Ezekiel 31

Egypt's King Will Be Chopped Down like a Cedar Tree

¹Eleven years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the Lord spoke to me on the first day of the third month. He said:[#31.1 Probably May of 587 b.c.]

²Ezekiel, son of man, tell the king of Egypt and his people that I am saying:

You are more powerful

than anyone on earth.

Now listen to this.

³There was once a cedar tree

in Lebanon

with large, strong branches

reaching to the sky.

⁴This tree had plenty of water

to help it grow tall,

and nearby streams watered

the other trees

in the forest.

⁵But this tree towered over

those other trees,

and its branches

grew long and thick.

⁶Birds built nests

in its branches,

and animals were born

beneath it.

People from all nations

lived in the shade

of this strong tree.

⁷It had beautiful,

long branches,

and its roots found water

deep in the soil.

⁸None of the cedar trees[#Gn 2.9.]

in my garden of Eden

were as beautiful

as this tree;

no tree of any kind

had such long branches.

⁹I, the Lord , gave this tree

its beauty,

and I helped the branches

grow strong.

All other trees in Eden

wanted to be just like it.

¹⁰King of Egypt, now listen to what I, the Lord God, am saying about that tree: