A funeral song for the king of Egypt

1Almost twelve years after we had been taken to Babylonia, on the first day of the twelfth month of that year, Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

2“You human, sing a sad/funeral song about the king of Egypt. Sing this to him: ‘You think that you [IRO] are like [SIM] a lion among the nations;
or like [SIM] a monster/crocodile in the river thrashing around in the water,
churning/stirring up the water with your feet
and causing the water to become muddy.

3But this is what Yahweh the Lord says: “I will send many people to throw my net over you, and they will haul/drag you up onto the land in my net.

4They will throw you into a field [DOU] to die;
I will allow the birds to sit on you, and all the wild animals will eat the flesh of your corpse until their stomachs are full.

5I will cause them to scatter your flesh on the hills and fill the valleys with your bones.

6I will cause them to fill the land with your blood, all the way to the mountains,
and the ravines will be filled with your flesh.

7When I get rid of you, I will cover the sky and not allow the stars to shine. I will put a dark cloud in front of the sun, and the moon will not shine.

8I will cause the stars in the sky to be dark, and there will be darkness over your entire land;
that will surely happen because I, Yahweh the Lord, have said it.

9And when the people of many nations hear about your being destroyed, many of them will be afraid/worried—
people living in countries that you have never known about.

10I will cause many people to be appalled because of what has happened to you, and their kings will be horrified and shudder/shake because of your being destroyed,
when I swing my sword in front of them. At the time that you will be destroyed, all of them will tremble,
fearing that they also will be killed.”

11This is what Yahweh the Lord says: “The swords of the army of the King of Babylon will strike you.

12I will cause very many of your people to be killed by the swords of mighty soldiers from Babylonia,
who are more ruthless/cruel than the soldiers of all other nations. They will cause the people of Egypt to quit being proud, because very many [HYP] of their people will be killed.

13I will destroy all the cattle in Egypt that ◄graze/eat grass► alongside the streams. As a result, the water in those streams will never again become muddy because of people and cattle walking in them.

14Then I will allow the streams in Egypt to become calm again and flow as smoothly [SIM] as olive oil flows.

15When I cause Egypt to become empty/desolate and strip off everything that grows on the land, and when I get rid of all the people who live there, people will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.” ’

16That sad song about Egypt will also be sung by the people. Women of many nations will sing it. They will chant it about Egypt and all its people;
that will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said that it would happen.”

Egypt will be destroyed

17On the fifteenth day of that same month, Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

18“You human, wail about the many people of Egypt, because I will send them to the place under the earth, where they and people of other mighty nations will be. I will send them there, along with others, down to the place where the dead are.

19Say to them, ‘You people of [APO] Egypt, you think that [IRO, RHQ] you are more beautiful than the people of other nations. But you also will descend to the place where the godless dead people are.

20Your enemies will pull out their swords and kill many of you. A huge number of the people of Egypt who remain will be dragged away.

21In the place where the dead people are, mighty leaders of other countries will make fun of the people of Egypt and say, “They have come here to lie with us godless people who were killed by our enemies’ swords!” ’

22The corpses of the people of Assyria will be there. They will be surrounded by corpses of soldiers who were killed by their enemies’ swords.

23The people’s graves are there in the deep pit, and corpses of soldiers of their army lie around their graves. Corpses of all those who had caused many others in other places to be terrified also will be there, having been killed by swords.

24A great number of the people of Elam will be there. They also were killed by their enemies’ swords. They had caused people in many places [HYP] to be terrified. At that time they will lie there in that deep pit below the earth, and they, along with the others who have gone there, will be disgraced.

25They will lie there among others who were slaughtered, surrounded by the graves of a huge crowd of other people. While they were alive, they caused people of other nations to be terrified; but they were godless, and now, having been killed by their enemies swords, they will lie with others in that deep pit, disgraced, all of them avoiding each other.

26Corpses of soldiers of Meshech and Tubal will be there, surrounded by the graves of a huge crowd of their people. They were all godless people who were killed by swords because while they were alive, they also caused people in many places [HYP] to be terrified.

27They will surely [RHQ] not be buried honorably like the soldiers who have died, whose shields were buried with their corpses, whose swords were placed on their skulls in the graves. While those godless people were alive, they had caused many people in the land to be terrified, so they were punished for their sins.

28You king of Egypt, you also be killed and will lie there with other godless people who have been killed by their enemies’ swords.

29People of the Edom people-group will be there, along with their kings and leaders. They were powerful, but they will be killed and lie there in the place where the other dead people are. They will lie there in that deep pit, with the other godless people.

30All the rulers of countries north of Israel, including people from Sidon, will be there. Because of their power, they caused people to be terrified, but they will lie there. They were godless, and they will lie there along with others who were killed by their enemies’ swords. They, along with everyone else who descends into that deep pit, will be disgraced.

31The king of Egypt and all his army will see them, and they will be comforted to know that there were other huge groups of people who were killed by their enemies’ swords.

32While he was living, I allowed him to cause others in many countries to be terrified, but he and his huge army will be there among other godless people who had been killed by their enemies’ swords. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh the Lord, am the one who has said that it would happen.”