1 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, sing a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:

“‘You were like a lion among the nations,

but you are a monster in the seas;

you thrash about in your streams,

stir up the water with your feet,

and muddy your streams.

3 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘I will throw my net over you in the assembly of many peoples;

and they will haul you up in my dragnet.

4 I will leave you on the ground,

I will fling you on the open field,

I will allow all the birds of the sky to settle on you,

and I will permit all the wild animals to gorge themselves on you.

5 I will put your flesh on the mountains,

and fill the valleys with your maggot-infested carcass.

6 I will drench the land with the flow

of your blood up to the mountains,

and the ravines will be full of your blood.

7 When I extinguish you, I will cover the sky;

I will darken its stars.

I will cover the sun with a cloud,

and the moon will not shine.

8 I will darken all the lights in the sky over you,

and I will darken your land,

declares the Sovereign Lord.

9 I will disturb many peoples

when I bring about your destruction among the nations,

among countries you do not know.

10 I will shock many peoples with you,

and their kings will shiver with horror because of you.

When I brandish my sword before them,

every moment each one will tremble for his life, on the day of your fall.

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

“‘The sword of the king of Babylon will attack you.

12 By the swords of the mighty warriors I will cause your hordes to fall—

all of them are the most terrifying among the nations.

They will devastate the pride of Egypt,

and all its hordes will be destroyed.

13 I will destroy all its cattle beside the plentiful waters;

and no human foot will disturb the waters again,

nor will the hooves of cattle disturb them.

14 Then I will make their waters calm

and will make their streams flow like olive oil, declares the Sovereign Lord.

15 When I turn the land of Egypt into desolation

and the land is destitute of everything that fills it,

when I strike all those who live in it,

then they will know that I am the Lord.’

16 This is a lament; they will chant it.

The daughters of the nations will chant it.

They will chant it over Egypt and over all her hordes,

declares the Sovereign Lord.”

17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the Lord’s message came to me: 18 “Son of man, wail over the horde of Egypt. Bring it down; bring her and the daughters of powerful nations down to the lower parts of the earth, along with those who descend to the Pit. 19 Say to them, ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!’ 20 They will fall among those killed by the sword. The sword is drawn; they carry her and all her hordes away. 21 The bravest of the warriors will speak to him from the midst of Sheol along with his allies, saying: ‘The uncircumcised have come down; they lie still, killed by the sword.’

22 “Assyria is there with all her assembly around her grave, all of them struck down by the sword. 23 Their graves are located in the remote slopes of the Pit. Her assembly is around her grave, all of them struck down by the sword, those who spread terror in the land of the living.

24 “Elam is there with all her hordes around her grave; all of them struck down by the sword. They went down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, those who spread terror in the land of the living. Now they will bear their shame with those who descend to the Pit. 25 Among the dead they have made a bed for her, along with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for their terror had spread in the land of the living. They bear their shame along with those who descend to the Pit; they are placed among the dead.

26 “Meshech Tubal is there, along with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for they spread their terror in the land of the living. 27 They do not lie with the fallen warriors of ancient times, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, having their swords placed under their heads and their shields on their bones, when the terror of these warriors was in the land of the living.

28 “But as for you, in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken, and you will lie with those killed by the sword.

29 “Edom is there with her kings and all her princes. Despite their might they are laid with those killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised and those who descend to the Pit.

30 “All the leaders of the north are there, along with all the Sidonians; despite their might they have gone down in shameful terror with the dead. They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who descend to the Pit.

31 “Pharaoh will see them and be consoled over all his hordes who were killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his army, declares the Sovereign Lord. 32 Indeed, I terrified him in the land of the living, yet he will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

33:1 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, speak to your people, and say to them, ‘Suppose I bring a sword against the land, and the people of the land take one man from their borders and make him their watchman. 3 He sees the sword coming against the land, blows the trumpet, and warns the people, 4 but there is one who hears the sound of the trumpet yet does not heed the warning. Then the sword comes and sweeps him away. He will be responsible for his own death. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, so he is responsible for himself. If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life. 6 But suppose the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people. Then the sword comes and takes one of their lives. He is swept away for his iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for that person’s death.’

7 “As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them on my behalf. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you must certainly die,’ and you do not warn the wicked about his behavior, the wicked man will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death. 9 But if you warn the wicked man to change his behavior, and he refuses to change, he will die for his iniquity, but you have saved your own life.

10 “And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what you have said: “Our rebellious acts and our sins have caught up with us, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?”’ 11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! Why should you die, O house of Israel?’

12 “And you, son of man, say to your people, ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him if he rebels. As for the wicked, his wickedness will not make him stumble if he turns from it. The righteous will not be able to live by his righteousness if he sins.’ 13 Suppose I tell the righteous that he will certainly live, but he becomes confident in his righteousness and commits iniquity. None of his righteous deeds will be remembered; because of the iniquity he has committed he will die. 14 Suppose I say to the wicked, ‘You must certainly die,’ but he turns from his sin and does what is just and right. 15 He returns what was taken in pledge, pays back what he has stolen, and follows the statutes that give life, committing no iniquity. He will certainly live—he will not die. 16 None of the sins he has committed will be counted against him. He has done what is just and right; he will certainly live.

17 “Yet your people say, ‘The behavior of the Lord is not right,’ when it is their behavior that is not right. 18 When a righteous man turns from his godliness and commits iniquity, he will die for it. 19 When the wicked turns from his sin and does what is just and right, he will live because of it. 20 Yet you say, ‘The behavior of the Lord is not right.’ House of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his behavior.”

21 In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month, a refugee came to me from Jerusalem saying, “The city has been defeated!” 22 Now the hand of the Lord had been on me the evening before the refugee reached me, but the Lord opened my mouth by the time the refugee arrived in the morning; he opened my mouth and I was able to speak once more. 23 The Lord’s message came to me: 24 “Son of man, the ones living in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land, but we are many; surely the land has been given to us for a possession.’ 25 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You eat the meat with the blood still in it, pray to your idols, and shed blood. Do you really think you will possess the land? 26 You rely on your swords and commit abominable deeds; each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Will you possess the land?’

27 “This is what you must say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, those living in the ruins will die by the sword, those in the open field I will give to the wild beasts for food, and those who are in the strongholds and caves will die of disease. 28 I will turn the land into a desolate ruin; her confident pride will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be so desolate no one will pass through them. 29 Then they will know that I am the Lord when I turn the land into a desolate ruin because of all the abominable deeds they have committed.’

30 “But as for you, son of man, your people (who are talking about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses) say to one another, ‘Come hear the word that comes from the Lord.’ 31 They come to you in crowds, and they sit in front of you as my people. They hear your words, but do not obey them. For they talk lustfully, and their heart is set on their own advantage. 32 Realize that to them you are like a sensual song, a beautiful voice, and skilled musician. They hear your words, but they do not obey them. 33 When all this comes true—and it certainly will—then they will know that a prophet was among them.”