EZEKIEL 28-31

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Tyre’s King Overthrown  28:1 The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,

“Because your heart is lifted up

And you have said, ‘I am a god,

I sit in the seat of gods

In the heart of the seas’;

Yet you are a man and not God,

Although you make your heart like the heart of God--

3 Behold, you are wiser than Daniel;

There is no secret that is a match for you.

4 “By your wisdom and understanding

You have acquired riches for yourself

And have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries.

5 “By your great wisdom, by your trade

You have increased your riches

And your heart is lifted up because of your riches--

6 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD,

‘Because you have made your heart

Like the heart of God,

7 Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you,

The most ruthless of the nations.

And they will draw their swords

Against the beauty of your wisdom

And defile your splendor.

8 ‘They will bring you down to the pit,

And you will die the death of those who are slain

In the heart of the seas.

9 ‘Will you still say, “I am a god,”

In the presence of your slayer,

Though you are a man and not God,

In the hands of those who wound you?

10 ‘You will die the death of the uncircumcised

By the hand of strangers,

For I have spoken!’ declares the Lord GOD!”’”

    11 Again the word of the LORD came to me saying, 12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,

“You had the seal of perfection,

Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

13 “You were in Eden, the garden of God;

Every precious stone was your covering:

The ruby, the topaz and the diamond;

The beryl, the onyx and the jasper;

The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald;

And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets,

Was in you.

On the day that you were created

They were prepared.

14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers,

And I placed you there.

You were on the holy mountain of God;

You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.

15 “You were blameless in your ways

From the day you were created

Until unrighteousness was found in you.

16 “By the abundance of your trade

You were internally filled with violence,

And you sinned;

Therefore I have cast you as profane

From the mountain of God.

And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub,

From the midst of the stones of fire.

17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;

You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.

I cast you to the ground;

I put you before kings,

That they may see you.

18 “By the multitude of your iniquities,

In the unrighteousness of your trade

You profaned your sanctuaries.

Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you;

It has consumed you,

And I have turned you to ashes on the earth

In the eyes of all who see you.

19 “All who know you among the peoples

Are appalled at you;

You have become terrified

And you will cease to be forever.”’”

Judgment of Sidon    20 And the word of the LORD came to me saying, 21 “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, prophesy against her 22 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,

“Behold, I am against you, O Sidon,

And I will be glorified in your midst.

Then they will know that I am the LORD when I execute judgments in her,

And I will manifest My holiness in her.

23 “For I will send pestilence to her

And blood to her streets,

And the wounded will fall in her midst

By the sword upon her on every side;

Then they will know that I am the LORD.

24 And there will be no more for the house of Israel a prickling brier or a painful thorn from any round about them who scorned them; then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.”
Israel Regathered    25 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and will manifest My holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they will live in their land which I gave to My servant Jacob. 26 They will live in it securely; and they will build houses, plant vineyards and live securely when I execute judgments upon all who scorn them round about them. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.”’”
Judgment of Egypt  29:1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 3 Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,

“Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,

The great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers,

That has said, ‘My Nile is mine, and I myself have made it.’

4 “I will put hooks in your jaws

And make the fish of your rivers cling to your scales.

And I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers,

And all the fish of your rivers will cling to your scales.

5 “I will abandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers;

You will fall on the open field; you will not be brought together or gathered.

I have given you for food to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the sky.

6 “Then all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am the LORD,

Because they have been only a staff made of reed to the house of Israel.

7 “When they took hold of you with the hand,

You broke and tore all their hands;

And when they leaned on you,

You broke and made all their loins quake.”

    8 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will bring upon you a sword and I will cut off from you man and beast. 9 The land of Egypt will become a desolation and waste. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
    Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I have made it,’ 10 therefore, behold, I am against you and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene and even to the border of Ethiopia. 11 A man’s foot will not pass through it, and the foot of a beast will not pass through it, and it will not be inhabited for forty years. 12 So I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated lands. And her cities, in the midst of cities that are laid waste, will be desolate forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands.”
    13 ‘For thus says the Lord GOD, “At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered. 14 I will turn the fortunes of Egypt and make them return to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin, and there they will be a lowly kingdom. 15 It will be the lowest of the kingdoms, and it will never again lift itself up above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will not rule over the nations. 16 And it will never again be the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing to mind the iniquity of their having turned to Egypt. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.”’”
    17 Now in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 18 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre; every head was made bald and every shoulder was rubbed bare. But he and his army had no wages from Tyre for the labor that he had performed against it.” 19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her wealth and capture her spoil and seize her plunder; and it will be wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor which he performed, because they acted for Me,” declares the Lord GOD.
    21 “On that day I will make a horn sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth in their midst. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”
Lament over Egypt  30:1 The word of the LORD came again to me saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,

“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’

3 “For the day is near,

Even the day of the LORD is near;

It will be a day of clouds,

A time of doom for the nations.

