Lectionary Calendar
Friday, April 10th, 2026
Friday in Easter Week
Attention!
Tired of seeing ads while studying? Now you can enjoy an "Ads Free" version of the site for as little as 10¢ a day and support a great cause!
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

Contemporary English Version

Ezekiel 31:10

King of Egypt, now listen to what I, the Lord God, am saying about that tree: The tree grew so tall that it reached the sky and became very proud and arrogant.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Pride;   Self-Exaltation;   Thompson Chain Reference - Exaltation;   Humility-Pride;   Pride;   Self-Exaltation;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Ambition;   Assyria;   Pride;   Trees;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Lebanon;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Repentance;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Paradise;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Assyria ;   Nineveh ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Chief parables and miracles in the bible;   Egypt;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Height;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Height;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Since it towered high in stature and set its top among the clouds, and it grew proud on account of its height,
Hebrew Names Version
Therefore thus said the Lord GOD: Because you are exalted in stature, and he has set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
King James Version
Therefore thus saith the Lord God ; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
English Standard Version
"Therefore thus says the Lord God : Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height,
New American Standard Bible
'Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "Because it is tall in stature and has put its top among the clouds, and its heart is haughty in its loftiness,
New Century Version
"‘So this is what the Lord God says: The tree grew tall. Its top reached the clouds, and it became proud of its height.
Amplified Bible
'Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Because it is high in stature and has set its top among the thick boughs and the clouds, and its heart is proud of its height,
World English Bible
Therefore thus said the Lord Yahweh: Because you are exalted in stature, and he has set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
Geneva Bible (1587)
Therefore thus sayeth the Lorde God, Because he is lift vp on high, and hath shot vp his toppe among the thicke boughes, and his heart is lift vp in his height,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
'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,
Legacy Standard Bible
‘Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, "Because it is lofty in height and has put its top among the clouds, and its heart is high up in its loftiness,
Berean Standard Bible
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Since it became great in height and set its top among the clouds, and it grew proud on account of its height,
Complete Jewish Bible
"Therefore here is what Adonai Elohim says: ‘Because you are so tall, because he has lifted his crown above the leafy boughs, because he has grown so arrogant about his height,
Darby Translation
Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast lifted up thyself in stature, … and he hath set his top amidst the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height,
Easy-to-Read Version
So this is what the Lord God says: "That tree grew tall. Its top reached up to the clouds. It grew so big that it became proud!
George Lamsa Translation
Therefore thus says the LORD God: Because it has exalted itself and has shot up its top among the thick boughs and its heart is haughty because of its height,
Good News Translation
"Now then, I, the Sovereign Lord , will tell you what is going to happen to that tree that grew until it reached the clouds. As it grew taller it grew proud;
Lexham English Bible
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Because it was tall in height and it set its treetop between thick clouds, and he took pride in his tallness,
Literal Translation
So the Lord Jehovah says this: Because you were exalted in height, and he has set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height,
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Therfore, thus saieth the LORDE God: For so moch as he hath lift vp himself so hie, & stretched his toppe in to the cloudes, & seinge his hert is proude in his highnesse:
American Standard Version
Therefore thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because thou art exalted in stature, and he hath set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
Bible in Basic English
For this cause the Lord has said: Because he is tall, and has put his top among the clouds, and his heart is full of pride because he is so high,
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Because thou art exalted in stature, and he hath set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
King James Version (1611)
Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Because thou hast lifted vp thy selfe in height, and hee hath shot vp his top among the thicke boughes, and his heart is lifted vp in his height;
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Therefore thus sayth the Lorde God: forsomuch as he hath lift vp him selfe so hye, and hath shot vp his top among the thycke bowes, and his heart is lift vp in his heyght:
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Therefore thus saith the Lord; Because thou art grown great, and hast set thy top in the midst of the clouds, and I saw when he was exalted;
English Revised Version
Therefore thus said the Lord GOD: Because thou art exalted in stature, and he hath set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor the Lord God seith these thingis, For that that he was reisid in hiynesse, and he yaf his hyynesse greene and thicke, and his herte was reisid in his hiynesse;
Update Bible Version
Therefore thus said the Lord Yahweh: Because you are exalted in stature, and he has set his top to [reach] among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
Webster's Bible Translation
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in hight, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his hight;
New English Translation
"‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because it was tall in stature, and its top reached into the clouds, and it was proud of its height,
New King James Version
"Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Because you have increased in height, and it set its top among the thick boughs, and its heart was lifted up in its height,
New Living Translation
"Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because Egypt became proud and arrogant, and because it set itself so high above the others, with its top reaching to the clouds,
New Life Bible
‘So the Lord God says, "Because it has grown high with its top among the heavy branches, its heart has become proud,
New Revised Standard
Therefore thus says the Lord God : Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height,
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Therefore Thus, saith My Lord Yahweh, Because thou hast become lofty in stature, And he hath stretched his top among the clouds, And his heart is exalted in his loftiness.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because he was exalted in height, and shot up his top green and thick, and his heart was lifted up in his height:
Revised Standard Version
"Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height,
Young's Literal Translation
Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because that thou hast been high in stature, And he yieldeth his foliage between thickets, And high is his heart in his haughtiness,
THE MESSAGE
Therefore, God , the Master, says, "‘Because it skyscrapered upward, piercing the clouds, swaggering and proud of its stature, I turned it over to a world-famous leader to call its evil to account. I'd had enough. Outsiders, unbelievably brutal, felled it across the mountain ranges. Its branches were strewn through all the valleys, its leafy boughs clogging all the streams and rivers. Because its shade was gone, everybody walked off. No longer a tree—just a log. On that dead log birds perch. Wild animals burrow under it.

