A Lament for Egypt
30 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 v“Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God:
w“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’
3 wFor the day is near,
xthe day of the Lord is near;
it will be ya day of clouds,
a time of doom for1 the nations.
4 zA sword shall come upon Egypt,
aand anguish shall be in bCush,
when the slain fall in Egypt,
and cher wealth2 is carried away,
and dher foundations are torn down.
5 bCush, and ePut, and Lud, and fall Arabia, and Libya,3 and the people of the land that is in league,4 shall fall with them by the sword.
6 “Thus says the Lord:
gThose who support Egypt shall fall,
and hher proud might shall come down;
ifrom Migdol to Syene
they shall fall within her by the sword,
declares the Lord God.
7 jAnd they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries,
and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste.
8 kThen they will know that I am the Lord,
when lI have set fire to Egypt,
and gall her helpers are broken.
9 “On that day mmessengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting bpeople of Cush, and aanguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt’s doom;5 for, behold, it comes!
10 “Thus says the Lord God:
n“I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt,
by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, othe most ruthless of nations,
shall be brought in to destroy the land,
zand they shall draw their swords against Egypt
and fill the land with the slain.
12 And pI will qdry up the Nile
and will sell the land into the hand of revildoers;
sI will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it,
by the hand of tforeigners;
uI am the Lord; I have spoken.
13 “Thus says the Lord God:
v“I will destroy the idols
and put an end to the images in wMemphis;
xthere shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt;
so yI will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14 I will make zPathros a desolation
and will set fire to aZoan
band will execute judgments on cThebes.
15 And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,
the stronghold of Egypt,
and cut off the multitude6 of Thebes.
16 And I will set fire to Egypt;
Pelusium shall be in great agony;
Thebes shall be breached,
and wMemphis shall face enemies7 by day.
17 The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword,
and the women8 shall go into captivity.
18 At dTehaphnehes ethe day shall be dark,
when I break there the yoke bars of Egypt,
and fher proud might shall come to an end in her;
she shall be covered by a cloud,
and her daughters shall go into captivity.
19 Thus gI will execute judgments on Egypt.
hThen they will know that I am the Lord.”
Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon
20 iIn the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 21 j“Son of man, kI have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, lit has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. 22 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and mwill break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23 nI will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. 24 And oI will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put pmy sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him qlike a man mortally wounded. 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. rThen they shall know that I am the Lord, swhen I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. 26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
Pharaoh to Be Slain
31 tIn the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 u“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to vhis multitude:
w“Whom are you like in your greatness?
3 Behold, xAssyria was a ycedar in zLebanon,
with beautiful branches and aforest shade,
band of towering height,
its top among the clouds.1
4 The waters nourished it;
the deep made it grow tall,
making cits rivers flow
around the place of its planting,
sending forth its streams
to all the trees of the field.
5 So dit towered high
above all the trees of the field;
its boughs grew large
and its branches long
from eabundant water in its shoots.
6 fAll the birds of the heavens
made their nests in its boughs;
under its branches all the beasts of the field
gave birth to their young,
and under its shadow
lived all great nations.
7 It was gbeautiful in its greatness,
in the length of its branches;
efor its roots went down
to abundant waters.
8 hThe cedars iin the garden of God could not rival it,
nor the fir trees equal its boughs;
neither were the plane trees
like its branches;
no tree iin the garden of God
was its equal in beauty.
9 I made it beautiful
in the mass of its branches,
and all the trees of jEden envied it,
that were in the garden of God.
10 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because kit2 towered high and set its top among the clouds,3 and lits heart was proud of its height, 11 I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. 12 mForeigners, mthe most ruthless of nations, have cut it down and left it. nOn the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs have been broken in all othe ravines of the land, and pall the peoples of the earth have gone away from its shadow and left it. 13 qOn its fallen trunk dwell all the birds of the heavens, and on its branches are all the beasts of the field. 14 rAll this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to towering height or set their tops among the clouds,4 and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height. For they are all given over to death, sto the world tbelow, among the children of man,5 with those who go down to the pit.
