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Another Lament over Egypt. 17 [a]On the fifteenth day of that month in the twelfth year, the word of the Lord came to me:

18 Son of man, wail over the hordes of Egypt—
    you and the women of mighty nations—
Send them down to the underworld,
    with those who go down into the pit.
19 Whom do you excel in beauty? Go down!
    Be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!
20 Among those slain by the sword they will fall,
    for the sword has been appointed!
Seize Egypt and all its hordes.(A)
21 Out of Sheol the mighty warriors
    will speak to him and his allies:
Let them descend and lie down among the uncircumcised,
    those slain by the sword!(B)
22 There is Assyria and all its company,
    around it are its graves,
    all of them slain, fallen by the sword.
23 The graves are set
    in the recesses of the pit;
Its company is assembled
    around its grave,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword,
    those who spread terror in the land of the living.(C)
24 There is Elam and all its horde
    around its grave,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword;
    they descended uncircumcised
    into the underworld,
Those who spread their terror
    in the land of the living.
They bear their disgrace
    with those who go down into the pit.
25 Among the slain is set its bed,
    with all its horde around its grave;
All of them uncircumcised,
    slain by the sword
Because of the terror they spread
    in the land of the living.
They bear their disgrace
    with those who go down into the pit.
    Among the slain it is set!
26 There is Meshech and Tubal[b] and all the hordes
    surrounding it with their graves.
All of them uncircumcised,
    slain by the sword
Because they spread their terror
    in the land of the living.(D)
27 They do not rest with the warriors
    who fell in ancient times,
    who went down to Sheol fully armed.
Their swords were placed under their heads
    and their shields laid over their bones;
For there was terror of these warriors
    in the land of the living.
28 But as for you, among the uncircumcised
    you will be broken and laid to rest
    with those slain by the sword.
29 There is Edom, all its kings and princes,
    who, despite their might,
    are put with those slain by the sword.
They lie among the uncircumcised,
    with those who go down into the pit.(E)
30 There are the generals of the north
    and all the Sidonians
Who have gone down with the slain,
    because of the terror their might inspired.
They lie uncircumcised
    with those slain by the sword,
And bear their shame with those
    who have gone down into the pit.(F)
31 When Pharaoh sees them,
    he will be consoled on behalf of all his hordes,
    slain by the sword—
Pharaoh and all his army—
    oracle of the Lord God.
32 I spread terror of him
    in the land of the living;
Now he is laid among the uncircumcised,
    with those slain by the sword—
Pharaoh and all his horde—
    oracle of the Lord God.

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Footnotes

  1. 32:17–32 The description of Pharaoh in Sheol shifts rapidly between the single individual and the collective body, between corpses speaking and corpses lying inert, between singular (his, hers, its) and plural (them, theirs) pronouns to emphasize that all the enemies of Israel come to the same end.
  2. 32:26 Meshech and Tubal: see note on 38:2.