Grief over Pharaoh and Egypt

32 In the (A)twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, take up a (B)song of mourning over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him,

‘You [a]compared yourself to a young (C)lion of the nations,
Yet you are like the (D)monster in the seas;
And you (E)burst forth in your rivers
And muddied the waters with your feet
And [b]fouled their rivers.’”

This is what the Lord [c]God says:

“Now I will (F)spread My net over you
With a contingent of many peoples,
And they will lift you up in My net.
I will leave you on the land;
I will hurl you on the [d]open field.
And I will cause all the (G)birds of the sky to [e]nest on you,
And I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth [f]with you.
I will lay your flesh (H)on the mountains
And fill the valleys with your refuse.
I will also make the land drink the discharge of your (I)blood
As far as the mountains,
And the ravines will be full of you.
And when I (J)extinguish you,
I will (K)cover the heavens and darken their (L)stars;
I will cover the (M)sun with a cloud
And the moon will not give its light.
All the shining (N)lights in the heavens
I will darken over you
And will set darkness on your land,”
Declares the Lord God.

“I will also (O)trouble the hearts of many peoples when I (P)bring your destruction among the nations, into lands which you have not known. 10 And I will make many peoples (Q)appalled at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and (R)they will tremble again and again, every person for his own life, on the day of your fall.”

11 For (S)the Lord God says (T)this: “The sword of the king of Babylon will [g]attack you. 12 By the swords of the warriors I will make your multitude fall; all of them are (U)tyrants of the nations,

And they will (V)devastate the pride of Egypt,
And all its multitude will be destroyed.
13 I will also eliminate all its cattle from beside many waters;
And (W)a human foot will not muddy them anymore,
And the hoofs of animals will not muddy them.
14 Then I will make their waters settle,
And make their rivers run like oil,”
Declares the Lord God.
15 “When I make the land of Egypt a (X)desolation,
And the land is destitute of that which filled it,
When I strike all those who live in it,
Then they shall (Y)know that I am the Lord.

16 This is a (Z)song of mourning, and they shall sing it. The daughters of the nations shall sing it. Over Egypt and over all her hordes they shall sing it,” declares the Lord God.

17 In the (AA)twelfth year, on the (AB)fifteenth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, (AC)lament for the hordes of Egypt and (AD)bring it down, her and the daughters of the mighty nations, to the (AE)netherworld, with those who go down to the pit;

19 ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?
Go down and make your bed with the (AF)uncircumcised.’

20 They shall fall in the midst of those who are killed by the sword. [h]She is turned over to the sword; they have (AG)dragged her and all her hordes away. 21 The (AH)strong among the mighty ones shall speak of him and his helpers from the midst of Sheol: ‘They have gone down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, killed by the sword.’

22 (AI)Assyria is there and all her company; [i]her graves are all around [j]her. All of them killed, fallen by the sword, 23 whose (AJ)graves are set in the remotest parts of the pit, and her company is all around her grave. All of them killed, fallen by the sword, who [k]spread terror in the land of the living.

24 (AK)Elam is there and all her hordes around her grave; all of them killed, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised to the (AL)lower parts of the earth, who inflicted their terror on the (AM)land of the living, and (AN)bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit. 25 They have made a (AO)bed for her among the slain with all her hordes. Her graves are around it, they are all uncircumcised, killed by the sword (although their terror was [l]inflicted on the land of the living), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit; [m]they were put in the midst of the slain.

26 (AP)Meshech, (AQ)Tubal, and all their hordes are there; their graves [n]surround them. All of them were killed by the sword (AR)uncircumcised, though they inflicted their terror on the land of the living. 27 (AS)Nor do they lie beside the fallen [o](AT)heroes of the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war and whose swords were placed under their heads; but the punishment for their (AU)wrongdoing rested on their bones, though the terror of these [p]heroes was once in the land of the living. 28 But in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken and lie with those killed by the sword.

29 “There also is (AV)Edom, its kings and all its [q]princes, who [r]despite all their might are laid with those killed by the sword; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.

30 “There also are the [s]chiefs of the (AW)north, all of them, and all the (AX)Sidonians, who in spite of the terror resulting from their might, in shame went down with the slain. So they lay down uncircumcised with those killed by the sword and bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit.