4 “A sword will come upon Egypt,

And anguish will be in Ethiopia;

When the slain fall in Egypt,

They take away her wealth,

And her foundations are torn down.

5 Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all Arabia, Libya and the people of the land that is in league will fall with them by the sword.”
6 ‘Thus says the LORD,

“Indeed, those who support Egypt will fall

And the pride of her power will come down;

From Migdol to Syene

They will fall within her by the sword,”

Declares the Lord GOD.

7 “They will be desolate

In the midst of the desolated lands;

And her cities will be

In the midst of the devastated cities.

8 “And they will know that I am the LORD,

When I set a fire in Egypt

And all her helpers are broken.

9 On that day messengers will go forth from Me in ships to frighten secure Ethiopia; and anguish will be on them as on the day of Egypt; for behold, it comes!”
    10 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,

“I will also make the hordes of Egypt cease

By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

11 “He and his people with him,

The most ruthless of the nations,

Will be brought in to destroy the land;

And they will draw their swords against Egypt

And fill the land with the slain.

12 “Moreover, I will make the Nile canals dry

And sell the land into the hands of evil men.

And I will make the land desolate

And all that is in it,

By the hand of strangers; I the LORD have spoken.”

    13 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,

“I will also destroy the idols

And make the images cease from Memphis.

And there will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt;

And I will put fear in the land of Egypt.

14 “I will make Pathros desolate,

Set a fire in Zoan

And execute judgments on Thebes.

15 “I will pour out My wrath on Sin,

The stronghold of Egypt;

I will also cut off the hordes of Thebes.

16 “I will set a fire in Egypt;

Sin will writhe in anguish,

Thebes will be breached

And Memphis will have distresses daily.

17 “The young men of On and of Pi-beseth

Will fall by the sword,

And the women will go into captivity.

18 “In Tehaphnehes the day will be dark

When I break there the yoke bars of Egypt.

Then the pride of her power will cease in her;

A cloud will cover her,

And her daughters will go into captivity.

19 “Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt,

And they will know that I am the LORD.”’”

Victory for Babylon    20 In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, behold, it has not been bound up for healing or wrapped with a bandage, that it may be strong to hold the sword. 22 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong and the broken; and I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands. 24 For I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand; and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, so that he will groan before him with the groanings of a wounded man. 25 Thus I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. 26 When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands, then they will know that I am the LORD.’”
Pharaoh Warned of Assyria’s Fate  31:1 In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes,

‘Whom are you like in your greatness?

3 ‘Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon

With beautiful branches and forest shade,

And very high,

And its top was among the clouds.

4 ‘The waters made it grow, the deep made it high.

With its rivers it continually extended all around its planting place,

And sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.

5 ‘Therefore its height was loftier than all the trees of the field

And its boughs became many and its branches long

Because of many waters as it spread them out.

6 ‘All the birds of the heavens nested in its boughs,

And under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth,

And all great nations lived under its shade.

7 ‘So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches;

For its roots extended to many waters.

8 ‘The cedars in God’s garden could not match it;

The cypresses could not compare with its boughs,

And the plane trees could not match its branches.

No tree in God’s garden could compare with it in its beauty.

9 ‘I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches,

And all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God, were jealous of it.

    10 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Because it is high in stature and has set its top among the clouds, and its heart is haughty in its loftiness, 11 therefore I will give it into the hand of a despot of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. According to its wickedness I have driven it away. 12 Alien tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; on the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the peoples of the earth have gone down from its shade and left it. 13 On its ruin all the birds of the heavens will dwell, and all the beasts of the field will be on its fallen branches 14 so that all the trees by the waters may not be exalted in their stature, nor set their top among the clouds, nor their well-watered mighty ones stand erect in their height. For they have all been given over to death, to the earth beneath, among the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit.”
    15 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “On the day when it went down to Sheol I caused lamentations; I closed the deep over it and held back its rivers. And its many waters were stopped up, and I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away on account of it. 16 I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall when I made it go down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit; and all the well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, were comforted in the earth beneath. 17 They also went down with it to Sheol to those who were slain by the sword; and those who were its strength lived under its shade among the nations.
    18 “To which among the trees of Eden are you thus equal in glory and greatness? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth beneath; you will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who were slain by the sword. So is Pharaoh and all his hordes!”’ declares the Lord GOD.”

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