A Lament over Pharaoh and Egypt
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1In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
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2"Son of man, 3raise a lamentation over 4Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: "You consider yourself 5a lion of the nations, but you are like 6a dragon 7in the seas; 8you burst forth in your rivers, trouble the waters with your feet, and foul their rivers.
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Thus says the Lord GOD: 9I will throw my net over you with a host of 10many peoples, and 11they will haul you up in my dragnet.
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And 12I will cast you on the ground; on the open field I will fling you, and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle on you, and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you.
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I will drench the land even to the mountains with your flowing blood, and the ravines will be full of you.
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14When I blot you out, 15I will cover the heavens and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.
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All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over you, and 16put darkness on your land, declares the Lord GOD.
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"I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries that you have not known.
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17I will make many peoples appalled at you, and the hair of their kings shall bristle with horror because of you, when 18I brandish my sword before them. 19They shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall.
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"For thus says the Lord GOD: 20The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you.
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I will cause 21your multitude to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them 22most ruthless of nations. 23"They shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt, and all its multitudeb shall perish.
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I will destroy all its beasts from beside many waters; 24and no foot of man shall trouble them anymore, nor shall the hoofs of beasts trouble them.
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Then 25I will make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, declares the Lord GOD.
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When I make the land of Egypt desolate, and when the land 26is desolate of all that fills it, when I strike down all who dwell in it, then 27they will know that I am the LORD.
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28This is a lamentation that shall be chanted; the daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt, and over 29all her multitude, shall they chant it, declares the Lord GOD."
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30In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month,c on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
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31"Son of man, 32wail over 33the multitude of Egypt, and 34send them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, 35to the world below, to those who have gone down to the pit:
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They shall fall amid those 38who are slain by the sword. Egyptd is delivered to the sword; drag her away, and 39all her multitudes.
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The mighty chiefs 40shall speak of them, 41with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: 'They have come down, they lie still, 42the uncircumcised, 43slain by the sword.'
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44"Assyria is there, and all her company, 45its graves all around it, all of them slain, fallen by the sword,
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whose graves are set in 46the uttermost parts of the pit; and her company is all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, 47who spread terror 48in the land of the living.
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49"Elam is 50there, and all her multitude around her grave; all of them 51slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into 52the world below, who spread their terror in the land of the living; and 53they bear their shame 54with those who go down to the pit.
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55They have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, 56her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are placed among the slain.
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57"Meshech-Tubal is 58there, and all her multitude, 59her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread their terror in the land of the living.
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And 60they do not lie with the mighty, the fallen from among the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living.
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But as for you, you shall be broken 61and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.
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62"Edom is 63there, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.
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"The princes 64of the north are there, all of them, and all the 65Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, 66for all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and 67bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)