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Ezekiel 31
Contemporary English Version
Ezekiel 31
Contemporary English Version
Egypt's King Will Be Chopped Down like a Cedar Tree
31 Eleven years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the Lord spoke to me on the first day of the third month.[a] He said:
2 Ezekiel, son of man, tell the king of Egypt and his people that I am saying:
You are more powerful
than anyone on earth.
Now listen to this.
3 There was once a cedar tree
in Lebanon
with large, strong branches
reaching to the sky.[b]
4 This tree had plenty of water
to help it grow tall,
and nearby streams watered
the other trees
in the forest.
5 But this tree towered over
those other trees,
and its branches
grew long and thick.
6 Birds built nests
in its branches,
and animals were born
beneath it.
People from all nations
lived in the shade
of this strong tree.
7 It had beautiful,
long branches,
and its roots found water
deep in the soil.
8 (A) None of the cedar trees
in my garden of Eden
were as beautiful
as this tree;
no tree of any kind
had such long branches.
9 I, the Lord, gave this tree
its beauty,
and I helped the branches
grow strong.
All other trees in Eden
wanted to be just like it.
10 King of Egypt, now listen to what I, the Lord God, am saying about that tree:
The tree grew so tall that it reached the sky[c] and became very proud and arrogant. 11 So I, the Lord God, will reject the tree and hand it over to a foreign ruler, who will punish it for its wickedness. 12 Cruel foreigners will chop it down and leave it wherever it falls. Branches and broken limbs will be scattered over the mountains and in the valleys. The people living in the shade of those branches will go somewhere else. 13 Birds will then nest on the stump of the fallen tree, and wild animals will trample its branches.
14 Never again will any tree dare to grow as tall as this tree, no matter how much water it has. Every tree must die, just as humans die and go down to the world of the dead.
15 On the day this tree dies and goes to the world below, I, the Lord God, will command rivers and streams to mourn its death. Every underground spring of water and every river will stop flowing.[d] The mountains in Lebanon will be covered with darkness as a sign of their sorrow, and all the trees in the forest will wither. 16 This tree will crash to the ground, and I will send it to the world below. Then the nations of the earth will tremble.
The trees from Eden and the choice trees from Lebanon are now in the world of the dead, and they will be comforted when this tree falls. 17 Those people who found protection in its shade will also be sent to the world below, where they will join the dead.[e]
18 King of Egypt, all these things will happen to you and your people! You were like this tree at one time—taller and stronger than anyone on earth. But now you will be chopped down, just as every tree in the garden of Eden must die. You will be sent down to the world of the dead, where you will join the godless and the other victims of violent death. I, the Lord God, have spoken.
Footnotes
- 31.1 Eleven years … third month: Probably May of 587 b.c.
- 31.3 sky: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 3.
- 31.10 the sky: One ancient translation; Hebrew “over the thick branches.”
- 31.15 rivers and streams … stop flowing: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 31.17 dead: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 17.
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.’”
Ezekiel 31
King James Version
Ezekiel 31
King James Version
31 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?
3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.
4 The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent her little rivers unto all the trees of the field.
5 Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.
6 All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.
7 Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.
8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.
9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.
10 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
11 I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.
12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.
13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:
14 To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.
15 Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.
16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.
17 They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.
18 To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.
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