The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 In the twelfth year, on the first day of the twelfth month, God's Message came to me:
1 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
2 "Son of man, sing a funeral lament over Pharaoh king of Egypt. Tell him: "'You think you're a young lion prowling through the nations. You're more like a dragon in the ocean, snorting and thrashing about.
2 "Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: "You consider yourself a lion of the nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas; you burst forth in your rivers, trouble the waters with your feet, and foul their rivers.
3 "'God, the Master, says: "'I'm going to throw my net over you - many nations will get in on this operation - and haul you out with my dragnet.
3 Thus says the Lord GOD: I will throw my net over you with a host of many peoples, and they will haul you up in my dragnet.
4 'll dump you on the ground out in an open field And bring in all the crows and vultures for a sumptuous carrion lunch. I'll invite wild animals from all over the world to gorge on your guts.
4 And I will cast you on the ground; on the open field I will fling you, and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle on you, and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you.
5 I'll scatter hunks of your meat in the mountains and strew your bones in the valleys.
5 I will strew your flesh upon the mountains and fill the valleys with your carcass.
6 The country, right up to the mountains, will be drenched with your blood, your blood filling every ditch and channel.
6 I will drench the land even to the mountains with your flowing blood, and the ravines will be full of you.
7 When I blot you out, I'll pull the curtain on the skies and shut out the stars. I'll throw a cloud across the sun and turn off the moonlight.
7 When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.
8 I'll turn out every light in the sky above you and put your land in the dark. Decree of God, the Master.
8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over you, and put darkness on your land, declares the Lord GOD.
9 I'll shake up everyone worldwide when I take you off captive to strange and far-off countries.
9 "I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries that you have not known.
10 I'll shock people with you. Kings will take one look and shudder. I'll shake my sword and they'll shake in their boots. On the day you crash, they'll tremble, thinking, "That could be me!" To Lay Your Pride Low
10 I will make many peoples appalled at you, and the hair of their kings shall bristle with horror because of you, when I brandish my sword before them. They shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall.
11 "'God, the Master, says: "'The sword of the king of Babylon is coming against you.
11 "For thus says the Lord GOD: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you.
12 I'll use the swords of champions to lay your pride low, Use the most brutal of nations to knock Egypt off her high horse, to puncture that hot-air pomposity.
12 I will cause your multitude to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them most ruthless of nations. "They shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt, and all its multitude shall perish.
13 I'll destroy all their livestock that graze along the river. Neither human foot nor animal hoof will muddy those waters anymore.
13 I will destroy all its beasts from beside many waters; and no foot of man shall trouble them anymore, nor shall the hoofs of beasts trouble them.
14 I'll clear their springs and streams, make their rivers flow clean and smooth. Decree of God, the Master.
14 Then I will make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, declares the Lord GOD.
15 When I turn Egypt back to the wild and strip her clean of all her abundant produce, When I strike dead all who live there, then they'll realize that I am God.'
15 When I make the land of Egypt desolate, and when the land is desolate of all that fills it, when I strike down all who dwell in it, then they will know that I am the LORD.
16 "This is a funeral song. Chant it. Daughters of the nations, chant it. Chant it over Egypt for the death of its pomp." Decree of God, the Master.
16 This is a lamentation that shall be chanted; the daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they chant it, declares the Lord GOD."
17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the first month, God's Message came to me:
17 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
18 "Son of man, lament over Egypt's pompous ways. Send her on her way. Dispatch Egypt and her proud daughter nations To the underworld, down to the country of the dead and buried.
18 "Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, and send them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, to the world below, to those who have gone down to the pit:
19 Say, 'You think you're so high and mighty? Down! Take your place with the heathen in that unhallowed grave!'
19 'Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised.'
20 "She'll be dumped in with those killed in battle. The sword is bared. Drag her off in all her proud pomp!
20 They shall fall amid those who are slain by the sword. Egypt is delivered to the sword; drag her away, and all her multitudes.
21 All the big men and their helpers down among the dead and buried will greet them: 'Welcome to the grave of the heathen! Join the ranks of the victims of war!'
21 The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: 'They have come down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.'
22 "Assyria is there and its congregation, the whole nation a cemetery.
22 "Assyria is there, and all her company, its graves all around it, all of them slain, fallen by the sword,
23 Their graves are in the deepest part of the underworld, a congregation of graves, all killed in battle, these people who terrorized the land of the living.
23 whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit; and her company is all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.
24 "Elam is there in all her pride, a cemetery - all killed in battle, dumped in her heathen grave with the dead and buried, these people who terrorized the land of the living. They carry their shame with them, along with the others in the grave.
24 "Elam is there, and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into the world below, who spread their terror in the land of the living; and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.
25 They turned Elam into a resort for the pompous dead, landscaped with heathen graves, slaughtered in battle. They once terrorized the land of the living. Now they carry their shame down with the others in deep earth. They're in the section set aside for the slain in battle.
25 They have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are placed among the slain.
26 "Meshech-tubal is there in all her pride, a cemetery in uncircumcised ground, dumped in with those slaughtered in battle - just deserts for terrorizing the land of the living. Now they carry their shame down with the others in deep earth. They're in the section set aside for the slain.
26 "Meshech-Tubal is there, and all her multitude, her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread their terror in the land of the living.
27 They're segregated from the heroes, the old-time giants who entered the grave in full battle dress, their swords placed under their heads and their shields covering their bones, those heroes who spread terror through the land of the living.
27 And they do not lie with the mighty, the fallen from among the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living.
28 "And you, Egypt, will be dumped in a heathen grave, along with all the rest, in the section set aside for the slain.
28 But as for you, you shall be broken and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.
29 "Edom is there, with her kings and princes. In spite of her vaunted greatness, she is dumped in a heathen grave with the others headed for the grave.
29 "Edom is there, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.
30 "The princes of the north are there, the whole lot of them, and all the Sidonians who carry their shame to their graves - all that terror they spread with their brute power! - dumped in unhallowed ground with those killed in battle, carrying their shame with the others headed for deep earth.
30 "The princes of the north are there, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, for all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.
31 "Pharaoh will see them all and, pompous old goat that he is, take comfort in the company he'll keep - Pharaoh and his slaughtered army. Decree of God, the Master.
31 "When Pharaoh sees them, he will be comforted for all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord GOD.
32 "I used him to spread terror in the land of the living and now I'm dumping him in heathen ground with those killed by the sword - Pharaoh and all his pomp. Decree of God, the Master."
32 For I spread terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD."
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.