A Lament for Pharaoh
1In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:
‘You compare yourself to a lion of the nations,
but32:2 Or ‘Lion of the nations, you are destroyed; you are like a monster32:2 Or crocodile32:2 Is 27:1 in the seas.
You thrash about in your rivers,
churn up the waters with your feet,
and muddy the32:2 Lit their rivers.
3“‘This is what the Lord God says:
I will spread my net over you32:3 Ezk 12:13
with an assembly of many peoples,
and they32:3 LXX, Vg read I will haul you up in my net.
4I will abandon you on the land
and throw you onto the open field.
I will cause all the birds of the sky
to settle on you
and let the wild creatures of the entire earth
eat their fill of you.32:4 Ezk 29:3–5
and fill the valleys with your carcass.
6I will drench the land
with the flow of your blood,
even to the mountains;
the ravines will be filled with your gore.
7“‘When I snuff you out,
I will cover the heavens
and darken their stars.
and the moon will not give its light.
8I will darken all the shining lights
in the heavens over you,
and will bring darkness on your land.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.
9“‘I will trouble the hearts of many peoples,
when I bring about your destruction
among the nations,
in countries you have not known.
10I will cause many peoples to be appalled at you,
and their kings will shudder with fear because of you32:10 Ezk 27:35
when I brandish my sword in front of them.
On the day of your downfall
each of them will tremble
every moment32:10 Ezk 26:16 for his life.
11“‘For this is what the Lord God says:
The sword of Babylon’s king
will come against you!
12I will make your hordes fall
by the swords of warriors,
They will ravage Egypt’s pride,
and all its hordes will be destroyed.
13I will slaughter all its cattle
that are beside many waters.
No human foot will churn them again,
and no cattle hooves will disturb them.32:13 Ezk 29:11
14Then I will let their waters settle
and will make their rivers flow like oil.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.
15When I make the land of Egypt a desolation,
so that it is emptied of everything in it,
when I strike down all who live there,
then they will know that I am the Lord.32:15 Ex 7:5
Egypt in Sheol
17In the twelfth year,32:17 LXX reads year, in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:
19Who do you surpass in loveliness?
Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!
20They will fall among those slain by the sword.
A sword is appointed!32:20 Ezk 21:15
They drag her and all her hordes away.
21Warrior leaders will speak
from the middle of Sheol
about him32:21 Either Pharaoh or Egypt and his allies:
‘They have come down;
the uncircumcised lie
slain by the sword.’32:21 Is 14:9–11; Ezk 31:15–18
22“Assyria is there with her whole assembly;
her graves are all around her.
All of them are slain, fallen by the sword.
23Her graves are set in the deepest regions of the Pit,
and her assembly is all around her burial place.
All of them are slain, fallen by the sword —
those who once spread terror
in the land of the living.
with all her hordes around her grave.
All of them are slain, fallen by the sword —
those who went down to the underworld uncircumcised,
who once spread their terror
in the land of the living.
They bear their disgrace
with those who descend to the Pit.
25Among the slain
they prepare a bed for Elam
with all her hordes.
Her graves are all around her.
All of them are uncircumcised,
slain by the sword,
although their terror was once spread
in the land of the living.
They bear their disgrace
with those who descend to the Pit.
They are placed among the slain.
with all their hordes.
Their graves are all around them.
All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword,
although their terror was once spread
in the land of the living.
27They do not lie down
with the fallen warriors of the uncircumcised,32:27 LXX reads of antiquity
who went down to Sheol
with their weapons of war,
whose swords were placed under their heads32:27 Or Do they not... heads?
and their shields32:27 Emended; MT reads iniquities
rested on their bones,
although the terror of these warriors
was once in the land of the living.
28But you will be shattered
and will lie down among the uncircumcised,
with those slain by the sword.32:28 Is 14:18
29“Edom32:29 Ezk 25:12–14 is there, her kings and all her princes,
who, despite their strength, have been placed
among those slain by the sword.
They lie down with the uncircumcised,
with those who descend to the Pit.
and all the Sidonians32:30 Ezk 28:21–23 are there.
They went down in shame with the slain,
despite the terror their strength inspired.
They lie down uncircumcised
with those slain by the sword.
They bear their disgrace
with those who descend to the Pit.
31“Pharaoh will see them
and be comforted32:31 Ezk 31:16–18 over all his hordes —
Pharaoh and his whole army,
slain by the sword.”
This is the declaration of the Lord God.
32“For I will spread my32:32 Alt Hb tradition, LXX, Syr read his terror
in the land of the living,
so Pharaoh and all his hordes
will be laid to rest among the uncircumcised,
with those slain by the sword.”
This is the declaration of the Lord God.
Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard
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