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Chapter 32

Lament over Pharaoh. On the first day of the twelfth month in the twelfth year,[a] the word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, utter a lament over Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and say to him:

You liken yourself to a lion among nations,
    but you are like the monster in the sea!
Thrashing about in your streams,
    churning the water with your feet,
    polluting the streams.(A)
Thus says the Lord God:
I will cast my net over you
    by assembling many armies,
    and I will hoist you up in my mesh.
I will hurl you onto the land,
    cast you into an open field.
I will make all the birds of the sky
    roost upon you,
The beasts of the whole earth
    gorge themselves on you.
I will strew your flesh on the mountains,
    and fill the valleys with your corpse.(B)
I will drench the land,
    pouring out your blood on the mountain;
    filling up the ravines with you.
When I extinguish you,
    I will cover the heavens
    and darken all its stars.
The sun I will cover with clouds;
    the moon will not give light.(C)
All the shining lights in the heavens
    I will darken over you;
I will spread darkness over your land—
    oracle of the Lord God.
I will trouble the hearts
    of many peoples,
When I bring you captive
    among the nations,
    to lands you do not know.
10 I will fill many nations with horror;
    their kings will shudder at you,
    when I brandish my sword in their faces.
They will tremble violently
    fearing for their lives on the day of your fall.(D)
11 For thus says the Lord God:
The sword of the king of Babylon
    will come against you.
12 I will cut down your hordes
    with the swords of warriors,
    all of them, ruthless nations;
They will lay waste the glory of Egypt,
    and all its hordes will be destroyed.(E)
13 I will wipe out all the livestock
    from the banks of its many waters;
No human foot will disturb them again,
    no animal hoof stir them up.
14 Then I will make their waters clear
    and their streams flow like oil—
    oracle of the Lord God.
15 When I make Egypt a wasteland
    and the land destitute of everything,
When I strike down all its inhabitants
    they shall know that I am the Lord.
16 This is the lamentation
    women of all nations will chant;
They will raise it over Egypt;
    over all its hordes they will chant it—
    oracle of the Lord God.

Another Lament over Egypt. 17 [b]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.(F)
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!(G)
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.(H)
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[c] 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.(I)
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.(J)
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.(K)
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.

Footnotes

  1. 32:1 The first day of the twelfth month in the twelfth year: March 3, 585 B.C.
  2. 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.
  3. 32:26 Meshech and Tubal: see note on 38:2.

A Lament Over Pharaoh

32 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month on the first day, the word of the Lord came to me:(A) “Son of man, take up a lament(B) concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:

“‘You are like a lion(C) among the nations;
    you are like a monster(D) in the seas(E)
thrashing about in your streams,
    churning the water with your feet
    and muddying the streams.(F)

“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘With a great throng of people
    I will cast my net over you,
    and they will haul you up in my net.(G)
I will throw you on the land
    and hurl you on the open field.
I will let all the birds of the sky settle on you
    and all the animals of the wild gorge themselves on you.(H)
I will spread your flesh on the mountains
    and fill the valleys(I) with your remains.
I will drench the land with your flowing blood(J)
    all the way to the mountains,
    and the ravines will be filled with your flesh.(K)
When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens
    and darken their stars;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
    and the moon will not give its light.(L)
All the shining lights in the heavens
    I will darken(M) over you;
    I will bring darkness over your land,(N)
declares the Sovereign Lord.
I will trouble the hearts of many peoples
    when I bring about your destruction among the nations,
    among[a] lands you have not known.
10 I will cause many peoples to be appalled at you,
    and their kings will shudder with horror because of you
    when I brandish my sword(O) before them.
On the day(P) of your downfall
    each of them will tremble
    every moment for his life.(Q)

11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘The sword(R) of the king of Babylon(S)
    will come against you.(T)
12 I will cause your hordes to fall
    by the swords of mighty men—
    the most ruthless of all nations.(U)
They will shatter the pride of Egypt,
    and all her hordes will be overthrown.(V)
13 I will destroy all her cattle
    from beside abundant waters
no longer to be stirred by the foot of man
    or muddied by the hooves of cattle.(W)
14 Then I will let her waters settle
    and make her streams flow like oil,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 When I make Egypt desolate
    and strip the land of everything in it,
when I strike down all who live there,
    then they will know that I am the Lord.(X)

16 “This is the lament(Y) they will chant for her. The daughters of the nations will chant it; for Egypt and all her hordes they will chant it, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

Egypt’s Descent Into the Realm of the Dead

17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:(Z) 18 “Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and consign(AA) to the earth below both her and the daughters of mighty nations, along with those who go down to the pit.(AB) 19 Say to them, ‘Are you more favored than others? Go down and be laid among the uncircumcised.’(AC) 20 They will fall among those killed by the sword. The sword is drawn; let her be dragged(AD) off with all her hordes.(AE) 21 From within the realm of the dead(AF) the mighty leaders will say of Egypt and her allies, ‘They have come down and they lie with the uncircumcised,(AG) with those killed by the sword.’

22 “Assyria is there with her whole army; she is surrounded by the graves of all her slain, all who have fallen by the sword. 23 Their graves are in the depths of the pit(AH) and her army lies around her grave.(AI) All who had spread terror in the land of the living are slain, fallen by the sword.

24 “Elam(AJ) is there, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword.(AK) All who had spread terror in the land of the living(AL) went down uncircumcised to the earth below. They bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.(AM) 25 A bed is made for her among the slain, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised,(AN) killed by the sword. Because their terror had spread in the land of the living, they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are laid among the slain.

26 “Meshek and Tubal(AO) are there, with all their hordes around their graves. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword because they spread their terror in the land of the living. 27 But they do not lie with the fallen warriors of old,[b](AP) who went down to the realm of the dead with their weapons of war—their swords placed under their heads and their shields[c] resting on their bones—though these warriors also had terrorized the land of the living.

28 “You too, Pharaoh, will be broken and will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.

29 “Edom(AQ) is there, her kings and all her princes; despite their power, they are laid with those killed by the sword. They lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.(AR)

30 “All the princes of the north(AS) and all the Sidonians(AT) are there; they went down with the slain in disgrace despite the terror caused by their power. They lie uncircumcised(AU) with those killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.(AV)

31 “Pharaoh—he and all his army—will see them and he will be consoled(AW) for all his hordes that were killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign Lord. 32 Although I had him spread terror in the land of the living, Pharaoh(AX) and all his hordes will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign Lord.”(AY)

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 32:9 Hebrew; Septuagint bring you into captivity among the nations, / to
  2. Ezekiel 32:27 Septuagint; Hebrew warriors who were uncircumcised
  3. Ezekiel 32:27 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text punishment