1It was the 12th year since King Jehoiachin had been brought to Babylon as a prisoner. On the first day of the 12th month, a message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, 2“Son of man, sing a song of sadness about Pharaoh Hophra, the king of Egypt. Tell him,
“ ‘You are like a lion among the nations.
You are like a monster in the sea.
You move around wildly in your rivers.
You churn the water with your feet.
You make the streams muddy.’ ”
3The Lord and King says,
“I will use a large crowd of people
to throw my net over you.
They will pull you up in it.
4Then I will throw you on the land.
I will toss you into an open field.
I will let all the birds in the sky settle on you.
I will let all the wild animals eat you up.
5I will scatter the parts of your body all over the mountains.
I will fill the valleys with your remains.
6I will soak the land with your blood.
It will flow all the way to the mountains.
The valleys will be filled with the parts of your body.
7When I wipe you out,
I will put a cover over the heavens.
I will darken the stars.
I will cover the sun with a cloud.
The moon will stop shining.
8I will darken all the bright lights
in the sky above you.
I will bring darkness over your land,”
announces the Lord and King.
9“The hearts of many people will be troubled.
That is because I will destroy you among the nations.
You had never known anything about those lands before.
10Many nations will be shocked
when they see what has happened to you.
Their kings will tremble with fear
when they find out about it.
I will get ready to use Nebuchadnezzar
as my sword against them.
On the day you fall from power,
each of the kings will tremble with fear.
Each will be afraid he is the next to die.”
11The Lord and King says,
“I will send against you
the sword of the king of Babylon.
12I will destroy your huge army.
They will be killed by the swords
of Babylon’s mighty soldiers.
The soldiers will not show them any pity.
They will bring Egypt down in all its pride.
Its huge armies will be thrown down.
13I will destroy all its cattle
from the places where they have plenty of water.
Human feet will never stir up the water again.
The hooves of cattle will not make it muddy anymore.
14I will let the waters of Egypt settle.
I will make its streams flow like olive oil,”
announces the Lord and King.
15“I will turn Egypt into an empty land.
I will strip away everything in it.
I will strike down everyone who lives there.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.
16“That is the song of sadness people will sing about Egypt. Women from other nations will sing it. They will weep over Egypt and its huge armies,” announces the Lord and King.
17A message from the Lord came to me. King Jehoiachin had been brought to Babylon as a prisoner. On the 15th day of a month 12 years after that, the message came. The Lord said, 18“Son of man, weep over the huge army of Egypt. Tell the Egyptians they will go down into the earth below. The women singers from the other mighty nations will go down into the grave along with them and others. 19Tell them, ‘Are you any better than others? Since you are not, go down there. Lie down with those who have not been circumcised.’ 20They will fall dead among those who were killed by swords. Nebuchadnezzar is ready to use his sword against them. Let Egypt be dragged off together with its huge armies. 21The mighty leaders who are already in the place of the dead will talk about Egypt. They will also speak about the nations that were going to help it. They will say, ‘They have come down here. They are lying down with those who had not been circumcised. They are here with those who were killed by swords.’
22“Assyria is there with its whole army. Its king is surrounded by the graves of all its people who were killed by swords. 23Their graves are deep down in the pit. Assyria’s army lies around the grave of its king. All those who spread terror while they were alive are now dead. They were killed by swords.
24“Elam is also there. Its huge armies lie around the grave of its king. All those who spread terror while they were alive are now dead. They were killed by swords. They had not been circumcised. They went down into the earth below. Their shame is like the shame of others who go down into the grave. 25A bed is made for Elam’s king among the dead. His huge armies lie around his grave. They had not been circumcised. They were killed by swords. They had spread terror while they were alive. So now their shame is like the shame of others who go down into the grave. They lie down among the dead.
26“Meshek and Tubal are also there. Their huge armies lie around the graves of their kings. None of them had been circumcised. They had spread their terror while they were alive. So they were killed by swords. 27But they do not lie down with the other dead soldiers of long ago. Those soldiers and their weapons had gone down into the place of the dead. Their swords had been placed under their heads. Their shields rest on their bones. The soldiers of Meshek and Tubal do not lie down with them. This is true even though they had also spread terror while they were alive.
28“Pharaoh Hophra, you too will be broken. You will lie down among those who had not been circumcised. You will be there with those who were killed by swords.
29“Edom is also there. So are its kings and all its princes. In spite of their power, they lie down with those who were killed by swords. They lie down with those who had not been circumcised. They are there with others who went down into the grave.
30“All the princes of the north are there too. So are all the people of Sidon. They went down into the grave in dishonor. While they were alive, they used their power to spread terror. They had never been circumcised. But now they lie down there with those who were killed by swords. Their shame is like the shame of others who go down into the grave.
31“Pharaoh and his whole army will see all of them. That will comfort him even though his huge armies were killed by swords.” This is what the Lord and King announces. 32“I let Pharaoh spread terror while he was alive. But now he and his huge armies will be buried with those who had not been circumcised. They will lie down there with those who were killed by swords,” announces the Lord and King.
Klagosång över farao
1I det tolfte året, på första dagen i tolfte månaden32:1 Den 3 mars 585 f.Kr. kom Herrens ord till mig: 2”Du människa, sjung en klagosång över farao, kungen av Egypten, och säg till honom:
’Du var som ett ungt lejon bland folken,
som ett odjur i havet.
