A Lament for Pharaoh King of Egypt

1And it came to pass, in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, that the word of YHWH came to me, saying: 2“Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:

‘To a young lion of the nations you may be compared,

and you are like the monster in the seas.

You burst forth in your rivers

and you stir up the waters with your feet,

and you muddy their rivers.’

3Thus says the Lord YHWH:

‘And I will spread over you My net

with a throng of many peoples,

and they will draw you up in My net.

4And I will leave you on the land;

upon the face of the field I will throw you,

and I will make dwell upon you

all the birds of the heavens,

and I will give the fill of you

to the beasts of all the earth.

5And I will lay your flesh upon the mountains,

and I will fill the valleys with your remains.†

6And I will water the land

with the flow of your blood,

up to the mountains,

and the ravines will be full of you.

7And in My quenching of you

I will cover the heavens,

and I will make dark their stars;

I will cover the sun with a cloud,

and the moon will not radiate her light.

8All luminaries of light in the heavens

I will make dark because of you,

and I will put darkness

over your land,’

a declaration of the Lord YHWH.

9‘And I will trouble the hearts of many peoples,

in My bringing your destruction among the nations,

over lands† that you have not known.

10And many peoples

I will cause to be appalled over you,

and their kings will shudder over you with shuddering,

in My making fly My sword in front of their faces;

and they will tremble at every moment,

each man for his soul,

on the day of your fall!’

11For thus says the Lord YHWH:

‘The sword of the king of Babylon

will come against you.

12By the swords of mighty ones

your multitude I will cause to fall—

the most ruthless of nations, all of them.

And they will plunder the pride of Egypt,

and all will be destroyed her multitude.

13And I will destroy all her animals

from beside her great waters;

and no foot of man will stir them up anymore,

and the hooves of animals will not stir them up.

14Then their waters I will let settle,

and their rivers I will make run like oil,’

a declaration of the Lord YHWH.

15‘In My making the land of Egypt a desolation,

and the land being desolate of its fullness,

in My striking all those dwelling in it,

they will know that I am YHWH!’

16It is a lamentation they will lament her; the daughters of the nations will lament her, over Egypt and over all her multitude, they will lament her, a declaration of the Lord YHWH.”

Egypt Cast into the Pit

17And it came to pass, in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth of the month,† that the word of YHWH came to me, saying: 18“Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, and send it down—her and the daughters of the mighty nations—to the land below, with those going down to the Pit.

Whom are you pleasing?

Go down, and lie down with the uncircumcised!

20In the midst of those slain by the sword they will fall;

to the sword she is given—

let her be dragged away

and all her multitudes.

21The chiefs of the mighty ones will speak concerning him from the midst of Sheol,

with his helpers:

‘They have gone down, they have lain down with the uncircumcised,

those slain by the sword.’

22There is Assyria and all her throng

surrounding it with its graves,

all of them slain,

having fallen by the sword,

23of whom her graves are appointed in the far sides of the Pit;

and her assembly is all around her grave,

all of them slain,

having fallen by the sword,

those who gave forth terror

in the land of the living.

24There is Elam

and all her multitude, surrounding her grave,

all of them slain,

having fallen by the sword,

those who have gone down uncircumcised

to the land below,

those who gave forth their terror

in the land of the living;

and they bear their shame

with those going down to the Pit.

25In the midst of the slain they set

a bed for her,

with all her multitude

all around it with her graves,

all of them uncircumcised

slain by the sword.

Though their terror was given forth

in the land of the living,

they bear their shame

with those going down to the Pit;

in the midst of the slain they are placed.

26There are Meshech and Tubal,

and all her multitude

around it with her graves,

all of them uncircumcised

slain by the sword,

though they gave forth their terror

in the land of the living.

27And they lie down, not with the mighty ones,

those having fallen of old,†

who have gone down to Sheol

with their weapons of war;

and they have laid their swords under their heads,

and their shields† will be upon their bones,

for the terror of the mighty ones

in the land of the living.

28And you, in the midst of the uncircumcised,

you will be broken, and you will lie

with those slain by the sword.

29There is Edom—

her kings, and all her princes,

who were given

in their strength among those slain by the sword;

they will lie down with the uncircumcised,

and with those going down to the Pit.

30There are the princes of the north,

all of them and every Sidonian,

those who have gone down ashamed with the slain,

with their terror by their might;

they lie uncircumcised

with those slain by the sword,

and they must bear their shame

with those going down to the Pit.

31Them Pharaoh will see,

and he will be comforted over all his multitude

slain by the sword—

Pharaoh and all his force—

a declaration of the Lord YHWH.

32For I give forth My terror

in the land of the living,

and he will be made to lie down in the midst of the uncircumcised,

with those slain by the sword—

Pharaoh and all his throng—

a declaration of the Lord YHWH.”