Ezekiel 31:1-9

New International Reader's Version

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, ²“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?
³    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.
⁴The 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.
⁵So 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.
⁶All 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.
⁷Its spreading branches
    made it majestic and beautiful.
Its roots went down deep
    to where there was plenty of water.
⁸The 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.
⁹I gave it many branches.
    They made it beautiful.
All the trees in my Garden of Eden
    were jealous of it.’ ”