31 In the eleventh year, in the third month on the first day, the word of the LORD came to me:²“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes:

“‘Who can be compared with you in majesty?
³Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon,
    with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest;
it towered on high,
    its top above the thick foliage.
⁴The waters nourished it,
    deep springs made it grow tall;
their streams flowed
    all around its base
and sent their channels
    to all the trees of the field.
⁵So it towered higher
    than all the trees of the field;
its boughs increased
    and its branches grew long,
    spreading because of abundant waters.
⁶All the birds of the sky
    nested in its boughs,
all the animals of the wild
    gave birth under its branches;
all the great nations
    lived in its shade.
⁷It was majestic in beauty,
    with its spreading boughs,
for its roots went down
    to abundant waters.
⁸The cedars in the garden of God
    could not rival it,
nor could the junipers
    equal its boughs,
nor could the plane trees
    compare with its branches—
no tree in the garden of God
    could match its beauty.
⁹I made it beautiful
    with abundant branches,
the envy of all the trees of Eden
    in the garden of God.

¹⁰“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because the great cedar towered over the thick foliage, and because it was proud of its height,¹¹I gave it into the hands of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside,¹²and the most ruthless of foreign nations cut it down and left it. Its boughs fell on the mountains and in all the valleys; its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left it.¹³All the birds settled on the fallen tree, and all the wild animals lived among its branches.¹⁴Therefore no other trees by the waters are ever to tower proudly on high, lifting their tops above the thick foliage. No other trees so well-watered are ever to reach such a height; they are all destined for death, for the earth below, among mortals who go down to the realm of the dead.

¹⁵“‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day it was brought down to the realm of the dead I covered the deep springs with mourning for it; I held back its streams, and its abundant waters were restrained. Because of it I clothed Lebanon with gloom, and all the trees of the field withered away.¹⁶I made the nations tremble at the sound of its fall when I brought it down to the realm of the dead to be with those who go down to the pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, the well-watered trees, were consoled in the earth below.¹⁷They too, like the great cedar, had gone down to the realm of the dead, to those killed by the sword, along with the armed men who lived in its shade among the nations.

¹⁸“‘Which of the trees of Eden can be compared with you in splendor and majesty? Yet you, too, will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth below; you will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.

“‘This is Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the Sovereign LORD.’”

32 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month on the first day, the word of the LORD came to me:²“Son of man, take up a lament concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:

“‘You are like a lion among the nations;
    you are like a monster in the seas
thrashing about in your streams,
    churning the water with your feet
    and muddying the streams.

³“‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

“‘With a great throng of people
    I will cast my net over you,
    and they will haul you up in my net.
⁴I will throw you on the land
    and hurl you on the open field.
I will let all the birds of the sky settle on you
    and all the animals of the wild gorge themselves on you.
⁵I will spread your flesh on the mountains
    and fill the valleys with your remains.
⁶I will drench the land with your flowing blood
    all the way to the mountains,
    and the ravines will be filled with your flesh.
⁷When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens
    and darken their stars;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
    and the moon will not give its light.
⁸All the shining lights in the heavens
    I will darken over you;
    I will bring darkness over your land,
declares the Sovereign LORD.
⁹I will trouble the hearts of many peoples
    when I bring about your destruction among the nations,
    among lands you have not known.
¹⁰I will cause many peoples to be appalled at you,
    and their kings will shudder with horror because of you
    when I brandish my sword before them.
On the day of your downfall
    each of them will tremble
    every moment for his life.

¹¹“‘For this is what the Sovereign LORD says:

“‘The sword of the king of Babylon
    will come against you.
¹²I will cause your hordes to fall
    by the swords of mighty men—
    the most ruthless of all nations.
They will shatter the pride of Egypt,
    and all her hordes will be overthrown.
¹³I will destroy all her cattle
    from beside abundant waters
no longer to be stirred by the foot of man
    or muddied by the hooves of cattle.
¹⁴Then I will let her waters settle
    and make her streams flow like oil,
declares the Sovereign LORD.
¹⁵When I make Egypt desolate
    and strip the land of everything in it,
when I strike down all who live there,
    then they will know that I am the LORD.’

¹⁶“This is the lament they will chant for her. The daughters of the nations will chant it; for Egypt and all her hordes they will chant it, declares the Sovereign LORD.”

¹⁷In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:¹⁸“Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and consign to the earth below both her and the daughters of mighty nations, along with those who go down to the pit.¹⁹Say to them, ‘Are you more favored than others? Go down and be laid among the uncircumcised.’²⁰They will fall among those killed by the sword. The sword is drawn; let her be dragged off with all her hordes.²¹From within the realm of the dead the mighty leaders will say of Egypt and her allies, ‘They have come down and they lie with the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.’

²²“Assyria is there with her whole army; she is surrounded by the graves of all her slain, all who have fallen by the sword.²³Their graves are in the depths of the pit and her army lies around her grave. All who had spread terror in the land of the living are slain, fallen by the sword.

²⁴“Elam is there, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword. All who had spread terror in the land of the living went down uncircumcised to the earth below. They bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.²⁵A bed is made for her among the slain, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword. Because their terror had spread in the land of the living, they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are laid among the slain.

²⁶“Meshek and Tubal are there, with all their hordes around their graves. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword because they spread their terror in the land of the living.²⁷But they do not lie with the fallen warriors of old, who went down to the realm of the dead with their weapons of war—their swords placed under their heads and their shields resting on their bones—though these warriors also had terrorized the land of the living.

²⁸“You too, Pharaoh, will be broken and will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.

²⁹“Edom is there, her kings and all her princes; despite their power, they are laid with those killed by the sword. They lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.

³⁰“All the princes of the north and all the Sidonians are there; they went down with the slain in disgrace despite the terror caused by their power. They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

³¹“Pharaoh—he and all his army—will see them and he will be consoled for all his hordes that were killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign LORD.³²Although I had him spread terror in the land of the living, Pharaoh and all his hordes will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign LORD.”

Warning and Encouragement

¹⁴Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.¹⁵See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.¹⁶See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.¹⁷Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.

The Mountain of Fear and the Mountain of Joy

¹⁸You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm;¹⁹to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them,²⁰because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”²¹The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

²²But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,²³to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,²⁴to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?²⁶At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”²⁷The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,²⁹for our “God is a consuming fire.”

Psalm 113

113 Praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD, you his servants;
    praise the name of the LORD.
²Let the name of the LORD be praised,
    both now and forevermore.
³From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
    the name of the LORD is to be praised.

⁴The LORD is exalted over all the nations,
    his glory above the heavens.
⁵Who is like the LORD our God,
    the One who sits enthroned on high,
⁶who stoops down to look
    on the heavens and the earth?

⁷He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
⁸he seats them with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
⁹He settles the childless woman in her home
    as a happy mother of children.

Praise the LORD.

Psalm 114

114 When Israel came out of Egypt,
    Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
²Judah became God’s sanctuary,
    Israel his dominion.

³The sea looked and fled,
    the Jordan turned back;
⁴the mountains leaped like rams,
    the hills like lambs.

⁵Why was it, sea, that you fled?
    Why, Jordan, did you turn back?
⁶Why, mountains, did you leap like rams,
    you hills, like lambs?

⁷Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord,
    at the presence of the God of Jacob,
⁸who turned the rock into a pool,
    the hard rock into springs of water.

¹⁸The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit,
    and whoever protects their master will be honored.

¹⁹As water reflects the face,
    so one’s life reflects the heart.

²⁰Death and Destruction are never satisfied,
    and neither are human eyes.