31On June 21, during the eleventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the Lord:H259H6240H8141H7992H259H2320H1697H3068H559 2“Son of man, give this message to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and all his hordes. “To whom would you compare your greatness?H1121H120H559H6547H4428H4714H1995H1819H1433 3You are like mighty Assyria, which was once like a cedar of Lebanon, with beautiful branches that cast deep forest shade and with its top high among the clouds.H804H730H3844H3303H6057H6751H2793H1362H6967H6788H5688 4Deep springs watered it and helped it to grow tall and luxuriant. The water flowed around it like a river, streaming to all the trees nearby.H4325H1431H8415H7311H5104H1980H5439H4302H7971H8585H6086H7704 5This great tree towered high, higher than all the other trees around it. It prospered and grew long thick branches because of all the water at its roots.H6967H1361H6086H7704H5634H7235H6288H748H7227H4325H7971 6The birds nested in its branches, and in its shade all the wild animals gave birth. All the great nations of the world lived in its shadow.H5775H8064H7077H5589H6288H2416H7704H3205H6738H3427H7227H1471 7It was strong and beautiful, with wide-spreading branches, for its roots went deep into abundant water.H3302H1433H753H1808H8328H7227H4325 8No other cedar in the garden of God could rival it. No cypress had branches to equal it; no plane tree had boughs to compare. No tree in the garden of God came close to it in beauty.H730H1588H430H6004H1265H1819H5589H6196H6288H6086H1588H430H1819H3308 9Because I made this tree so beautiful, and gave it such magnificent foliage, it was the envy of all the other trees of Eden, the garden of God.H6213H3303H7230H1808H6086H5731H1588H430H7065 10“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because Egypt became proud and arrogant, and because it set itself so high above the others, with its top reaching to the clouds,H559H136H3069H1361H6967H5414H6788H5688H3824H7311H1363 11I will hand it over to a mighty nation that will destroy it as its wickedness deserves. I have already discarded it.H5414H3027H410H1471H6213H6213H1644H7562 12A foreign army—the terror of the nations—has cut it down and left it fallen on the ground. Its branches are scattered across the mountains and valleys and ravines of the land. All those who lived in its shadow have gone away and left it lying there.H2114H6184H1471H3772H5203H2022H1516H1808H5307H6288H7665H650H776H5971H776H3381H6738H5203 13“The birds roost on its fallen trunk, and the wild animals lie among its branches.H4658H5775H8064H7931H2416H7704H6288 14Let the tree of no other nation proudly exult in its own prosperity, though it be higher than the clouds and it be watered from the depths. For all are doomed to die, to go down to the depths of the earth. They will land in the pit along with everyone else on earth.H6086H4325H1361H6967H5414H6788H5688H352H5975H1363H8354H4325H5414H4194H8482H776H8432H1121H120H3381H953 15“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When Assyria went down to the grave, I made the deep springs mourn. I stopped its rivers and dried up its abundant water. I clothed Lebanon in black and caused the trees of the field to wilt.H559H136H3069H3117H3381H7585H56H3680H8415H4513H5104H7227H4325H3607H3844H6937H6086H7704H5969 16I made the nations shake with fear at the sound of its fall, for I sent it down to the grave with all the others who descend to the pit. And all the other proud trees of Eden, the most beautiful and the best of Lebanon, the ones whose roots went deep into the water, took comfort to find it there with them in the depths of the earth.H1471H7493H6963H4658H3381H7585H3381H953H6086H5731H4005H2896H3844H8354H4325H5162H8482H776 17Its allies, too, were all destroyed and had passed away. They had gone down to the grave—all those nations that had lived in its shade.H3381H7585H2491H2719H2220H3427H6738H8432H1471 18“O Egypt, to which of the trees of Eden will you compare your strength and glory? You, too, will be brought down to the depths with all these other nations. You will lie there among the outcasts who have died by the sword. This will be the fate of Pharaoh and all his hordes. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”H1819H3519H1433H6086H5731H3381H6086H5731H8482H776H7901H8432H6189H2491H2719H6547H1995H5002H136H3069
32On March 3, during the twelfth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the Lord:H8147H6240H8141H2320H259H2320H1697H3068H559 2“Son of man, mourn for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and give him this message. “You think of yourself as a strong young lion among the nations, but you are really just a sea monster, heaving around in your own rivers, stirring up mud with your feet.H1121H120H5375H7015H6547H4428H4714H559H1819H3715H1471H8577H8565H3220H1518H5104H1804H4325H7272H7515H5104 3Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says. I will send many people to catch you in my net and haul you out of the water.H559H136H3069H6566H7568H6951H7227H5971H5927H2764 4I will leave you stranded on the land to die. All the birds of the heavens will land on you, and the wild animals of the whole earth will gorge themselves on you.H5203H776H2904H6440H7704H5775H8064H7931H7646H2416H776 5I will scatter your flesh on the hills and fill the valleys with your bones.H5414H1320H2022H4390H1516H7419 6I will drench the earth with your gushing blood all the way to the mountains, filling the ravines to the brim.H8248H1818H776H6824H2022H650H4390 7When I blot you out, I will veil the heavens and darken the stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give you its light.H3518H3680H8064H6937H3556H6937H3680H8121H6051H3394H215H216 8I will darken the bright stars overhead and cover your land in darkness. