A lamentation about Pharaoh
1The Lord talked to me. It was in the 12th year after we had become prisoners in Babylon, in the 12th month, on the first day of the month. The Lord said to me: 2‘Son of man, you must sing a funeral song about Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. You must tell him: “You thought you were a lion among the nations or a crocodile in the river, but you were not. Your feet stirred up the mud in the river and it made the water dirty. Your feet made the water streams full of mud.”
3The Lord God says: “I will throw my net over you and call a lot of nations to come together and they will catch you and pull you up in my net. 4I will throw you out on the ground. I will throw you onto the field and I will tell all the birds to come and sit on you. I will tell all the animals on earth to come and eat you until they are full. 5I will throw your flesh all over the mountains and I will fill the valleys with the pieces of your body that are left over. 6Your blood will flow onto the ground and on the mountains, and all the rivers and valleys will be full of your blood. 7When I cause you to die, I will cover the sky and I will make the stars become dark. I will cover the sun with a cloud and the moon will no longer shine. 8All the stars that are shining in the sky will become dark. I will make it dark in your land.” This is what the Lord God said.
9“I will make a lot of nations very sad and upset when I bring enemies to destroy you. I will make you go to lands that you did not know. 10I will make a lot of nations become afraid when they see what happens to you. Their kings will tremble when I hold out my sword and swing it over them. They will all tremble all day long and fear for their lives.”
11Yes, the Lord God says: “The sword of the king of Babylon will come to you. 12I will cause your soldiers to be killed. I will send soldiers who know how to fight. All of them are cruel men, and they will destroy everything that the people of Egypt love and are proud of. They will kill all Egypt's soldiers. 13I will destroy all the animals of Egypt, the animals at all the water streams. There will be no more feet of people or animals that will make the water dirty. 14Then I will make the water clear again and the rivers will flow like olive oil. 15I will make Egypt a land where no one can live, and I will take away everything in the land. I will cause everyone who lives in the land to die and then they will know that I am the Lord.”
16This song is a funeral song, a lamentation. The women of all the nations must sing this song. They must sing a funeral song about Pharaoh and his soldiers.’ This is what the Lord God said.
17The Lord talked to me. It was in the 12th year after we had become prisoners in Babylon, on the 15th day of the month. The Lord said to me: 18‘Son of man, you must cry and mourn. You must sing about the soldiers of Egypt who will die. You must send them to the underworld with the women of the important nations, to the people who are in the grave. 19You must tell Egypt: “You are no better than the other lands. You must go down to the people who are dead and uncircumcised.”
20Egypt and all its soldiers will fall among the people who have died in war. The sword of the enemies will kill them. All of them will be taken away. 21The important men who were at war will talk from the underworld. They will talk about Egypt and everyone who helped them and they will say: “They are going down. They lie down with the people who have died. Those people have died in war. They are uncircumcised.”
22Assyria and all his soldiers are there, and their graves are around him. They all died in war. 23The graves of Assyria are in the deepest places of the underworld. His people are around him in their graves. When they were alive, everyone was afraid of them, but all of them have died in war.
24The land of Elam and his soldiers are also there, and their graves are around him. All of them have died in war and were uncircumcised when they went to the underworld. When they were alive, everyone was afraid of them, but now they are not important anymore, like all people who go down to the grave. 25Elam must lie down among those who died in war, and the graves of all his soldiers are around him. All of them were uncircumcised when they died. When they were alive, everyone was afraid of them, but now they are not important anymore, like all people who go down to the grave.
26The lands of Meshek and Tubal and all their soldiers are also there. Their graves are around them. All of them were uncircumcised when they died. When they were alive, everyone was afraid of them, but the enemies have killed them. 27Meshek and Tubal and all their soldiers were not buried with the brave soldiers who died and whose graves are separate from the other graves. The brave soldiers were not buried with the uncircumcised people but they were buried with their weapons. Their swords are under their heads and their shields are over their bodies. When they were alive, everyone was afraid of them.
28Egypt, you will be broken and you will lie down among those who were uncircumcised when they died in war.
29Edom and its kings and the people who ruled over him are also there. They were strong but they have died in war. They lie down among the dead people who were uncircumcised when they died and were buried.
30All the leaders of the north and all the people from Sidon are there. They were buried with the people who have died in war. They were strong, and other people were afraid of them, but now they are unimportant. They were buried with people who were uncircumcised when they died in war. 31When Pharaoh sees them, he will not feel bad about all his soldiers who have died with him in war.’ This is what the Lord God said.
32‘When Pharaoh was alive, I let everyone fear him, but he also had to go and lie down among those who have died, and those who were uncircumcised when they died in war.’ This is what the Lord God said.
