Jezekiel 31

1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first [day] of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Almost eleven years [after we had been taken to Babylonia], on the first day of the third month [of that year], Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

2 Son of man, say to Pharao king of Egypt, and to his multitude; To whom have you compared yourself in your haughtiness?

“You human, say to the King of Egypt and all of his people, ‘[You think that] there is [RHQ, IRO] no country whose power is as great as the power of your country.

3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cypress in Libanus, and was fair in shoots, and high in stature: his top reached to the midst of the clouds.

You think that your country is as great as Assyria was: Assyria was previously like [MET] a tall cedar tree in Lebanon; [it was as though] it had big beautiful branches that provided shade for [other trees in] the forest. It was very tall; its top was above the leaves of the other trees.

4 The water nourished him, the depth made him grow tall; she led her rivers round about his plants, and she sent forth her streams to all the trees of the field.

Water came from deep springs, and as a result that cedar tree grew tall and very green. Then water flowed around the base of the tree into channels that took water to other nearby trees.

5 Therefore was his stature exalted above all the trees of the field, and his branches spread far by the help of much water.

That huge tree grew very tall, higher than all the other trees around it. Its branches grew very thick and long [DOU] because of the abundant water [at the base of the tree].

6 All the birds of the sky made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches all the wild beasts of the field bred; the whole multitude of nations lived under his shadow.

Birds built their nests in the branches, and wild animals gave birth to their babies under those branches. [And it was as though people of] all the great nations lived in the shade of that tree.

7 And he was fair in his height by reason of the multitude of his branches: for his roots were amidst much water.

It was majestic and beautiful; its branches spread out widely because the roots of the tree grew down into the ground where there was a plentiful supply of water.

8 And such cypresses [as this] were in the paradise of God; and there were no pines like his shoots, and there were no firs like his branches: no tree in the paradise of God was like him in his beauty,

The cedar trees in my garden [in Eden] were not as great as that tree, and the branches of the pine/cypress trees were not as long and thick as the branches of that cedar tree. And the branches of the plane trees were not as long and thick, either. No tree in my garden was as beautiful as that cedar tree.

9 because of the multitude of his branches: and the trees of God's paradise of delight envied him.

Because I caused that tree to become very beautiful with its magnificent green branches, [all the leaders of other countries represented by] [MET] those other trees in Eden envied [the country represented by] that tree.’

10 Therefore thus says the Lord; Because you are grown great, and have set your top in the midst of the clouds, and I saw when he was exalted;

Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘That tree, which [represents Assyria], grew very tall, and its top was higher than the other trees, and it became very proud because of being very tall.

11 therefore I delivered him into the hands of the prince of the nations, and he wrought his destruction.

Therefore, I enabled another mighty nation to conquer it and to destroy it as it deserved to be destroyed. I have already discarded it.

12 And ravaging strangers from the nations have destroyed him, and have cast him down upon the mountains: his branches fell in all the valleys, and his boughs were broken in every field of the land; and all the people of the nations are gone down from their shelter, and have laid him low.

A foreign army, one that has caused people of other nations to be terrified, cut it down and left it. Its branches fell on the mountains and in the valleys. Some of its branches lay broken in all the ravines in the land. All the people of other nations came out from being under its shade and left it.

13 All the birds of the sky have settled on his fallen trunk, and all the wild beasts of the field came upon his boughs:

Birds (settled/went to live) on the fallen tree, and wild animals lived among its branches.

14 in order that none of the trees by the water should exalt themselves by reason of their size: whereas they set their top in the midst of the clouds, yet they continued not in their high state in their place, all that drank water, all were consigned to death, to the depth of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.

The result of what I have done is that no other trees, even if they have plenty of water, will ever grow very high and become proud, and lift their tops above the branches of other trees. I do not want any other tree to grow high like that cedar tree did; trees will all certainly die and decay in the ground, like people die and go down to their graves.’

15 Thus says the Lord God; In the day wherein he went down to Hades, the deep mourned for him: and I stayed her floods, and restrained her abundance of water: and Libanus saddened for him, all the trees of the field fainted for him. (Sheol h7585)

This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘When that great tree was cut down, [it was as though] the springs that watered it mourned for it, because I caused the plentiful water [from the springs] to dry up. I caused [the mountains in] Lebanon to become black, and all the trees there to wither. (Sheol h7585)

16 At the sound of his fall the nations quaked, when I brought him down to Hades with them that go down to the pit: and all the trees of Delight comforted him in the heart, and the choice of [plants] of Libanus, all that drink water. (Sheol h7585)

I caused the people of other nations to tremble when they heard that tree fall to the ground. [They realized] that it would decay, like all people who die and are buried decay. And all the [leaders of other countries represented by] other beautiful trees in my garden in Eden and in Lebanon, were like beautiful trees [that were very proud]. They were ones which had roots that grew down deep into the [ground where there was plenty of] water. They were comforted when [the king represented by] [MET] that cedar tree was there with them in the place where the dead people are. (Sheol h7585)

17 For they went down to hell with him amongst the slain with the sword; and his seed, [even] they that lived under his shadow, perished in the midst of their life. (Sheol h7585)

The [leaders of other countries represented by] [MET] trees that grew in the shade of the huge tree, [the allies of] the great nation [that the cedar tree represents], had also joined those who had been killed by the sword and gone down to where the dead people are. (Sheol h7585)

18 To whom are you compared? descend, and be you debased with the trees of paradise to the depth of the earth: you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain by the sword. Thus shall Pharao be, and the multitude of his host, says the Lord God.

[This parable is about you] people of Egypt. [You think that] [RHQ, IRO] there is no other nation that is as great and glorious as yours is. But your nation will also be destroyed, [as Assyria was], along with those other nations. Your people will be there among the other people who are not fit to worship me, people who have been killed by their enemies’ swords. That is what will happen to the king of Egypt and all his people. [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, [have predicted it].’”