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Ezekiel 31
Amplified Bible
Ezekiel 31
Amplified Bible
Pharaoh Warned of Assyria’s Fate
31 In the eleventh year [after King Jehoiachin was taken captive to Babylon], in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes,
‘Whom are you like in your greatness?
3
‘Behold (listen carefully), Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon
With beautiful branches and with forest shade,
And of high stature,
With its top among the clouds.
4
‘The waters nourished it, the deep [underground waters] made it grow tall.
Its rivers ran all around the place where it was planted,
Sending out its streams to all the trees (other nations) of the field.
5
‘Therefore it towered higher than all the trees of the forest
And its boughs multiplied and its branches grew long;
Because there was so much water they spread outward.
6
‘All the birds of the sky made their nests in its twigs,
And under its branches all the animals of the field gave birth [to their young],
And all of the great nations lived under its shadow.
7
‘So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches;
For its roots extended [downward] to great waters.
8
‘The cedars in the garden of God could not hide or rival it;
The cypress trees did not have boughs like it,
And the [a]plane trees did not have branches like it.
No tree in the garden of God was like it in its beauty.
9
‘I made it beautiful with the great mass of its branches,
So that all the trees of [b]Eden which were in the garden of God were jealous of it (Assyria).
10 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Because it is high in stature and has set its top among the thick boughs and the clouds, and its heart is proud of its height,(A) 11 I will [c]hand it over to a mighty one and a mighty one of the nations; he will most certainly deal with it. I have driven it away in accordance with its wickedness. 12 Alien tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; its foliage has fallen on the mountains and in all the valleys and its branches have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the nations of the earth have come from under its shade and have left it. 13 All the birds of the sky will nest in its ruins, and all the animals of the field will rest on its fallen branches 14 so that none of the trees by the waters may exalt themselves because of their height, nor set their top among the clouds, nor their well-watered mighty ones stand [arrogantly] in their height. For they have all been handed over to death, to the earth beneath, among the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit (the grave).”
15 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day when Assyria went down to Sheol (the place of the dead) I caused mourning; I closed the deep [subterranean waters] over it and restrained its rivers. And the many waters [that contributed to its prosperity] were held back; and I made [the heart of] Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away because of it. 16 I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit; and all the well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and the best of Lebanon, will be comforted in the earth beneath [at Assyria’s downfall]. 17 They also went down to Sheol with it to those who were slain by the sword; those who were its strength lived under its shade among the nations.
18 “Which among the trees of Eden do you equal in glory and in greatness [O Egypt]? Yet you [also] will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth beneath (nether world). You will lie among the [d]uncircumcised (the barbaric, the boorish, the crude) with those who were slain by the sword. This is how it shall be with Pharaoh and all his hordes!”’ says the Lord God.”(B)
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 31:8 This enormous tree may grow to a height of a hundred feet. The diameter of its base may vary from six to ten feet.
- Ezekiel 31:9 The traditional site of Eden was within the general area of the Assyrian Empire. However, this does not imply that Assyria was in the garden of God described in Gen 2:8.
- Ezekiel 31:11 The significance of comparing Egypt and Assyria becomes clear when it is remembered that Assyria had conquered and held Egypt in servitude, and had then been conquered and destroyed about twenty-five years before the date of this prophecy by an alliance of Media and Babylon, which at that time was ruled by Nebuchadnezzar’s father Nabopolassar. Now Babylon, under Nebuchadnezzar, is predicted to bring judgment on Egypt. Egypt could not realistically expect victory over the conqueror of her conqueror.
- Ezekiel 31:18 There were other circumcised nations besides the Hebrews, notably the Egyptians (as early as 3000 b.c.), Thus here the term has a general pejorative sense, not the specific meaning that it would have had for an Israelite.
Ezekiel 31
New International Version
Ezekiel 31
New International Version
Pharaoh as a Felled Cedar of Lebanon
31 In the eleventh year,(A) in the third month on the first day, the word of the Lord came to me:(B) 2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes:
“‘Who can be compared with you in majesty?
3 Consider Assyria,(C) once a cedar in Lebanon,(D)
with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest;
it towered on high,
its top above the thick foliage.(E)
4 The waters(F) nourished it,
deep springs made it grow tall;
their streams flowed
all around its base
and sent their channels
to all the trees of the field.(G)
5 So it towered higher(H)
than all the trees of the field;
its boughs increased
and its branches grew long,
spreading because of abundant waters.(I)
6 All the birds of the sky
nested in its boughs,
all the animals of the wild
gave birth(J) under its branches;
all the great nations
lived in its shade.(K)
7 It was majestic in beauty,
with its spreading boughs,
for its roots went down
to abundant waters.(L)
8 The cedars(M) in the garden of God
could not rival it,
nor could the junipers
equal its boughs,
nor could the plane trees(N)
compare with its branches—
no tree in the garden of God
could match its beauty.(O)
9 I made it beautiful
with abundant branches,
the envy of all the trees of Eden(P)
in the garden of God.(Q)
10 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because the great cedar towered over the thick foliage, and because it was proud(R) of its height, 11 I gave it into the hands of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside,(S) 12 and the most ruthless of foreign nations(T) cut it down and left it. Its boughs fell on the mountains and in all the valleys;(U) its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left it.(V) 13 All the birds settled on the fallen tree, and all the wild animals lived among its branches.(W) 14 Therefore no other trees by the waters are ever to tower proudly on high, lifting their tops above the thick foliage. No other trees so well-watered are ever to reach such a height; they are all destined(X) for death,(Y) for the earth below, among mortals who go down to the realm of the dead.(Z)
15 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day it was brought down to the realm of the dead I covered the deep springs with mourning for it; I held back its streams, and its abundant waters were restrained. Because of it I clothed Lebanon with gloom, and all the trees of the field withered away.(AA) 16 I made the nations tremble(AB) at the sound of its fall when I brought it down to the realm of the dead to be with those who go down to the pit. Then all the trees(AC) of Eden,(AD) the choicest and best of Lebanon, the well-watered trees, were consoled(AE) in the earth below.(AF) 17 They too, like the great cedar, had gone down to the realm of the dead, to those killed by the sword,(AG) along with the armed men who lived in its shade among the nations.
18 “‘Which of the trees of Eden can be compared with you in splendor and majesty? Yet you, too, will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth below; you will lie among the uncircumcised,(AH) with those killed by the sword.
“‘This is Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
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