Ezekiel 31
1 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,
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 “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.
“Son of man, say to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his multitudes around him, 'In your greatness, who are you like?
3 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.
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 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.
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 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].
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 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.
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 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.
For it was beautiful in its greatness and the length of its branches, for its roots were in many waters.
8 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.
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 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.’
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, 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.
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 Therefore, I enabled another mighty nation to conquer it and to destroy it as it deserved to be destroyed. I have already discarded it.
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 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.
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 Birds (settled/went to live) on the fallen tree, and wild animals lived among its branches.
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 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.’
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 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)
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 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)
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 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)
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 [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].’”
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.”
