spread the news of your destruction through countries you never heard of. 10 What I do to you will shock many nations. When I swing my sword, kings will shudder with fright. On the day you fall, all of them will tremble in fear for their own lives.”
11 The Sovereign Lord says to the king of Egypt, “You will face the sword of the king of Babylonia. 12 I will let soldiers from cruel nations draw their swords and kill all your people. All your people and everything else that you are proud of will be destroyed. 13 I will slaughter your cattle at every water hole. There will be no people or cattle to muddy the water any more. 14 I will let your waters settle and become clear and let your rivers run calm. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. 15 When I make Egypt a desolate wasteland and destroy all who live there, they will know that I am the Lord. 16 This solemn warning will become a funeral song. The women of the nations will sing it to mourn for Egypt and all its people. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.”
The World of the Dead
17 On the fifteenth day of the first month[f] of the twelfth year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me. 18 “Mortal man,” he said, “mourn for all the many people of Egypt. Send them down with the other powerful nations to the world of the dead. 19 Say to them:
“Do you think you are more beautiful than anyone else?
You will go down to the world of the dead
and lie there among the ungodly.
20 “The people of Egypt will fall with those who are killed in battle. A sword is ready to kill them all.[g] 21 The greatest heroes and those who fought on the Egyptian side welcome the Egyptians to the world of the dead. They shout: ‘The ungodly who were killed in battle have come down here, and here they lie!’
22 “Assyria is there, with the graves of her soldiers all around. They were all killed in battle, 23 and their graves are in the deepest parts of the world of the dead. All her soldiers fell in battle, and their graves surround her tomb. Yet once they terrified the land of the living.
24 “Elam is there, with the graves of her soldiers all around. They were all killed in battle, and they went down, uncircumcised, to the world of the dead. In life they spread terror, but now they lie dead and disgraced. 25 Elam lies down among those killed in battle, and the graves of her soldiers are all around her. They are all uncircumcised, all killed in battle. In life they spread terror, but now they lie dead and disgraced, sharing the fate of those killed in battle.
26 “Meshech and Tubal are there, with the graves of their soldiers all around. They are all uncircumcised, all killed in battle. Yet once they terrified the living. 27 They were not given honorable burial like the heroes of ancient times,[h] who went fully armed to the world of the dead, their swords placed under their heads and their shields[i] over their bodies. These heroes were once powerful enough to terrify the living.
28 “That is how the Egyptians will lie crushed among the uncircumcised who were killed in battle.
29 “Edom is there with her kings and rulers. They were powerful soldiers, but now they lie in the world of the dead with the uncircumcised who were killed in battle.
30 “All the princes of the north are there, and so are the Sidonians. Their power once spread terror, but now they go down in disgrace with those killed in battle and are laid to rest, uncircumcised. They share the disgrace of those who go down to the world of the dead.
31 “The sight of all these who were killed in battle will be a comfort to the king of Egypt and his army,” says the Sovereign Lord.
32 “I caused the king of Egypt to terrorize the living, but he and all his army will be killed and laid to rest with all the uncircumcised who die in battle.” The Sovereign Lord has spoken.
14 Try to be at peace with everyone, and try to live a holy life, because no one will see the Lord without it. 15 (A)Guard against turning back from the grace of God. Let no one become like a bitter plant that grows up and causes many troubles with its poison. 16 (B)Let no one become immoral or unspiritual like Esau, who for a single meal sold his rights as the older son. 17 (C)Afterward, you know, he wanted to receive his father's blessing; but he was turned back, because he could not find any way to change what he had done, even though in tears he looked for it.[a]
18 (D)You have not come, as the people of Israel came, to what you can feel, to Mount Sinai with its blazing fire, the darkness and the gloom, the storm, 19 the blast of a trumpet, and the sound of a voice. When the people heard the voice, they begged not to hear another word, 20 (E)because they could not bear the order which said, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” 21 (F)The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling and afraid!”
22 Instead, you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, with its thousands of angels. 23 You have come to the joyful gathering of God's first-born, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, who is the judge of all people, and to the spirits of good people made perfect. 24 (G)You have come to Jesus, who arranged the new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that promises much better things than does the blood of Abel.
25 (H)Be careful, then, and do not refuse to hear him who speaks. Those who refused to hear the one who gave the divine message on earth did not escape. How much less shall we escape, then, if we turn away from the one who speaks from heaven! 26 (I)His voice shook the earth at that time, but now he has promised, “I will once more shake not only the earth but heaven as well.” 27 The words “once more” plainly show that the created things will be shaken and removed, so that the things that cannot be shaken will remain.
28 Let us be thankful, then, because we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Let us be grateful and worship God in a way that will please him, with reverence and awe; 29 (J)because our God is indeed a destroying fire.
In Praise of the Lord's Goodness
113 Praise the Lord!
You servants of the Lord,
praise his name!
2 May his name be praised,
now and forever.
3 From the east to the west
praise the name of the Lord!
4 The Lord rules over all nations;
his glory is above the heavens.
5 There is no one like the Lord our God.
He lives in the heights above,
6 but he bends down
to see the heavens and the earth.
7 He raises the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from their misery
8 and makes them companions of princes,
the princes of his people.
9 He honors the childless wife in her home;
he makes her happy by giving her children.
Praise the Lord!
A Passover Song
114 (A)When the people of Israel left Egypt,
when Jacob's descendants left that foreign land,
2 Judah became the Lord's holy people,
Israel became his own possession.
3 (B)The Red Sea looked and ran away;
the Jordan River stopped flowing.
4 The mountains skipped like goats;
the hills jumped around like lambs.
5 What happened, Sea, to make you run away?
And you, O Jordan, why did you stop flowing?
6 You mountains, why did you skip like goats?
You hills, why did you jump around like lambs?
7 Tremble, earth, at the Lord's coming,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 (C)who changes rocks into pools of water
and solid cliffs into flowing springs.
18 Take care of a fig tree and you will have figs to eat. Servants who take care of their master will be honored.
19 It is your own face that you see reflected in the water and it is your own self that you see in your heart.
20 Human desires are like the world of the dead—there is always room for more.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.