15 “Thus says the Lord God: On the day uthe cedar6 went down to Sheol I caused mourning; I closed the deep over it, and restrained its rivers, and many waters were stopped. I clothed Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. 16 vI made the nations quake at the sound of its fall, uwhen I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit. wAnd all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, xwere comforted in the world below. 17 They also went down to Sheol with it, yto those who are slain by the sword; yes, zthose who were its arm, awho lived under its shadow among the nations.
18 b“Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness wamong the trees of Eden? cYou shall be brought down with wthe trees of Eden to the world below. dYou shall lie among the uncircumcised, ywith those who are slain by the sword.
b“This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.”
A Lament over Pharaoh and Egypt
32 eIn the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 f“Son of man, graise a lamentation over hPharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:
“You consider yourself ia lion of the nations,
but you are like ja dragon kin the seas;
lyou burst forth in your rivers,
trouble the waters with your feet,
and foul their rivers.
3 Thus says the Lord God:
mI will throw my net over you
with a host of nmany peoples,
and othey will haul you up in my dragnet.
4 And pI will cast you on the ground;
on the open field I will fling you,
and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle on you,
and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you.
5 I will strew your flesh qupon the mountains
and fill the valleys with your carcass.1
6 I will drench the land even to the mountains
with your flowing blood,
and the ravines will be full of you.
7 rWhen I blot you out, sI will cover the heavens
and make their stars dark;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon shall not give its light.
8 All the bright lights of heaven
will I make dark over you,
and tput darkness on your land,
declares the Lord God.
9 “I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries that you have not known. 10 uI will make many peoples appalled at you, and the hair of their kings shall bristle with horror because of you, when vI brandish my sword before them. wThey shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall.
11 “For thus says the Lord God: xThe sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. 12 I will cause yyour multitude to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them zmost ruthless of nations.
a“They shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt,
and all its multitude2 shall perish.
13 I will destroy all its beasts
from beside many waters;
band no foot of man shall trouble them anymore,
nor shall the hoofs of beasts trouble them.
14 Then cI will make their waters clear,
and cause their rivers to run like oil,
declares the Lord God.
15 When I make the land of Egypt desolate,
and when the land dis desolate of all that fills it,
when I strike down all who dwell in it,
then ethey will know that I am the Lord.
16 fThis is a lamentation that shall be chanted; the daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt, and over gall her multitude, shall they chant it, declares the Lord God.”
17 hIn the twelfth year, in the twelfth month,3 on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 i“Son of man, jwail over gthe multitude of Egypt, and ksend them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, lto the world below, to those who have gone down to the pit:
19 m‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?
Go down and nbe laid to rest with the uncircumcised.’
20 They shall fall amid those owho are slain by the sword. Egypt4 is delivered to the sword; drag her away, and pall her multitudes. 21 The mighty chiefs qshall speak of them, rwith their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: ‘They have come down, they lie still, sthe uncircumcised, oslain by the sword.’
22 t“Assyria is there, and all her company, uits graves all around it, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, 23 whose graves are set in vthe uttermost parts of the pit; and her company is all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, wwho spread terror xin the land of the living.
24 y“Elam is zthere, and all her multitude around her grave; all of them aslain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into bthe world below, who spread their terror in the land of the living; and cthey bear their shame bwith those who go down to the pit. 25 dThey have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, eher graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are placed among the slain.
26 f“Meshech-Tubal is ethere, and all her multitude, eher graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread their terror in the land of the living. 27 And gthey do not lie with the mighty, the fallen from among the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living. 28 But as for you, you shall be broken hand lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.
29 i“Edom is jthere, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.
30 “The princes kof the north are there, all of them, and all the lSidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, mfor all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and nbear their shame with those who go down to the pit.
31 “When Pharaoh sees them, he owill be comforted for pall his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord God. 32 qFor I spread terror rin the land of the living; and he shall be laid to rest among sthe uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.”
Ezekiel Is Israel’s Watchman
33 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 t“Son of man, speak to uyour people and say to them, If vI bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their wwatchman, 3 and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and xblows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, yhis blood shall be upon his own head. 5 zHe heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. 6 aBut if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, athat person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.
