Ezekiel 31

New American Standard Bible

Pharaoh Warned of Assyria’s Fate

31 In the ^(A)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 ^(B)hordes,

‘Whom are you like in your greatness?
³Behold, Assyria was a ^(C)cedar in Lebanon
With beautiful branches and forest shade,
And ^[a]^(D)very high,
And its top was among the ^[b]clouds.
⁴The ^(E)waters made it grow, the ^[c]deep made it high.
With its rivers it continually ^[d]extended all around its planting place,
And sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.
⁵Therefore ^(F)its height was loftier than all the trees of the field
And its boughs became many and its branches long
Because of ^(G)many waters ^[e]as it spread them out.
⁶All the ^(H)birds of the sky nested in its twigs,
And under its branches all the animals of the field gave birth,
And all great nations lived under its shade.
⁷So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches;
For its ^[f]roots extended to many waters.
⁸The ^(I)cedars in ^(J)God’s garden ^[g]could not match it;
The junipers ^[h]could not compare with its branches,
And the plane trees ^[i]could not match its branches.
No tree in ^(K)God’s garden ^[j]could compare with it in its beauty.
⁹I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches,
And all the trees of ^(L)Eden, which were in the ^(M)garden of God, were jealous of it.

¹⁰‘Therefore this is what the Lord ^[k]God says: “Because ^[l]it is tall in stature and has put its top among the ^[m]clouds, and its ^(N)heart is haughty in its loftiness, ¹¹I will hand it over to a ^[n]^(O)ruler of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. In accordance with its wickedness I have ^(P)driven it out. ¹²^(Q)Foreign ^(R)tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; on the ^(S)mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its branches have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the peoples of the earth have ^(T)gone down from its shade and left it. ¹³All the ^(U)birds of the sky will nest on its fallen trunk, and all the animals of the field will ^[o]rest on its fallen branches, ¹⁴so that all the trees by the waters will not be exalted in their stature, nor put their tops among the ^[p]clouds, nor will any of their ^[q]well-watered mighty ones stand straight in their height. For they have all been turned over to death, to the ^(V)earth beneath, among ^[r]mankind, ^[s]with those who go down to the pit.”

¹⁵‘This is what the Lord God says: “On the day when it went down to Sheol I ^(W)caused mourning; I closed the ^[t]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. ¹⁶I made the nations ^(X)quake from the sound of its fall when I made it ^(Y)go down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit; and all the ^[u]well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and best of ^(Z)Lebanon, were ^(AA)comforted in the earth beneath. ¹⁷They also ^(AB)went down with it to Sheol to those who were ^(AC)slain by the sword; and those who were its ^[v]strength lived ^(AD)in its shade among the nations.

¹⁸“To which among the trees of Eden are you so alike 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 ^(AE)uncircumcised with those who were killed by the sword. ^(AF)This is Pharaoh and all his hordes!”’ declares the Lord God.”

Footnotes

Ezekiel 31:3 Lit high of stature
Ezekiel 31:3 As in LXX; MT thick boughs
Ezekiel 31:4 I.e., subterranean waters
Ezekiel 31:4 Lit was going
Ezekiel 31:5 Lit in its sending forth
Ezekiel 31:7 Lit root was
Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did
Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did
Ezekiel 31:8 Lit were not like
Ezekiel 31:8 Lit did
Ezekiel 31:10 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
Ezekiel 31:10 As in Syriac; MT you are
Ezekiel 31:10 As in LXX; MT thick branches
Ezekiel 31:11 Or mighty one
Ezekiel 31:13 Lit be on
Ezekiel 31:14 As in LXX; MT thick branches
Ezekiel 31:14 Lit drinkers of water
Ezekiel 31:14 Lit sons of mankind
Ezekiel 31:14 Lit to
Ezekiel 31:15 I.e., subterranean waters
Ezekiel 31:16 Lit drinkers of water
Ezekiel 31:17 Lit arm

Psalm 79

New American Standard Bible

Grieving over the Destruction of Jerusalem, and Prayer for Help.

A Psalm of Asaph.

79 God, the ^(A)nations have ^[a]invaded ^(B)Your inheritance;
They have defiled Your ^(C)holy temple;
They have ^(D)laid Jerusalem in ruins.
²They have given the ^(E)dead bodies of Your servants to the birds of the sky as food,
The flesh of Your godly ones to the animals of the earth.
³They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem;
And there was ^(F)no one to bury them.
⁴We have become a ^(G)disgrace before our neighbors,
An object of derision and ridicule to those around us.
⁵^(H)How long, Lord? Will You be angry forever?
Will Your ^(I)jealousy ^(J)burn like fire?
⁶^(K)Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which ^(L)do not know You,
And upon the kingdoms which ^(M)do not call upon Your name.
⁷For they have ^(N)devoured Jacob
And ^(O)laid waste his ^[b]settlement.

⁸^(P)Do not ^[c]hold us responsible for ^[d]the guilty deeds of our forefathers;
Let Your compassion come quickly to ^(Q)meet us,
For we have ^(R)become very low.
⁹^(S)Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of ^(T)Your name;
And save us and ^[e]^(U)forgive our sins ^(V)for the sake of Your name.
¹⁰^(W)Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Let ^(X)vengeance for the blood of Your servants which has been shed
Be known among the nations in our sight.
¹¹Let ^(Y)the groaning of the prisoner come before You;
According to the greatness of Your ^[f]power, let ^[g]those who are ^(Z)doomed to die remain.
¹²And return to our neighbors ^(AA)seven times as much ^(AB)into their lap
Their ^(AC)taunts with which they have taunted You, Lord.
¹³So we Your people and the ^(AD)sheep of Your ^[h]pasture
Will ^(AE)give thanks to You forever;
To all generations we will ^(AF)tell of Your praise.