Ezequiel 31

¹ And it came to pass in theOf Zedekiah's reign, or of Jeconiah's captivity.eleventh year, in the third [month], in the first [day] of the month, [that] the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

² Son of man, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thouMeaning that he was not the same in strength to the king of the Assyrians whom the Babylonians overcame.like in thy greatness?

³ Beholde, Asshur was like a cedar in Lebanon with faire branches, & with thicke shadowing boughes, and shot vp very hye, and his toppe was among the thicke boughes.

⁴ The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round his plants, and sent out herMany other nations were under their dominion.little rivers to all the trees of the field.

⁵ Therefore his height was exalted aboue all the trees of the fielde, and his boughes were multiplied, and his branches were long, because of the multitude of the waters, which the deepe sent out.

⁶ All the foules of the heauen made their nestes in his boughes, and vnder his branches did all the beastes of the fielde bring foorth their yong, and vnder his shadowe dwelt all mightie nations.

⁷ Thus was he faire in his greatnesse, and in the length of his branches: for his roote was neere great waters.

⁸ The cedars in the gardenSignifying that there was no greater power in the world than his was.of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; not any tree in the garden of God was like him in his beauty.

⁹ I made him faire by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, enuied him.

¹⁰ 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,

¹¹ I have therefore delivered him into the hand of theThat is, of Nebuchadnezzar, who was the monarch and only ruler of the world.mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.

¹² And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs areBy this is signified the destruction of the power of the Assyrians by the Babylonians.broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth have gone down from his shadow, and have left him.

¹³ Vpon his ruine shall all the foules of the heauen remaine, and all the beastes of the fielde shall be vpon his branches,

¹⁴ So that none of all the trees by the waters shalbe exalted by their height, neither shall shoote vp their toppe among the thicke boughes, neither shall their leaues stand vp in their height, which drinke so much water: for they are all deliuered vnto death in the nether partes of the earth in the middes of the children of men among them that goe downe to the pit.

¹⁵ Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: IThe deep waters that caused him to mount so high (meaning his great abundance and pomp) will now lament as though they were covered with sackcloth.covered the deep for him, and I restrained its floods, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.

¹⁶ I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to the grave with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shallTo cause this destruction of the king of Assyria to seem more horrible, he sets forth other kings and princes who are dead, as though they rejoiced at the fall of such a tyrant.be comforted in the lower parts of the earth.

¹⁷ They also went downe to hell with him vnto them that be slaine with the sworde, and his arme, and they that dwelt vnder his shadowe in the middes of the heathen.

¹⁸ To whomMeaning that Pharaoh's power was nothing so great as his was.art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of theRead (Eze_28:10).uncircumcised with [them that are] slain by the sword. This [is] Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.