Du for fram utmed dina floder,
rörde upp vattnet med dina fötter
och grumlade dess flöden.
3Så säger Herren, Herren:
Jag ska kasta mitt nät över dig,
en mängd av många folk,
och de ska dra upp dig i min trål.
4Jag ska kasta upp dig på land
och slunga iväg dig ut på marken.
Himlens fåglar ska slå ner på dig,
och markens djur ska äta sig mätta på dig.
5Jag ska sprida ut ditt kött bland bergen
och fylla dalarna med dina kvarlevor.
6Jag ska dränka jorden i flödet av ditt blod,
ända upp till bergen,
och fylla bäckarna med dig.
7När jag utplånar dig
ska jag täcka över himlen
och förmörka stjärnorna.
Jag ska gömma solen i moln,
och månen ska inte ge något sken.
8Alla ljus som lyser på himlen
ska jag förmörka för din skull,
jag ska låta mörker komma över ditt land, säger Herren, Herren.
9Jag ska låta en oro drabba många folk
när jag tillkännager din undergång bland folken,
i länder som du inte känner till.
10Jag ska låta många folk förfära sig över dig,
och deras kungar ska bäva av fasa för din skull
när jag svingar mitt svärd framför dem.
De ska ständigt frukta var och en för sitt liv när du faller.
11Så säger Herren, Herren:
Kungen av Babylonien ska drabba dig med sitt svärd.
12Jag ska låta din här falla för de mäktigas svärd,
för de grymmaste av alla folk.
De ska krossa Egyptens stolthet,
och hela dess här ska förgöras.
13Jag ska utrota all dess boskap vid de rikliga vattnen,
som aldrig mer ska röras upp av människofötter
eller grumlas av djurklövar.
14Jag ska låta deras vatten sjunka
och deras floder flyta som olja, säger Herren, Herren.
15När jag gör Egypten till en ödemark
och utplånar alla som finns där,
ska de inse att jag är Herren.’
16Detta är en klagosång som man ska sjunga. Kvinnorna bland folken32:16,18 Ordagrant: folkens/nationernas döttrar, eller möjligen är tanken att dessa döttrar/kvinnor är lika med folken/nationerna. ska sjunga den, över Egypten med hela dess här ska de sjunga den, säger Herren, Herren.”
Egypten och andra riken far ner till dödsriket
17I det tolfte året, på femtonde dagen i månaden, kom Herrens ord till mig: 18”Du människa, klaga över Egyptens här: Befall dem att fara ner till jorden, tillsammans med andra mäktiga nationers kvinnor, ner till dem som gått i graven. 19Vem överträffar du i skönhet? Gå ner! Lägg dig bland de oomskurna. 20De ska falla bland dem som dödats med svärd. Svärdet är draget. Släpa bort dem med hela hopen. 21De mäktiga ledarna talar ur dödsriket till honom och hans allierade: ’De oomskurna har kommit ner och ligger där, dödade med svärd.’
22Där ligger Assur med hela sin här, mitt bland gravarna av alla sina slagna som fallit för svärd. 23Deras gravar är där nere i djupet, hans här ligger runt omkring hans grav. Alla är de dräpta, fallna för svärd, dessa som spred skräck i de levandes land.
24Där ligger Elam med hela sin här runt omkring hans grav. Alla är de dräpta, fallna för svärd. Oomskurna for de ner i jordens djup, dessa som spred skräck i de levandes land. Nu får de bära skammen med de andra som farit ner i graven. 25Bland de dräpta fick han sin bädd, med hela sin här i gravarna runt omkring. Alla är de oomskurna, dräpta med svärd, de som spred skräck i de levandes land. Nu får de bära skammen med de andra som farit ner i graven. De ligger bland de dräpta.
26Där ligger Meshek och Tuval, med hela sin här i gravarna runt omkring. Alla är de oomskurna, dräpta med svärd, de som spred skräck i de levandes land. 27De ligger inte bland de fallna, oomskurna hjältarna, som med sina vapen for ner i dödsriket och som ligger med sina svärd under huvudet och sina sköldar32:27 Egentligen deras synder; översättningen följer en föreslagen rättelse, som sammanhanget tycks förutsätta. lagda över knotorna. De spred skräck i de levandes land.
28Också du ska krossas tillsammans med de oomskurna och ligga där bland dem som dräpts med svärd.
29Där ligger Edom med sina kungar och furstar, som trots sin makt ligger där med dem som dräpts med svärd. De ligger där tillsammans med de oomskurna, de som gått ner i graven.
30Där ligger alla furstarna från norr och alla från Sidon. De for ner bland de dräpta, trots den skräck de spred genom sin makt, och de kom på skam. De ligger där oomskurna tillsammans med dem som dräpts med svärd och bär skammen med dem som gått ner i graven.
31Farao ser dem och blir tröstad i sorgen över sin här. Farao och hela hans här är dräpta med svärd, säger Herren, Herren. 32Jag lät honom sprida skräck i de levandes land, men nu ska han och hela hans här ligga bland dem som dräpts med svärd, säger Herren, Herren.”
