Ezekiel 32
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 32
Lamentation over Pharaoh.[a] 1 In the twelfth year, on the first day of the twelfth month, this word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, raise a lament for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt:
Lion of the nations, your end has come.
You are like a monster in the seas,
thrashing about in your streams,
churning up the water with your feet
and fouling the streams.
3 Thus says the Lord God:
When many nations are assembled,
I will throw my net over you
and haul you up in my seine.
4 I will throw you on the ground
and fling you onto an open field.
I will let all the birds of the air settle on you,
and I will urge all the beasts of the earth
to eat their fill of you.
5 I will strew your flesh on the mountains
and fill the valleys with your carcass.
6 I will drench the land with your flowing blood
all the way to the mountains,
and the riverbeds will be filled with your blood.
7 [b]When I blot you out,
I will cover the heavens,
and all their stars I will darken.
I will cover the sun with clouds,
and the moon shall not give its light.
8 All the shining lights in the heavens
I will dim because of you,
and I will spread darkness over your land,
says the Lord God.
9 I will grieve the hearts of many peoples
when I lead you as captives among the nations,
into countries unknown to you.
10 I will cause many peoples to be appalled at you,
and their kings will shudder in horror at your fate
when I brandish my sword in their presence.
On the day of your downfall,
each one will tremble for his life.
11 For thus says the Lord God:
The sword of the king of Babylon
will come against you.
12 I will demolish your hordes
with the swords of my warriors,
the most ruthless among the nations.
They shall cause the pride of Egypt to be shattered,
and all its hordes will be destroyed.
13 I will destroy all its livestock
on the shores of abundant waters.
No human foot will cause them further trouble,
nor shall the hooves of cattle disturb them.
14 Then I will make their waters crystal clear
and cause her streams to flow like oil,
says the Lord God.
15 When I have turned the land of Egypt
into a wasteland,
and when the land is stripped
of everything that was in it,
and when I strike down all its inhabitants,
then they shall know that I am the Lord.
16 This is a lamentation and it will be chanted;
the daughters of the nations[c] will chant it.
They shall raise the lamentation
over Egypt and all its hordes,
says the Lord God.
17 Lamentation over Egypt. On the fifteenth day of the first month in the twelfth year, this word of the Lord came to me:
18 Son of man, raise a cry of lament
over the hordes of Egypt
and the daughters of mighty nations
and consign them to the world below
with those who go down to the pit.
19 Say to them, “Whom do you surpass in beauty?
Go down and lie with the uncircumcised.”
20 They shall fall in the midst of those slain by the sword, and room will be made to accommodate them and their hordes. 21 From the depths of Sheol, the mighty leaders will say of Egypt and its allies, “They have come down, they and their allies; they lie there, the uncircumcised dead, slain by the sword.”
22 Assyria is there with all her hordes. Their graves surround her on all sides, all of them slaughtered, victims of the sword. 23 Their graves are located in the farthest depths of the pit, and her army lies around Egypt’s grave, all of them slain by the sword, after spreading terror in the land of the living.
24 Elam is there with all her hordes around Egypt’s grave, all of them slain by the sword. Having spread terror in the land of the living, they descended uncircumcised into the world below. They bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. 25 A bed has been made for Elam among the slain with all her hordes’ graves surrounding it. All of them were uncircumcised, and they were slain by the sword for having spread terror in the land of the living. They bear their shame with those who go down to the pit, and they have been placed among the slain.
26 Meshech and Tubal[d] are there with the graves of their followers all around them. All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword, for they spread terror in the land of the living. 27 They do not lie with the fallen warriors of ages past who went down to the netherworld with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads and whose shields were placed over their bones, since they filled the land of the living with terror. 28 Therefore, you will lie broken among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.
29 Edom is there, with her kings and all her princes; who, despite their might, have been placed with those slain by the sword. They lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.
30 All of the princes of the north and all the Sidonians are there. They descended in shame with the slain because of all the terror that they caused by their might. They lie uncircumcised with those who were killed by the sword, and they bear their shame with those who descend into the pit.
31 When Pharaoh sees them, he will be comforted for all his hordes slain by the sword—Pharaoh and all his army, says the Lord God. 32 Since he spread terror throughout the land of the living, he will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword—Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord God.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 32:1 The pharaoh is first depicted as a lion, but then suddenly becomes a marine monster of fabulous size.
- Ezekiel 32:7 Apocalyptic language, used to indicate divine punishment. The pharaohs regarded themselves as sons of the sun god.
- Ezekiel 32:16 Daughters of the nations: the pagan peoples.
- Ezekiel 32:26 Meshech and Tubal: places near the Black Sea.
