Ezekiel 30:1-26
A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, “Son of man, prophesy. Say, ‘The Lord and King says,
“ ‘ “Cry out,
‘A terrible day is coming!’
The day is near.
The day of the Lord is coming.
It will be a cloudy day.
The nations have been sentenced to die.
I will send Nebuchadnezzar’s sword against Egypt.
Cush will suffer terribly.
Many will die in Egypt.
Then its wealth will be carried away.
Its foundations will be torn down.
The people of Cush, Libya, Lydia, Kub and the whole land of Arabia will be killed by swords. So will the Jews who live in Egypt. They went there from the covenant land of Israel. And the Egyptians will die too.” ’ ”
The Lord says,
“Those who were going to help Egypt will die.
The strength Egypt was so proud of will fail.
Its people will be killed by swords
from Migdol all the way to Aswan,”
announces the Lord and King.
“Egypt will be more empty than any other land.
Its cities will be completely destroyed.
I will set Egypt on fire.
All those who came to help it will be crushed.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.
“At that time I will send messengers out in ships. They will terrify the people of Cush who are so contented. Cush will suffer greatly when Egypt falls. And you can be sure it will fall.”
The Lord and King says,
“I will put an end to the huge armies of Egypt.
I will use Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to do this.
He and his armies will attack the land and destroy it.
They will not show its people any pity at all.
They will use their swords against Egypt.
They will fill the land with dead bodies.
I will dry up the waters of the Nile River.
I will sell the land to an evil nation.
I will use the power of outsiders
to destroy the land and everything in it.
I have spoken. I am the Lord.”
The Lord and King says,
“I will destroy the statues of Egypt’s gods.
I will put an end to the gods
the people in Memphis worship.
Egypt will not have princes anymore.
I will spread fear all through the land.
I will completely destroy Upper Egypt.
I will set Zoan on fire.
I will punish Thebes.
I will pour out my burning anger on Pelusium.
It is a fort in eastern Egypt.
I will wipe out the huge army of Thebes.
I will set Egypt on fire.
Pelusium will groan with terrible pain.
Thebes will be ripped apart.
Memphis will suffer greatly
because of everything that happens.
The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis
will be killed by swords.
Their people will be taken away as prisoners.
I will break Egypt’s power over other lands.
That will be a dark day for Tahpanhes.
There the strength Egypt was so proud of
will come to an end.
Egypt will be covered with clouds.
The people in its villages
will be taken away as prisoners.
So I will punish Egypt.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
It was the 11th year since King Jehoiachin had been brought to Babylon as a prisoner. On the seventh day of the first month, a message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, “Son of man, I have broken the powerful arm of Pharaoh Hophra, the king of Egypt. No bandages have been put on his arm to heal it. It has not been put in a cast. So his arm will not be strong enough to use a sword. I am against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. I will break both his arms. I will break his healthy arm and his broken one. His sword will fall from his hand. I will scatter the people of Egypt among the nations. I will send them to other countries. I will make the arms of the king of Babylon stronger. I will put my sword in his hand. But I will break the arms of Pharaoh. And he will groan in front of Nebuchadnezzar. He will cry out like someone dying from his wounds. I will make the arms of the king of Babylon stronger. But the arms of Pharaoh will not be able to help Egypt. I will put my sword in Nebuchadnezzar’s hand. He will get ready to use it against Egypt. Then they will know that I am the Lord. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations. I will send them to other countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
Ezekiel 31:1-18
It was the 11th year since King Jehoiachin had been brought to Babylon as a prisoner. On the first day of the third month, a message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, “Son of man, speak to Pharaoh Hophra, the king of Egypt. Also speak to his huge army. Tell him,
“ ‘Who can be compared with your majesty?
Think about what happened to Assyria.
Once it was like a cedar tree in Lebanon.
It had beautiful branches
that provided shade for the forest.
It grew very high.
Its top was above all the leaves.
The waters fed it.
Deep springs made it grow tall.
Their streams flowed
all around its base.
They made their way
to all the trees in the fields.
So it grew higher
than any other tree in the fields.
It grew more limbs.
Its branches grew long.
They spread because they had plenty of water.
All the birds in the sky
made their nests in its limbs.
All the wild animals
had their babies under its branches.
All the great nations
lived in its shade.
Its spreading branches
made it majestic and beautiful.
Its roots went down deep
to where there was plenty of water.
The cedar trees in my garden
were no match for it.
The juniper trees
could not equal its limbs.
The plane trees
could not compare with its branches.
No tree in my garden
could match its beauty.
I gave it many branches.
They made it beautiful.
All the trees in my Garden of Eden
were jealous of it.’ ”
So the Lord and King says, “The great cedar tree grew very high. Its top was above all the leaves. It was proud of how tall it was. So I handed it over to the Babylonian ruler of the nations. I wanted him to punish it because it was so evil. I decided to get rid of it. The Babylonians cut it down and left it there. They did not show it any pity at all. Some of its branches fell on the mountains. Others fell in all the valleys. The branches lay broken in all the stream beds in the land. All the nations on earth came out from under its shade. And they went on their way. All the birds settled on the fallen tree. All the wild animals lived among its branches. So trees that receive plenty of water must never grow so high that it makes them proud. Their tops must never be above the rest of the leaves. No other trees that receive a lot of water must ever grow that high. They are appointed to die and go down into the earth below. They will join human beings, who go down to the place of the dead.”
The Lord and King says, “Assyria was like a cedar tree. But I brought it down to the place of the dead. On that day I dried up the deep springs of water and covered them. I held its streams back. I shut off its rich supply of water. Because of that, Lebanon was dressed in gloom as if it were clothes. All the trees in the fields dried up. I brought the cedar tree down to the place of the dead. It joined the other nations that go down there. I made the nations on earth shake because of the sound of its fall. Then all the trees of Eden were comforted in the earth below. That included the finest and best trees in Lebanon. And it included all the trees that received plenty of water. Others also went down along with the cedar tree into the place of the dead. They included those who had been killed by swords. They also included the armed men among the nations who lived in its shade.
“Which one of the trees of Eden can be compared with you? What tree is as glorious and majestic as you are? But you too will be brought down to the earth below. There you will join the trees of Eden. You will lie down with those who have not been circumcised. You will be among those who were killed by swords.
“That is what will happen to Pharaoh and his huge armies,” announces the Lord and King.