7 b“So you, tson of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. bWhenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8 cIf I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, cand you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, cthat wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 dBut if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, dthat person shall die in his iniquity, ebut you will have delivered your soul.
Why Will You Die, Israel?
10 “And you, fson of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and gwe rot away because of them. hHow then can we live?’ 11 Say to them, iAs I live, declares the Lord God, jI have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; kturn back, turn back from your evil ways, kfor why will you die, O house of Israel?
12 t“And you, son of man, say to lyour people, mThe righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, nand as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, mand the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness1 when he sins. 13 Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet mif he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. 14 Again, othough I say to the wicked, p‘You shall surely die,’ yet qif he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, 15 if the wicked rrestores the pledge, sgives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks tin the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 uNone of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.
17 “Yet lyour people say, v‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just. 18 wWhen the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. 19 And xwhen the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this. 20 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, yI will judge each of you according to his ways.”
Jerusalem Struck Down
21 In the ztwelfth year aof our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, ba fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, c“The city has been struck down.” 22 dNow ethe hand of the Lord had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came; and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning, so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.
23 The word of the Lord came to me: 24 f“Son of man, the inhabitants of these gwaste places in the land of Israel keep saying, h‘Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but iwe are many; the land is surely given us to possess.’ 25 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: jYou eat flesh with the blood and klift up your eyes to your idols and lshed blood; shall you then possess the land? 26 mYou rely on the sword, nyou commit abominations, and neach of you defiles his neighbor’s wife; shall you then possess the land? 27 Say this to them, Thus says the Lord God: oAs I live, surely those who are in pthe waste places shall fall by qthe sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to qthe beasts to be devoured, and those who are in rstrongholds and in caves shall die by qpestilence. 28 sAnd I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and ther proud might shall come to an end, and uthe mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through. 29 vThen they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed.
30 “As for you, fson of man, wyour people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’ 31 xAnd they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for ywith lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. 32 And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and zplays2 well on an instrument, for athey hear what you say, but they will not do it. 33 bWhen this comes—and come it will!—cthen they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
Prophecy Against the Shepherds of Israel
34 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 d“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: eAh, shepherds of Israel fwho have been feeding yourselves! gShould not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 hYou eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, iyou slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 jThe weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, hthe injured you have not bound up, hthe strayed you have not brought back, kthe lost you have not sought, and with force and lharshness you have ruled them. 5 mSo they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and nthey became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; 6 they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, owith none to search or seek for them.
7 “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 pAs I live, declares the Lord God, surely because qmy sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 Thus says the Lord God, rBehold, I am against the shepherds, and sI will require my sheep at their hand and tput a stop to their feeding the sheep. uNo longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. vI will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.
The Lord God Will Seek Them Out
11 “For thus says the Lord God: wBehold, I, I xmyself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on ya day of clouds and zthick darkness. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples aand gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on bthe mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 cI will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. dThere they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 eI myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, dand I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. 16 fI will seek the lost, gand I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and hthe fat and the strong I will destroy.1 I will feed them in justice.
17 “As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: iBehold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and jmale goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of kclear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? 19 And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
20 “Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you push with side and shoulder, and lthrust at all the mweak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, 22 I will rescue2 my flock; nthey shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23 And oI will set up over them one shepherd, pmy servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And qI, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. rI am the Lord; I have spoken.
The Lord’s Covenant of Peace
25 s“I will make with them a covenant of peace and tbanish wild beasts from the land, uso that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26 And I will make them and the places all around my hill va blessing, and wI will send down the showers in their season; they shall be xshowers of blessing. 27 yAnd the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, uand they shall be secure in their land. And zthey shall know that I am the Lord, when aI break the bars of their yoke, and adeliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28 nThey shall no more be a prey to the nations, tnor shall the beasts of the land devour them. uThey shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. 29 And I will provide for them brenowned plantations so that cthey shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer dsuffer the reproach of the nations. 30 And they shall know that qI am the Lord their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God. 31 And you are my sheep, ehuman sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God.”
