Ezekiel 32

1 On the first day of the twelfth month in the twelfth year, the word of the LORD came to me:
2 Son of man, utter a lament over Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, saying to him: Lion of the nations, you are destroyed. You were like a monster in the sea, spouting in your streams, Stirring the water with your feet and churning its streams.
3 Thus says the Lord GOD: I will spread my net over you (with a host of many nations), and draw you up in my seine.
4 I will leave you on the land; on the open field I will cast you. I will have all the birds of the air alight on you, and all the beasts of the earth eat their fill of you.
5 I will leave your flesh on the mountains, and fill the valleys with your carcass.
6 I will water the land with what flows from you, and the river beds shall be filled with your blood.
7 When I snuff you out I will cover the heavens, and all their stars I will darken; The sun I will cover with clouds, and the moon shall not give its light.
8 All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken on your account, And I will spread darkness over your land, says the Lord GOD.
9 I will grieve the hearts of many peoples when I lead you captive among the nations, to lands which you do not know.
10 Many peoples shall be appalled at you, and their kings shall shudder over you in horror when they see me brandish my sword, and on the day of your downfall every one of them shall continuously tremble for his own life.
11 For thus says the Lord GOD: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you.
12 I will cut down your horde with the blades of warriors, all of them the most ruthless of the nations; They shall lay waste the glory of Egypt, and all her hordes shall be destroyed.
13 I will have all of her animals perish beside her abundant waters; The foot of man shall stir them no longer, nor shall the hoof of beast disturb them.
14 Then will I make their waters clear, and their streams flow like oil, says the Lord GOD.
15 When I turn Egypt into a waste, the land shall be devastated of all that is in it; when I strike all who live there, they shall know that I am the LORD.
16 This is a dirge, and it shall be sung: the daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt and all its hordes shall they chant it, says the Lord GOD.
17 On the fifteenth day of the first month in the twelfth year, the word of the LORD came to me:
18 Son of man, lament over the throngs of Egypt, for the mighty nations have thrust them down to the bottom of the earth, with those who go down into the pit.
19 Whom do you excel in beauty?
20 In the midst of those slain by the sword shall they fall, and place shall be made with them for all their hordes. Then from the midst of the nether world, the mighty warriors shall speak to Egypt:
21 Come down, you and your allies, lie with the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword.
22 There is Assyria with all her company, all of them slain,
23 whose graves have been made in the recesses of the pit; her company is around Egypt's grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.
24 There is Elam with all her throng about Egypt's grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword: they have gone down uncircumcised to the bottom of the earth, who spread their terror in the land of the living, and they bear their disgrace with those who go down into the pit;
25 in the midst of the slain they are placed.
26 There are Meshech and Tubal and all their throng about her grave, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, for they spread their terror in the land of the living.
27 They do not lie with the mighty men fallen of old, who went down to the nether world with their weapons of war, whose swords were placed under their heads and whose shields were laid over their bones, though the mighty men caused terror in the land of the living.
28 But in the midst of the uncircumcised shall you lie, with those slain by the sword.
29 There are Edom, her kings, and all her princes, who despite their might have been placed with those slain by the sword; with the uncircumcised they lie, and with those who go down into the pit.
30 There are all the princes of the north and all the Sidonians, who have gone down with the slain, because of the terror their might inspired; they lie uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bear their disgrace with those who go down to the pit.
31 When Pharaoh sees these, he shall be comforted for all his hordes slain by the sword--Pharaoh and all his army, says the Lord GOD.
32 Since he spread his terror in the land of the living, therefore is he laid to rest among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword--Pharaoh and all his hordes, says the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 33

1 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
2 Son of man, speak thus to your countrymen: When I bring the sword against a country, and the people of this country select one of their number to be their watchman,
3 and the watchman, seeing the sword coming against the country, blows the trumpet to warn the people,
4 anyone hearing but not heeding the warning of the trumpet and therefore slain by the sword that comes against him, shall be responsible for his own death.
5 He heard the trumpet blast yet refused to take warning; he is responsible for his own death, for had he taken warning he would have escaped with his life.
6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and fails to blow the warning trumpet, so that the sword comes and takes anyone, I will hold the watchman responsible for that person's death, even though that person is taken because of his own sin.
7 You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.
8 If I tell the wicked man that he shall surely die, and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked man from his way, he (the wicked man) shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death.
9 But if you warn the wicked man, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself.
10 As for you, son of man, speak to the house of Israel: You people say, Our crimes and our sins weigh us down; we are rotting away because of them. How can we survive?
11 Answer them: As I live, says the Lord GOD, I swear I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, but rather in the wicked man's conversion, that he may live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! Why should you die, O house of Israel?
12 As for you, son of man, tell your countrymen: The virtue which a man has practiced will not save him on the day that he sins; neither will the wickedness that a man has done bring about his downfall on the day that he turns from his wickedness (nor can the virtuous man, when he sins, remain alive).
13 Though I say to the virtuous man that he shall surely live, if he then presumes on his virtue and does wrong, none of his virtuous deeds shall be remembered; because of the wrong he has done, he shall die.
14 And though I say to the wicked man that he shall surely die, if he turns away from his sin and does what is right and just,
15 giving back pledges, restoring stolen goods, living by the statutes that bring life, and doing no wrong, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
16 None of the sins he committed shall be held against him; he has done what is right and just, he shall surely live.
17 Yet your countrymen say, The way of the LORD is not fair!; but it is their way that is not fair.
18 When a virtuous man turns away from what is right and does wrong, he shall die for it.
19 But when a wicked man turns away from wickedness and does what is right and just, because of this he shall live.
20 And still you say, The way of the LORD is not fair!? I will judge every one of you according to his ways, O house of Israel.
21 On the fifth day of the tenth month, in the twelfth year of our exile, the fugitive came to me from Jerusalem and said, The city is taken!
22 The hand of the LORD had come upon me the evening before the fugitive arrived, and he opened my mouth when the fugitive reached me in the morning. My mouth was opened, and I was dumb no longer.
23 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
24 Son of man, they who live in the ruins on the land of Israel reason thus: Abraham, though but a single individual, received possession of the land; we, therefore, being many, have as permanent possession the land that has been given to us.
25 Give them this answer: Thus says the Lord GOD: You eat on the mountains, you raise your eyes to your idols, you shed blood--yet you would keep possession of the land?
26 You rely on your sword, you do abominable things, each one of you defiles his neighbor's wife--yet you would keep possession of the land?
27 Tell them this: Thus says the Lord GOD: As I live, those who are in the ruins I swear shall fall by the sword; those who are in the open field I have given to the wild beasts for food; and those who are in fastnesses and in caves shall die by the plague.
28 I will make the land a desolate waste, so that its proud strength will come to an end, and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that no one will cross them.
29 Thus they shall know that I am the LORD, when I make the land a desolate waste because of all the abominable things they have done.
30 As for you, son of man, your countrymen are talking about you along the walls and in the doorways of houses. They say to one another, Come and hear the latest word that comes from the LORD.
31 My people come to you as people always do; they sit down before you and hear your words, but they will not obey them, for lies are on their lips and their desires are fixed on dishonest gain.
32 For them you are only a ballad singer, with a pleasant voice and a clever touch. They listen to your words, but they will not obey them.
33 But when it comes--and it is surely coming!-they shall know that there was a prophet among them.