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31 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.’ ”

10 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. 11 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. 12 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. 13 All the birds settled on the fallen tree. All the wild animals lived among its branches. 14 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.”

15 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. 16 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. 17 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.

18 “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.

32 It 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, “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.’ ”

The 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.
Then 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.
I will scatter the parts of your body all over the mountains.
    I will fill the valleys with your remains.
I 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.
When 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.
I will darken all the bright lights
    in the sky above you.
I will bring darkness over your land,”
    announces the Lord and King.
“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.
10 Many 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.”

11 The Lord and King says,

“I will send against you
    the sword of the king of Babylon.
12 I 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.
13 I 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.
14 I 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.

17 A 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. 19 Tell them, ‘Are you any better than others? Since you are not, go down there. Lie down with those who have not been circumcised.’ 20 They 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. 21 The 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. 23 Their 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. 25 A 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. 27 But 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.

The Lord Again Appoints Ezekiel to Warn Israel

33 A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, “Son of man, speak to your people. Tell them, ‘Suppose I send enemies against a land. And its people choose one of their men to stand guard. He sees the enemies coming against the land. He blows a trumpet to warn the people. Someone hears the trumpet. But they do not pay any attention to the warning. The enemies come and kill them. Then what happens to them will be their own fault. They heard the sound of the trumpet. But they did not pay any attention to the warning. So what happened to them was their own fault. If they had paid attention, they would have saved themselves. But suppose the guard sees the enemies coming. And he does not blow the trumpet to warn the people. The enemies come and kill one of them. Then their life has been taken away from them because they sinned. But I will hold the guard responsible for their death.’

“Son of man, I have appointed you as a prophet to warn the people of Israel. So listen to my message. Give them a warning from me. Suppose I say to a sinful person, ‘You can be sure that you will die.’ And suppose you do not try to get them to change their ways. Then they will die because they have sinned. And I will hold you responsible for their death. But suppose you do warn that sinful person. You tell them to change their ways. But they do not change. Then they will die because they have sinned. But you will have saved yourself.

10 “Son of man, speak to the Israelites. Tell them, ‘You are saying, “Our sins and the wrong things we have done weigh us down. We are wasting away because we have sinned so much. So how can we live?” ’ 11 Tell them, ‘When sinful people die, it does not give me any joy. But when they turn away from their sins and live, that makes me very happy. And that is just as sure as I am alive,’ announces the Lord and King. ‘So turn away from your sins! Change your evil ways! Why should you die, people of Israel?’

12 “Son of man, speak to your people. Tell them, ‘Suppose a godly person does not obey the Lord. Then the right things that person has done in the past count for nothing. Suppose a sinful person turns away from doing wrong things. Then the wrong things that person has done in the past won’t bring them judgment. A godly person who sins won’t be allowed to live. That’s true even though they used to do right things.’ 13 Suppose I tell a godly person that they will live. And they trust in the fact that they used to do what is right. But now they do what is evil. Then I will not remember any of the right things they have done. They will die because they have done so many evil things. 14 Suppose I say to a sinful person, ‘You can be sure you will die.’ And then they turn away from their sin. They do what is fair and right. 15 They return things they take to make sure loans are repaid. They give back what they have stolen. They obey my rules that give life. They do not do what is evil. Then you can be sure they will live. They will not die. 16 None of the sins they have committed will be held against them. They have done what is fair and right. So you can be sure they will live.

17 “In spite of that, your people say, ‘What the Lord does isn’t fair.’ But it is what you do that is not fair. 18 Suppose a godly person stops doing what is right. And they do what is evil. Then they will die because of it. 19 But suppose a sinful person turns away from the evil things they have done. And they do what is fair and right. Then they will live by doing that. 20 In spite of that, you Israelites say, ‘What the Lord does isn’t fair.’ But I will judge each of you based on how you have lived.”

The Lord Explains Why Jerusalem Fell

21 It was the 12th year since we had been brought to Babylon as prisoners. On the fifth day of the tenth month, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to bring me a report. He said, “The city has fallen!” 22 The evening before the man arrived, the power of the Lord came on me. He opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened. I was no longer silent.

23 Then a message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, 24 “Son of man, here is what the people living in Israel’s broken-down buildings are saying. ‘Abraham was only one man. But he owned the land. We are many people. The land must certainly belong to us.’ 25 So tell them, ‘The Lord and King says, “You eat meat that still has blood in it. You worship your statues of gods. You commit murder. So should you still possess the land? 26 You depend on your swords. You do things I hate. Each one of you sleeps with your neighbor’s wife. So should you still possess the land?” ’

27 “Tell them, ‘Here is what the Lord and King says. “The people who are left in those broken-down buildings will be killed by swords. Wild animals will eat up those who are out in the country. Those who are in caves and other safe places will die of a plague. And that is just as sure as I am alive. 28 I will turn the land into a dry and empty desert. The strength Jerusalem is so proud of will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be deserted. No one will travel across them. 29 So I will turn the land into a dry and empty desert. I will punish my people because of all the evil things they have done. I hate those things. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” ’

30 “Son of man, your people are talking about you. They are getting together by the walls of their houses and at their doors. They are saying to one another, ‘Come. Listen to the Lord’s message.’ 31 My people come to you, just as they usually do. They sit in front of you. They hear what you say. But they do not put it into practice. With their mouths they say they love me. But in their hearts they want what belongs to others. They try to get rich by cheating them. 32 You are nothing more to them than someone who sings love songs. They say you have a beautiful voice. They think you play an instrument well. They hear what you say. But they do not put it into practice.

33 “Everything I have told you will come true. You can be sure of it. Then the people will know that a prophet has been among them.”

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