Study Desk

The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,

"Son of man, prophesy and say, 'This is what the Lord ^(F1)GOD says: "^(C1)Wail, 'Woe for the day!'

-"For the day is near, Indeed, ^(C1)the day of the LORD is near; It will be a day of ^(C2)clouds, A time of doom for the nations.

-"A sword will come upon Egypt, And there will be trembling in ^(F1)Cush; When the slain fall in Egypt, They will ^(C1)take away her ^(F2)wealth, And her foundations will be torn down.

"^(F1)Cush, Put, Lud, all ^(F2)(C1)Arabia, ^(F3)Libya and the ^(F4)people of the land ^(F5)that is in league will fall with them by the sword."

'This is what the LORD says: "Indeed, those who support ^(C1)Egypt will fall And the pride of her power will come down; From Migdol to Syene They will fall within her by the sword," Declares the Lord GOD.

"They will be desolate In the ^(C1)midst of the desolated lands; And her cities will be In the midst of the devastated cities.

-"And they will ^(C1)know that I am the LORD, When I set a ^(C2)fire in Egypt And all her helpers are broken.

"On that day ^(C1)messengers will go out from Me in ships to frighten ^(C2)carefree ^(F1)Cush; and ^(C3)trembling will come on them as on the day of Egypt; for behold, it is coming!"

'This is what the Lord GOD says: "^(C1)I will also make the ^(F1)hordes of Egypt cease By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

-"He and his people with him, ^(C1)The most ruthless of the nations, Will be brought in to destroy the land; And they will draw their swords against Egypt And fill the land with the slain.

-"Moreover, I will make the ^(C1)Nile canals dry And ^(C2)sell the land into the hands of evil men. And I will make the land desolate And ^(F1)all that is in it, By the hand of strangers; I the LORD have spoken."

'This is what the Lord GOD says: "I will also ^(C1)destroy the idols And make the ^(F1)images cease from ^(F2)(C2)Memphis. And there will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt; And I will put fear in the land of Egypt.

-"I will make ^(C1)Pathros desolate, Set a fire in ^(C2)Zoan And execute judgments on ^(F1)(C3)Thebes.

-"I will pour out My wrath on ^(F1)Sin, The stronghold of Egypt; I will also eliminate the hordes of ^(F2)Thebes.

-"I will set a fire in Egypt; ^(F1)Sin will writhe in anguish, ^(F2)Thebes will be breached And ^(F3)Memphis will have ^(F4)distresses daily.

-"The young men of ^(F1)(C1)On and of Pi-beseth Will fall by the sword, And ^(F2)the women will go into captivity.

-"In ^(C1)Tehaphnehes the day will ^(F1)be ^(C2)dark When I ^(C3)break there the yoke bars of Egypt. Then the pride of her power will cease in her; A cloud will cover her, And her daughters will go into captivity.

-"So I will ^(C1)execute judgments on Egypt, And they will know that I am the LORD."'"

In the ^(C1)eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

"Son of man, I have ^(C1)broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, behold, it has not been ^(C2)bound up ^(F1)for healing ^(F2)or wrapped with a bandage, so that it may be strong to wield the sword.

"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Behold, I am ^(C1)against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and I will break his arms, both the strong and the ^(C2)broken; and I will make the sword ^(C3)fall from his hand.

+'And I will ^(C1)scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands.

+'For I will ^(C1)strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put ^(C2)My sword in his hand; and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, so that he will groan before him with the groans of a wounded man.

+'So I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fail. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he ^(C1)reaches out with it against the land of Egypt.

+'When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands, then they will know that I am the LORD.'"

In the ^(C1)eleventh year, in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

"Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his ^(C1)hordes, 'Whom are you like in your greatness?

-'Behold, Assyria was a ^(C1)cedar in Lebanon With beautiful branches and forest shade, And ^(F1)(C2)very high, And its top was among the ^(F2)clouds.

-'The ^(C1)waters made it grow, the ^(F1)deep made it high. With its rivers it continually ^(F2)extended all around its planting place, And sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.

-'Therefore ^(C1)its height was loftier than all the trees of the field And its boughs became many and its branches long Because of ^(C2)many waters ^(F1)as it spread them out.

-'All the ^(C1)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.

-'So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; For its ^(F1)roots extended to many waters.

-'The ^(C1)cedars in ^(C2)God's garden ^(F1)could not match it; The junipers ^(F1)could not compare with its branches, And the plane trees ^(F2)could not match its branches. No tree in ^(C2)God's garden ^(F1)could compare with it in its beauty.

-'I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches, And all the trees of ^(C1)Eden, which were in the ^(C1)garden of God, were jealous of it.

'Therefore this is what the Lord ^(F1)GOD says: "Because ^(F2)it is tall in stature and has put its top among the ^(F3)clouds, and its ^(C1)heart is haughty in its loftiness,

I will hand it over to a ^(F1)(C1)ruler of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. In accordance with its wickedness I have ^(C2)driven it out.

"^(C1)Foreign ^(C2)tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; on the ^(C3)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 ^(C4)gone down from its shade and left it.

"All the ^(C1)birds of the sky will nest on its fallen trunk, and all the animals of the field will ^(F1)rest on its fallen branches,

so that all the trees by the waters will not be exalted in their stature, nor put their tops among the ^(F1)clouds, nor will any of their ^(F2)well-watered mighty ones stand straight in their height. For they have all been turned over to death, to the ^(C1)earth beneath, among ^(F3)mankind, ^(F4)with those who go down to the pit."

