Ezekiel 31

1 And it comes to pass, in the eleventh year, in the third [month], on the first of the month, a word of YHWH has been 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 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude: To whom have you been like in your greatness?

“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, Asshur, a cedar in Lebanon, Beautiful in branch, and shading bough, and high in stature, And its foliage has been between thickets.

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 Waters have made it great, The deep has exalted him with its flowings, Going around its planting, And it has sent forth its conduits to all 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 his stature has been higher than all trees of the field, And his boughs are multiplied, and his branches are long, Because of many waters in his shooting forth.

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 Every bird of the heavens has made a nest in his boughs, And every beast of the field has brought forth under his branches, And all great nations dwell in his shade.

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 is beautiful in his greatness, In the length of his thin shoots, For his root has been by great waters.

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 Cedars have not hid him in the garden of God, Firs have not been like to his boughs, And plane-trees have not been as his branches, No tree in the garden of God has been like to 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 I have made him beautiful in the multitude of his thin shoots, And all trees of Eden that [are] in the garden of God envy 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 said Lord YHWH: Because that you have been high in stature, And he yields his foliage between thickets, And his heart is high in his haughtiness,

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 I give him into the hand of a god of nations, He deals severely with him, In his wickedness I have cast him out.

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 strangers cut him off, The terrible of nations, and they leave him, His thin shoots have fallen on the mountains and in all valleys, And his boughs are broken at all streams of the land, And all peoples of the land go down from his shade, and they leave him.

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 Every bird of the heavens dwells on his ruin, And all beasts of the field have been on 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 of the waters May become haughty because of their stature, Nor give their foliage between thickets, Nor any drinking waters stand up to them in their haughtiness, For all of them are given up to death, To the lower earth, In the midst of the sons of men, To those going 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 said Lord YHWH: I have caused mourning in the day of his going down to Sheol, I have covered the deep over him, and diminish its flowings, And many waters are restrained, And I make Lebanon black for him, And all trees of the field [have been] a covering 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 I have caused nations to shake at the sound of his fall, In My causing him to go down to Sheol, With those going down to the pit, And all trees of Eden are comforted in the lower earth, The choice and good of Lebanon—All drinking waters. (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 Those with him have also gone down to Sheol, To the pierced of the sword, And—his arm—they dwelt in his shade in the midst of nations. (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 have you been thus like, In glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? And you have been brought down with the trees of Eden, To the lower earth, You lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, With the pierced of the sword. This [is] Pharaoh, and all his multitude, A declaration of Lord YHWH!”

[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].’”