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!H3974H216H8064H6937H5414H2822H776H5002H136H3069 9“I will disturb many hearts when I bring news of your downfall to distant nations you have never seen.H3707H3820H7227H5971H935H7667H1471H776H3045 10Yes, I will shock many lands, and their kings will be terrified at your fate. They will shudder in fear for their lives as I brandish my sword before them on the day of your fall.H7227H5971H8074H4428H8178H8175H5774H2719H6440H2729H7281H376H5315H3117H4658 11For this is what the Sovereign Lord says. “The sword of the king of Babylon will come against you.H559H136H3069H2719H4428H894H935 12I will destroy your hordes with the swords of mighty warriors—the terror of the nations. They will shatter the pride of Egypt, and all its hordes will be destroyed.H2719H1368H1995H5307H6184H1471H7703H1347H4714H1995H8045 13I will destroy all your flocks and herds that graze beside the streams. Never again will people or animals muddy those waters with their feet.H6H929H5921H7227H4325H7272H120H1804H6541H929H1804 14Then I will let the waters of Egypt become calm again, and they will flow as smoothly as olive oil, says the Sovereign Lord.H4325H8257H5104H3212H8081H5002H136H3069 15And when I destroy Egypt and strip you of everything you own and strike down all your people, then you will know that I am the Lord.H5414H776H4714H8077H776H8074H4393H5221H3427H3045H3068 16Yes, this is the funeral song they will sing for Egypt. Let all the nations mourn. Let them mourn for Egypt and its hordes. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”H7015H6969H1323H1471H6969H6969H4714H1995H5002H136H3069 17On March 17, during the twelfth year, another message came to me from the Lord:H8147H6240H8141H2568H6240H2320H1697H3068H559 18“Son of man, weep for the hordes of Egypt and for the other mighty nations. For I will send them down to the world below in company with those who descend to the pit.H1121H120H5091H1995H4714H3381H1323H117H1471H8482H776H3381H953 19Say to them, ‘O Egypt, are you lovelier than the other nations? No! So go down to the pit and lie there among the outcasts.’H5276H3381H7901H6189 20The Egyptians will fall with the many who have died by the sword, for the sword is drawn against them. Egypt and its hordes will be dragged away to their judgment.H5307H8432H2491H2719H5414H2719H4900H1995 21Down in the grave mighty leaders will mockingly welcome Egypt and its allies, saying, ‘They have come down; they lie among the outcasts, hordes slaughtered by the sword.’H410H1368H1696H8432H7585H5826H3381H7901H6189H2491H2719 22“Assyria lies there surrounded by the graves of its army, those who were slaughtered by the sword.H804H6951H6913H5439H2491H5307H2719 23Their graves are in the depths of the pit, and they are surrounded by their allies. They struck terror in the hearts of people everywhere, but now they have been slaughtered by the sword.H6913H5414H3411H953H6951H5439H6900H2491H5307H2719H5414H2851H776H2416 24“Elam lies there surrounded by the graves of all its hordes, those who were slaughtered by the sword. They struck terror in the hearts of people everywhere, but now they have descended as outcasts to the world below. Now they lie in the pit and share the shame of those who have gone before them.H5867H1995H5439H6900H2491H5307H2719H3381H6189H8482H776H5414H2851H776H2416H5375H3639H3381H953 25They have a resting place among the slaughtered, surrounded by the graves of all their hordes. Yes, they terrorized the nations while they lived, but now they lie in shame with others in the pit, all of them outcasts, slaughtered by the sword.H5414H4904H8432H2491H1995H6913H5439H6189H2491H2719H2851H5414H776H2416H5375H3639H3381H953H5414H8432H2491 26“Meshech and Tubal are there, surrounded by the graves of all their hordes. They once struck terror in the hearts of people everywhere. But now they are outcasts, all slaughtered by the sword.H4902H8422H1995H6913H5439H6189H2490H2719H5414H2851H776H2416 27They are not buried in honor like their fallen heroes, who went down to the grave with their weapons—their shields covering their bodies and their swords beneath their heads. Their guilt rests upon them because they brought terror to everyone while they were still alive.H7901H1368H5307H6189H3381H7585H3627H4421H5414H2719H7218H5771H6106H2851H1368H776H2416 28“You too, Egypt, will lie crushed and broken among the outcasts, all slaughtered by the sword.H7665H8432H6189H7901H2491H2719 29“Edom is there with its kings and princes. Mighty as they were, they also lie among those slaughtered by the sword, with the outcasts who have gone down to the pit.H123H4428H5387H1369H5414H2491H2719H7901H6189H3381H953 30“All the princes of the north and the Sidonians are there with others who have died. Once a terror, they have been put to shame. They lie there as outcasts with others who were slaughtered by the sword. They share the shame of all who have descended to the pit.H5257H6828H6722H3381H2491H2851H954H1369H7901H6189H2491H2719H5375H3639H3381H953 31“When Pharaoh and his entire army arrive, he will take comfort that he is not alone in having his hordes killed, says the Sovereign Lord.H6547H7200H5162H1995H6547H2428H2491H2719H5002H136H3069 32Although I have caused his terror to fall upon all the living, Pharaoh and his hordes will lie there among the outcasts who were slaughtered by the sword. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”H5414H2851H776H2416H7901H8432H6189H2491H2719H6547H1995H5002H136H3069
Dublin, OH
, during the eleventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the Lord:H259
