32 2 The Prophet is commanded to bewail Pharaoh King of Egypt. 12 He prophesieth that destruction shall come unto Egypt through the King of Babylon.

And in the [a]twelfth year in the twelfth month, and in the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a [b]lion of the nations, and art as a [c]dragon in the sea: thou castedst out thy rivers [d]and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and stampedst in their rivers.

Thus saith the Lord God, (A)I will therefore spread my net over thee a great multitude of people, and they shall make thee come up into my net,

Then will I leave thee upon the land, and I will cast thee upon the open field, and I will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill all the beasts of the field with thee.

And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys [e]with thine height.

I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou [f]swimmest, even to the mountains, and the rivers shall be full of thee.

And when I shall [g]put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark: (B)I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.

All the lights of heaven will I make dark for thee, and bring [h]darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God.

I will also trouble the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, and upon the countries which thou hast not known.

10 Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be astonished with fear for thee, when I shall make my sword to glitter against their faces, and they shall be afraid at every moment: every man for his own life in the day of thy fall.

11 For thus saith the Lord God, The sword of the king of Babel shall come upon thee.

12 By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall: they all shall be terrible nations, and they shall destroy the [i]pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be consumed.

13 I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from the great watersides, neither shall the foot of man trouble them anymore, nor the hooves of beasts trouble them.

14 Then will I make [j]their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord God.

15 When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country with all that is therein, shall be laid waste: when I shall smite all them which dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the Lord.

16 This is the mourning wherewith they shall lament her: the daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for Egypt, and for all her multitude, saith the Lord God.

17 ¶ In the twelfth year also in the fifteenth day of the month, came the word of the Lord unto me, saying,

18 Son of man, lament for the multitude of Egypt, and [k]cast them down, even them and the daughters of the mighty nations under the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.

19 Whom dost thou pass [l]in beauty? go down and sleep with the uncircumcised.

20 They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: [m]she is delivered to the sword: draw her down, and all her multitude.

21 The most mighty and strong shall speak to [n]him out of the midst of hell with them that help her: they are gone down, and sleep with the uncircumcised that be slain by the sword.

22 Assyria is there and all his company: their graves are about him: all they are slain and fallen by the sword.

23 Whose graves are made in the side of the pit, and his multitude are round about his grave: all they are slain and fallen by the sword, which caused fear to be in the land of the living.

24 There is [o]Elam and all his multitude round about his grave: all they are slain and fallen by the sword, which are gone down with the uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused themselves to be feared in the land of the [p]living, yet have they borne their shame with them that are gone down to the pit.

25 They have made his bed in the midst of the slain with all his multitude: their graves are round about him: all these uncircumcised are slain by the sword: though they have caused their fear in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: they are laid in the midst of them that be slain.

26 There is [q]Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude: their graves are round about them: all these uncircumcised were slain by the sword, though they caused their fear to be in the land of the living.

27 And they shall not lie with the valiant [r]of the uncircumcised, that are fallen, which are gone down to the grave with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquity shall be upon their bones: because they were the fear of the mighty in the land of the living.

28 Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and lie with them that are slain by the sword.

29 There is Edom, his kings, and all his princes, which with their strength are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall sleep with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.

30 There be all the princes of the [s]North, with all the Sidonians, which are gone down with the slain, with their fear: they are ashamed of their strength, and the uncircumcised sleep with them that be slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.

31 Pharaoh shall see them, and he shall be [t]comforted over all his multitude: Pharaoh, and all his army shall be slain by the sword, saith the Lord God.

32 For I have caused my [u]fear to be in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them, that are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 32:1 Which was the first year of the general captivity under Zedekiah.
  2. Ezekiel 32:2 Thus the scriptures compare tyrants to cruel and huge beasts which devour all that be weaker than they, and such as they may overcome.
  3. Ezekiel 32:2 Or, whale.
  4. Ezekiel 32:2 Thou preparest great armies.
  5. Ezekiel 32:5 With heaps of the carcasses of thine army.
  6. Ezekiel 32:6 As Nile overfloweth Egypt, so will I make the blood of thine host to overflow it.
  7. Ezekiel 32:7 The word signifieth to be put out as a candle is put out.
  8. Ezekiel 32:8 By this manner of speech is meant the great sorrow that shall be for the slaughter of the king and his people.
  9. Ezekiel 32:12 This came to pass in less than four years after this prophecy.
  10. Ezekiel 32:14 To wit, of the Chaldeans thine enemies, which shall quietly enjoy all thy commodities.
  11. Ezekiel 32:18 That is, prophesy, that they shall be cast down: thus the Lord giveth his Prophets power both to plant and to destroy by his word, read Jer. 1:10.
  12. Ezekiel 32:19 Have not other kingdoms, more beautiful than thou, perished?
  13. Ezekiel 32:20 That is, Egypt.
  14. Ezekiel 32:21 To make the matter more sensible, he bringeth in Pharaoh whom the dead shall meet and marvel at him, read Isa. 14:9.
  15. Ezekiel 32:24 Meaning, the Persians.
  16. Ezekiel 32:24 Whom in his life all the world feared.
  17. Ezekiel 32:26 That is, the Cappadocians and Italians, or Spaniards, as Josephus writeth.
  18. Ezekiel 32:27 Which died not by cruel death, but by the course of nature, and are honorably buried with their coat armor, and signs of honor.
  19. Ezekiel 32:30 The Kings of Babylon.
  20. Ezekiel 32:31 As the wicked rejoice when they see others partakers of their miseries.
  21. Ezekiel 32:32 I will make the Egyptians afraid of me, as they caused others to fear them.

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