Contextual Overview

10 King of Egypt, now listen to what I, the Lord God, am saying about that tree: The tree grew so tall that it reached the sky and became very proud and arrogant. 11 So I, the Lord God, will reject the tree and hand it over to a foreign ruler, who will punish it for its wickedness. 12 Cruel foreigners will chop it down and leave it wherever it falls. Branches and broken limbs will be scattered over the mountains and in the valleys. The people living in the shade of those branches will go somewhere else. 13 Birds will then nest on the stump of the fallen tree, and wild animals will trample its branches. 14 Never again will any tree dare to grow as tall as this tree, no matter how much water it has. Every tree must die, just as humans die and go down to the world of the dead. 15 On the day this tree dies and goes to the world below, I, the Lord God, will command rivers and streams to mourn its death. Every underground spring of water and every river will stop flowing. The mountains in Lebanon will be covered with darkness as a sign of their sorrow, and all the trees in the forest will wither. 16 This tree will crash to the ground, and I will send it to the world below. Then the nations of the earth will tremble. The trees from Eden and the choice trees from Lebanon are now in the world of the dead, and they will be comforted when this tree falls. 17 Those people who found protection in its shade will also be sent to the world below, where they will join the dead. 18 King of Egypt, all these things will happen to you and your people! You were like this tree at one time—taller and stronger than anyone on earth. But now you will be chopped down, just as every tree in the garden of Eden must die. You will be sent down to the world of the dead, where you will join the godless and the other victims of violent death. I, the Lord God, have spoken.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Therefore: The allegory and its interpretation are here combined; and the Assyrian monarch, though already destroyed, is poetically addressed.

Because: Matthew 23:12

and his: Ezekiel 31:14, Ezekiel 28:17, 2 Chronicles 25:19, 2 Chronicles 32:25, Job 11:11, Job 11:12, Proverbs 16:18, Proverbs 18:12, Isaiah 14:13-15, Daniel 4:30, Daniel 5:20, Obadiah 1:3, James 4:6

Reciprocal: Isaiah 10:12 - the glory Ezekiel 28:2 - Because Daniel 5:23 - lifted

Cross-References

Genesis 20:6
God spoke to Abimelech in another dream and said: I know you are innocent. That's why I kept you from sleeping with Sarah and doing anything wrong.
Genesis 28:12
In a dream he saw a ladder that reached from earth to heaven, and God's angels were going up and down on it.
Genesis 30:39
in front of the branches, and their young were spotted and speckled.
Genesis 31:24
But God appeared to Laban in a dream that night and warned, "Don't say a word to Jacob. Don't make a threat or a promise."
Numbers 12:6
Then after commanding them to listen carefully, he said: "I, the Lord , speak to prophets in visions and dreams.
Deuteronomy 13:1
Moses said to Israel: Someday a prophet may come along who is able to perform miracles or tell what will happen in the future. Then the prophet may say, "Let's start worshiping some new gods—some gods that we know nothing about."
1 Kings 3:5
One night while Solomon was in Gibeon, the Lord God appeared to him in a dream and said, "Solomon, ask for anything you want, and I will give it to you."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Therefore thus saith the Lord God,.... Having described the greatness of the Assyrian monarch; now follows the account of his fall, and the cause of it, pride:

because thou hast lifted up thyself in height; this is either an address to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who, though he did not rise up so high as the Assyrian monarch in glory and grandeur; yet he lifted up himself, and thought himself superior to any; which reason he must be brought down: or the words are directed to the Assyrian monarch, by a change of person frequent in Scripture; who, though he was raised by the Lord to the height of honour and dignity he was, yet ascribed it to himself:

and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs; the multitude of provinces over which he became head and governor;

:-:

and his heart is lifted up in his height; with pride, insolence, and contempt of God and men; of which see the instances in

Isaiah 10:8.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Assyria’s fall.

Ezekiel 31:11

More accurately: Therefore I will deliver him, etc ... he shall surely deal with him. I have driven him out, etc.

Ezekiel 31:14

Their trees - Rather, as in the margin, “standing unto themselves” meaning “standing in their own strength.” The clause will then run thus: “Neither all that drink water stand up” in their own strength. “All that drink water” means mighty princes to whom wealth and prosperity flow in. The Egyptians owed everything to the waters of the Nile. The substance is, that Assyria’s fall was decreed in order that the mighty ones of the earth might learn not to exalt themselves in pride or to rely on themselves, seeing that they must share the common lot of mortality.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile