Passage: Ezekiel 29, 30, 31, 32 (RSV)


Ezekiel 29


1In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
2"Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt;
3speak, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, `My Nile is my own; I made it.'
4I will put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales; and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams, with all the fish of your streams which stick to your scales.
5And I will cast you forth into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your streams; you shall fall upon the open field, and not be gathered and buried. To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the air I have given you as food.
6"Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD. Because you have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel;
7when they grasped you with the hand, you broke, and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned upon you, you broke, and made all their loins to shake;
8therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast;
9and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am the LORD. "Because you said, `The Nile is mine, and I made it,'
10therefore, behold, I am against you, and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Ethiopia.
11No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years.
12And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries; and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries.
13"For thus says the Lord GOD: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered;
14and I will restore the fortunes of Egypt, and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin; and there they shall be a lowly kingdom.
15It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, and never again exalt itself above the nations; and I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations.
16And it shall never again be the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD."
17In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
18"Son of man, Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre; every head was made bald and every shoulder was rubbed bare; yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against it.
19Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off its wealth and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army.
20I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he labored, because they worked for me, says the Lord GOD.
21"On that day I will cause a horn to spring forth to the house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel 30


1The word of the LORD came to me:
2"Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: "Wail, `Alas for the day!'
3For the day is near, the day of the LORD is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.
4A sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain fall in Egypt, and her wealth is carried away, and her foundations are torn down.
5Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya, and the people of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.
6"Thus says the LORD: Those who support Egypt shall fall, and her proud might shall come down; from Migdol to Syene they shall fall within her by the sword, says the Lord GOD.
7And she shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries and her cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste.
8Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have set fire to Egypt, and all her helpers are broken.
9"On that day swift messengers shall go forth from me to terrify the unsuspecting Ethiopians; and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt's doom; for, lo, it comes!
10"Thus says the Lord GOD: I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt, by the hand of Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon.
11He and his people with him, the most terrible of the nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land; and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.
12And I will dry up the Nile, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men; I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it, by the hand of foreigners; I, the LORD, have spoken.
13"Thus says the Lord GOD: I will destroy the idols, and put an end to the images, in Memphis; there shall no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt; so I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14I will make Pathros a desolation, and will set fire to Zo'an, and will execute acts of judgment upon Thebes.
15And I will pour my wrath upon Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt, and cut off the multitude of Thebes.
16And I will set fire to Egypt; Pelusium shall be in great agony; Thebes shall be breached, and its walls broken down.
17The young men of On and of Pibe'seth shall fall by the sword; and the women shall go into captivity.
18At Tehaph'nehes the day shall be dark, when I break there the dominion of Egypt, and her proud might shall come to an end; she shall be covered by a cloud, and her daughters shall go into captivity.
19Thus I will execute acts of judgment upon Egypt. Then they will know that I am the LORD."
20In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
21"Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and lo, it has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword.
22Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken; and I will make the sword fall from his hand.
23I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them throughout the lands.
24And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand; but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a man mortally wounded.
25I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall; and they shall know that I am the LORD. When I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, he shall stretch it out against the land of Egypt;
26and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel 31


1In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
2"Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: "Whom are you like in your greatness?
3Behold, I will liken you to a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and forest shade, and of great height, its top among the clouds.
4The waters nourished it, the deep made it grow tall, making its rivers flow round the place of its planting, sending forth its streams to all the trees of the forest.
5So it towered high above all the trees of the forest; its boughs grew large and its branches long, from abundant water in its shoots.
6All the birds of the air made their nests in its boughs; under its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young; and under its shadow dwelt all great nations.
7It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its roots went down to abundant waters.
8The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it, nor the fir trees equal its boughs; the plane trees were as nothing compared with its branches; no tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty.
9I made it beautiful in the mass of its branches, and all the trees of Eden envied it, that were in the garden of God.
10"Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height,
11I 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.
12Foreigners, the most terrible of the nations, will cut it down and leave it. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches will fall, and its boughs will lie broken in all the watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth will go from its shadow and leave it.
13Upon its ruin will dwell all the birds of the air, and upon its branches will be all the beasts of the field.
14All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to lofty height or set their tops among the clouds, and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height; for they are all given over to death, to the nether world among mortal men, with those who go down to the Pit.
15"Thus says the Lord GOD: When it goes down to Sheol I will make the deep mourn for it, and restrain its rivers, and many waters shall be stopped; I will clothe Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field shall faint because of it.
16I will make the nations quake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the Pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, will be comforted in the nether world.
17They also shall go down to Sheol with it, to those who are slain by the sword; yea, those who dwelt under its shadow among the nations shall perish.
18Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? You shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the nether world; you shall lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. "This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord GOD."

Ezekiel 32


1In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
2"Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him: "You consider yourself a lion among the nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas; you burst forth in your rivers, trouble the waters with your feet, and foul their rivers.
3Thus says the Lord GOD: I will throw my net over you with a host of many peoples; and I will haul you up in my dragnet.
4And I will cast you on the ground, on the open field I will fling you, and will cause all the birds of the air to settle on you, and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you.
5I will strew your flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with your carcass.
6I will drench the land even to the mountains with your flowing blood; and the watercourses will be full of you.
7When I blot you out, I 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.
8All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over you, and put darkness upon your land, says the Lord GOD.
9"I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I carry you captive among the nations, into the countries which you have not known.
10I will make many peoples appalled at you, and their kings shall shudder because of you, when I brandish my sword before them; they shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall.
11For thus says the Lord GOD: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you.
12I will cause your multitude to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them most terrible among the nations. "They shall bring to nought the pride of Egypt, and all its multitude shall perish.
13I will destroy all its beasts from beside many waters; and no foot of man shall trouble them any more, nor shall the hoofs of beasts trouble them.
14Then I will make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, says the Lord GOD.
15When I make the land of Egypt desolate and when the land is stripped of all that fills it, when I smite all who dwell in it, then they will know that I am the LORD.
16This is a lamentation which shall be chanted; the daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they chant it, says the Lord GOD."
17In the twelfth year, in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
18"Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, and send them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, to the nether world, to those who have gone down to the Pit:
19`Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised.'
20They shall fall amid those who are slain by the sword, and with her shall lie all her multitudes.
21The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: `They have come down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.'
22"Assyria is there, and all her company, their graves round about her, all of them slain, fallen by the sword;
23whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the Pit, and her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.
24"Elam is there, and all her multitude about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into the nether world, who spread terror in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.
25They have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, their graves round about her, 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"Meshech and Tubal are there, and all their multitude, their graves round about them, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread terror in the land of the living.
27And they do not lie with the fallen mighty men of old who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose shields are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living.
28So you shall be broken and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.
29"Edom is there, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the Pit.
30"The princes of the north are there, all of them, and all the Sido'nians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, for all the terror which they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.
31"When Pharaoh sees them, he will comfort himself for all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, says the Lord GOD.
32For he spread terror in the land of the living; therefore he shall be laid among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord GOD."



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