'This is what the Lord GOD says: "On the day when it went down to Sheol I ^(C1)caused mourning; I closed the ^(F1)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.

"I made the nations ^(C1)quake from the sound of its fall when I made it ^(C2)go down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit; and all the ^(F1)well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and best of ^(C3)Lebanon, were ^(C4)comforted in the earth beneath.

"They also ^(C1)went down with it to Sheol to those who were ^(C2)slain by the sword; and those who were its ^(F1)strength lived ^(C3)in its shade among the nations.

"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 ^(C1)uncircumcised with those who were killed by the sword. ^(C2)This is Pharaoh and all his hordes!"' declares the Lord GOD."

In the ^(C1)twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

"Son of man, take up a ^(C1)song of mourning over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him, 'You ^(F1)compared yourself to a young ^(C2)lion of the nations, Yet you are like the ^(C3)monster in the seas; And you ^(C4)burst forth in your rivers And muddied the waters with your feet And ^(F2)fouled their rivers.'"

This is what the Lord ^(F1)GOD says: "Now I will ^(C1)spread My net over you With a contingent of many peoples, And they will lift you up in My net.

-"I will leave you on the land; I will hurl you on the ^(F1)open field. And I will cause all the ^(C1)birds of the sky to ^(F2)nest on you, And I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth ^(F3)with you.

-"I will lay your flesh ^(C1)on the mountains And fill the valleys with your refuse.

-"I will also make the land drink the discharge of your ^(C1)blood As far as the mountains, And the ravines will be full of you.

-"And when I ^(C1)extinguish you, I will ^(C2)cover the heavens and darken their ^(C3)stars; I will cover the ^(C4)sun with a cloud And the moon will not give its light.

-"All the shining ^(C1)lights in the heavens I will darken over you And will set darkness on your land," Declares the Lord GOD.

"I will also ^(C1)trouble the hearts of many peoples when I ^(C2)bring your destruction among the nations, into lands which you have not known.

"And I will make many peoples ^(C1)appalled at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and ^(C2)they will tremble again and again, every person for his own life, on the day of your fall."

For ^(C1)the Lord GOD says ^(C1)this: "The sword of the king of Babylon will ^(F1)attack you.

"By the swords of the warriors I will make your multitude fall; all of them are ^(C1)tyrants of the nations, And they will ^(C2)devastate the pride of Egypt, And all its multitude will be destroyed.

-"I will also eliminate all its cattle from beside many waters; And ^(C1)a human foot will not muddy them anymore, And the hoofs of animals will not muddy them.

-"Then I will make their waters settle, And make their rivers run like oil," Declares the Lord GOD.

"When I make the land of Egypt a ^(C1)desolation, And the land is destitute of that which filled it, When I strike all those who live in it, Then they shall ^(C2)know that I am the LORD.

"This is a ^(C1)song of mourning, and they shall sing it. The daughters of the nations shall sing it. Over Egypt and over all her hordes they shall sing it," declares the Lord GOD.

In the ^(C1)twelfth year, on the ^(C1)fifteenth of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

"Son of man, ^(C1)lament for the hordes of Egypt and ^(C2)bring it down, her and the daughters of the mighty nations, to the ^(C3)netherworld, with those who go down to the pit;

'Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and make your bed with the ^(C1)uncircumcised.'

"They shall fall in the midst of those who are killed by the sword. ^(F1)She is turned over to the sword; they have ^(C1)dragged her and all her hordes away.

"The ^(C1)strong among the mighty ones shall speak of him and his helpers from the midst of Sheol: 'They have gone down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, killed by the sword.'

"^(C1)Assyria is there and all her company; ^(F1)her graves are all around ^(F2)her. All of them killed, fallen by the sword,

whose ^(C1)graves are set in the remotest parts of the pit, and her company is all around her grave. All of them killed, fallen by the sword, who ^(F1)spread terror in the land of the living.

"^(C1)Elam is there and all her hordes around her grave; all of them killed, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised to the ^(C2)lower parts of the earth, who inflicted their terror on the ^(C3)land of the living, and ^(C4)bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit.

"They have made a ^(C1)bed for her among the slain with all her hordes. Her graves are around it, they are all uncircumcised, killed by the sword (although their terror was ^(F1)inflicted on the land of the living), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit; ^(F2)they were put in the midst of the slain.

"^(C1)Meshech, ^(C2)Tubal, and all their hordes are there; their graves ^(F1)surround them. All of them were killed by the sword ^(C3)uncircumcised, though they inflicted their terror on the land of the living.

"^(C1)Nor do they lie beside the fallen ^(F1)(C2)heroes of the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war and whose swords were placed under their heads; but the punishment for their ^(C3)wrongdoing rested on their bones, though the terror of these ^(F1)heroes was once in the land of the living.

"But in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken and lie with those killed by the sword.

"There also is ^(C1)Edom, its kings and all its ^(F1)princes, who ^(F2)despite all their might are laid with those killed by the sword; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.

"There also are the ^(F1)chiefs of the ^(C1)north, all of them, and all the ^(C2)Sidonians, who in spite of the terror resulting from their might, in shame went down with the slain. So they lay down uncircumcised with those killed by the sword and bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit.

"These Pharaoh will see, and he will ^(C1)find consolation regarding all his hordes killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his army," declares the Lord GOD.

"Though I inflicted the terror of him on the land of the living, yet he will be laid to rest among the uncircumcised along with those killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his hordes," declares the Lord GOD.