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,

Then it came about in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude: To whom have you been like in your greatness?

“Son of man, say to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his multitudes around him, 'In your greatness, who are you like?

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

Behold! Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches, giving shade to the forest, and the tallest in height, and the branches formed its treetop.

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.

Many waters made it tall; the deep waters made it huge. Rivers flowed all around its area, for their channels stretched out to all the trees in the field.

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.

Its great height was more than any of the other trees in the field, and its branches became very many; its branches grew long because of many waters as they grew.

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.

Every bird of the heavens nested in its branches, while every living thing of the field gave birth to its young under its foliage. All of the many nations lived under its shade.

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

For it was beautiful in its greatness and the length of its branches, for its roots were in many waters.

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,

Cedars in the garden of God could not equal it. None among the cypress trees matched its branches, and the plane tree could not equal its boughs. There was no other tree in the garden of God that was like it in its beauty.

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.

I made it beautiful with its many branches and all the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God envied it.

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 the Lord Yahweh says this: Because it was tall in height, and it set its treetop between its branches, it lifted up its heart because of its height.

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.

I have given it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations, to deal with it according to what its wickedness deserves. I have thrown it out.

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.

Foreigners who were the terror of all the nations cut it off and left it to die. Its branches fell on the mountains and all the valleys, and its boughs lay broken in all the ravines of the land. Then all the nations on earth came out from under its shade and they went away from it.

13 Every bird of the heavens dwells on his ruin, And all beasts of the field have been on his boughs,

All the birds of the sky rested on the trunk of the fallen tree, and every animal of the field came to 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.

This happened so that no other trees that grow by the waters will lift up their foliage to the height of the tallest trees, and that no other trees that grow beside the waters will reach up to that height. All of them have been assigned to death, to the earth below, among the children of humanity, with those that go down to the pit.

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)

The Lord Yahweh says this: On the day when the cedar went down to Sheol I brought mourning to the earth. I covered the deep waters over it, and I held back the ocean waters. I kept back the great waters, and I brought mourning to Lebanon for him. So all the trees of the field mourned because of it. (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 brought shuddering to the nations at the sound of its downfall, when I threw it down to Sheol with those who went down into the pit. So I comforted all the trees of Eden in the lowest parts of the earth. These had been the choicest and best trees of Lebanon; the trees that drank the waters. (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)

For they also went down with it to Sheol, to the ones who had been killed by the sword. These were its strong arm, those nations who had lived in its shade. (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!”

Which of the trees in Eden was your equal in glory and greatness? For you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lowest parts of the earth among the uncircumcised; you will live with those who were killed by the sword.' This is Pharaoh and all of his multitudes—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.”