31 “These Pharaoh will see, and he will (AY)find consolation regarding all his hordes killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his army,” declares the Lord God. 32 “Though I inflicted the terror of him on the land of the living, yet he will be laid to rest among the uncircumcised along with those killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his hordes,” declares the Lord God.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 32:2 Or were like
  2. Ezekiel 32:2 Lit fouled by stamping
  3. Ezekiel 32:3 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
  4. Ezekiel 32:4 Lit faces of the field
  5. Ezekiel 32:4 Lit dwell
  6. Ezekiel 32:4 Lit from
  7. Ezekiel 32:11 Lit come upon you
  8. Ezekiel 32:20 Or The sword is given
  9. Ezekiel 32:22 Lit his
  10. Ezekiel 32:22 Lit him
  11. Ezekiel 32:23 Lit gave, and so throughout the ch
  12. Ezekiel 32:25 Lit given
  13. Ezekiel 32:25 As in ancient versions; MT he was
  14. Ezekiel 32:26 Lit are around him
  15. Ezekiel 32:27 Or mighty ones
  16. Ezekiel 32:27 Or mighty ones
  17. Ezekiel 32:29 Or leaders
  18. Ezekiel 32:29 Lit in
  19. Ezekiel 32:30 Or leaders

A Lament Over Pharaoh

32 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month on the first day, the word of the Lord came to me:(A) “Son of man, take up a lament(B) concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:

“‘You are like a lion(C) among the nations;
    you are like a monster(D) in the seas(E)
thrashing about in your streams,
    churning the water with your feet
    and muddying the streams.(F)

“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘With a great throng of people
    I will cast my net over you,
    and they will haul you up in my net.(G)
I will throw you on the land
    and hurl you on the open field.
I will let all the birds of the sky settle on you
    and all the animals of the wild gorge themselves on you.(H)
I will spread your flesh on the mountains
    and fill the valleys(I) with your remains.
I will drench the land with your flowing blood(J)
    all the way to the mountains,
    and the ravines will be filled with your flesh.(K)
When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens
    and darken their stars;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
    and the moon will not give its light.(L)
All the shining lights in the heavens
    I will darken(M) over you;
    I will bring darkness over your land,(N)
declares the Sovereign Lord.
I will trouble the hearts of many peoples
    when I bring about your destruction among the nations,
    among[a] lands you have not known.
10 I will cause many peoples to be appalled at you,
    and their kings will shudder with horror because of you
    when I brandish my sword(O) before them.
On the day(P) of your downfall
    each of them will tremble
    every moment for his life.(Q)

11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘The sword(R) of the king of Babylon(S)
    will come against you.(T)
12 I will cause your hordes to fall
    by the swords of mighty men—
    the most ruthless of all nations.(U)
They will shatter the pride of Egypt,
    and all her hordes will be overthrown.(V)
13 I will destroy all her cattle
    from beside abundant waters
no longer to be stirred by the foot of man
    or muddied by the hooves of cattle.(W)
14 Then I will let her waters settle
    and make her streams flow like oil,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 When I make Egypt desolate
    and strip the land of everything in it,
when I strike down all who live there,
    then they will know that I am the Lord.(X)

16 “This is the lament(Y) they will chant for her. The daughters of the nations will chant it; for Egypt and all her hordes they will chant it, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

Egypt’s Descent Into the Realm of the Dead

17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:(Z) 18 “Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and consign(AA) to the earth below both her and the daughters of mighty nations, along with those who go down to the pit.(AB) 19 Say to them, ‘Are you more favored than others? Go down and be laid among the uncircumcised.’(AC) 20 They will fall among those killed by the sword. The sword is drawn; let her be dragged(AD) off with all her hordes.(AE) 21 From within the realm of the dead(AF) the mighty leaders will say of Egypt and her allies, ‘They have come down and they lie with the uncircumcised,(AG) with those killed by the sword.’

22 “Assyria is there with her whole army; she is surrounded by the graves of all her slain, all who have fallen by the sword. 23 Their graves are in the depths of the pit(AH) and her army lies around her grave.(AI) All who had spread terror in the land of the living are slain, fallen by the sword.

24 “Elam(AJ) is there, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword.(AK) All who had spread terror in the land of the living(AL) went down uncircumcised to the earth below. They bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.(AM) 25 A bed is made for her among the slain, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised,(AN) killed by the sword. Because their terror had spread in the land of the living, they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are laid among the slain.

26 “Meshek and Tubal(AO) are there, with all their hordes around their graves. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword because they spread their terror in the land of the living. 27 But they do not lie with the fallen warriors of old,[b](AP) who went down to the realm of the dead with their weapons of war—their swords placed under their heads and their shields[c] resting on their bones—though these warriors also had terrorized the land of the living.

28 “You too, Pharaoh, will be broken and will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.

29 “Edom(AQ) is there, her kings and all her princes; despite their power, they are laid with those killed by the sword. They lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.(AR)

30 “All the princes of the north(AS) and all the Sidonians(AT) are there; they went down with the slain in disgrace despite the terror caused by their power. They lie uncircumcised(AU) with those killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.(AV)

31 “Pharaoh—he and all his army—will see them and he will be consoled(AW) for all his hordes that were killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign Lord. 32 Although I had him spread terror in the land of the living, Pharaoh(AX) and all his hordes will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign Lord.”(AY)

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 32:9 Hebrew; Septuagint bring you into captivity among the nations, / to
  2. Ezekiel 32:27 Septuagint; Hebrew warriors who were uncircumcised
  3. Ezekiel 32:27 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text punishment