nkjv Ezekiel:31-33 SEEK
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Now it came to pass in the eleventh year ,
in the third month ,
on the first day of the month ,
that the word of the LORD came to me ,
saying ,
* "
Son of man ,
say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude : "
Whom are you like in your greatness ?
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Indeed Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon ,
With fine branches that shaded the forest ,
And of high stature ;
And its top was among the thick boughs .
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The waters made it grow ;
Underground waters gave it height ,
With their rivers running around the place where it was planted ,
And sent out rivulets to all the trees of the field .
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Therefore its height was exalted above all the trees of the field ;
Its boughs were multiplied ,
And its branches became long because of the abundance of water ,
As it sent them out .
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All the birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs ;
Under its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young ;
And in its shadow all great nations made their home .
* "
Thus it was beautiful in greatness and in the length of its branches ,
Because its roots reached to abundant waters .
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The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it ;
The fir trees were not like its boughs ,
And the chestnut trees were not like its branches ;
No tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty .
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I made it beautiful with a multitude of branches ,
So that all the trees of Eden envied it ,
That were in the garden of God .'
* "
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD : "
Because you have increased in height ,
and it set its top among the thick boughs ,
and its heart was lifted up in its height ,
*
therefore I will deliver it into the hand of the mighty one of the nations ,
and he shall surely deal with it ;
I have driven it out for its wickedness .
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And aliens ,
the most terrible of the nations ,
have cut it down and left it ;
its branches have fallen on the mountains and in all the valleys ;
its boughs lie broken by all the rivers of the land ;
and all the peoples of the earth have gone from under its shadow and left it .
* "
On its ruin will remain all the birds of the heavens ,
And all the beasts of the field will come to its branches --
* "
So that no trees by the waters may ever again exalt themselves for their height ,
nor set their tops among the thick boughs ,
that no tree which drinks water may ever be high enough to reach up to them . "
For they have all been delivered to death ,
To the depths of the earth ,
Among the children of men who go down to the Pit .'
* "
Thus says the Lord GOD : "
In the day when it went down to hell ,
I caused mourning .
I covered the deep because of it .
I restrained its rivers ,
and the great waters were held back .
I caused Lebanon to mourn for it ,
and all the trees of the field wilted because of it .
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I made the nations shake at the sound of its fall ,
when I cast it down to hell together with those who descend into the Pit ;
and all the trees of Eden ,
the choice and best of Lebanon ,
all that drink water ,
were comforted in the depths of the earth .
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They also went down to hell with it ,
with those slain by the sword ;
and those who were its strong arm dwelt in its shadows among the nations .
* "
To which of the trees in Eden will you then be likened in glory and greatness ?
Yet you shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the depths of the earth ;
you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised ,
with those slain by the sword .
This is Pharaoh and all his multitude ,'
says the Lord GOD ."
*
And it came to pass in the twelfth year ,
in the twelfth month ,
on the first day of the month ,
that the word of the LORD came to me ,
saying ,
* "
Son of man ,
take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt ,
and say to him : "
You are like a young lion among the nations ,
And you are like a monster in the seas ,
Bursting forth in your rivers ,
Troubling the waters with your feet ,
And fouling their rivers .'
* "
Thus says the Lord GOD : "
I will therefore spread My net over you with a company of many people ,
And they will draw you up in My net .
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Then I will leave you on the land ;
I will cast you out on the open fields ,
And cause to settle on you all the birds of the heavens .
And with you I will fill the beasts of the whole earth .
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I will lay your flesh on the mountains ,
And fill the valleys with your carcass .
* "
I will also water the land with the flow of your blood ,
Even to the mountains ;
And the riverbeds will be full of you .
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When I put out your light ,
I will cover the heavens ,
and make its stars dark ;
I will cover the sun with a cloud ,
And the moon shall not give her light .
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All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you ,
And bring darkness upon your land ,'
Says the Lord GOD .
* "
I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples ,
when I bring your destruction among the nations ,
into the countries which you have not known .
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Yes ,
I will make many peoples astonished at you ,
and their kings shall be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them ;
and they shall tremble every moment ,
every man for his own life ,
in the day of your fall .'
* "
For thus says the Lord GOD : "
The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you .
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By the swords of the mighty warriors ,
all of them the most terrible of the nations ,
I will cause your multitude to fall . "
They shall plunder the pomp of Egypt ,
And all its multitude shall be destroyed .
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Also I will destroy all its animals From beside its great waters ;
The foot of man shall muddy them no more ,
Nor shall the hooves of animals muddy them .
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Then I will make their waters clear ,
And make their rivers run like oil ,'
Says the Lord GOD .
* "
When I make the land of Egypt desolate ,
And the country is destitute of all that once filled it ,
When I strike all who dwell in it ,
Then they shall know that I am the LORD .
* "
This is the lamentation With which they shall lament her ;
The daughters of the nations shall lament her ;
They shall lament for her ,
for Egypt ,
And for all her multitude ,'
Says the Lord GOD ."
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It came to pass also in the twelfth year ,
on the fifteenth day of the month ,
that the word of the LORD came to me ,
saying :
* "
Son of man ,
wail over the multitude of Egypt ,
And cast them down to the depths of the earth ,
Her and the daughters of the famous nations ,
With those who go down to the Pit :
* "
Whom do you surpass in beauty ?
Go down ,
be placed with the uncircumcised .'
* "
They shall fall in the midst of those slain by the sword ;
She is delivered to the sword ,
Drawing her and all her multitudes .
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The strong among the mighty Shall speak to him out of the midst of hell With those who help him : "
They have gone down ,
They lie with the uncircumcised ,
slain by the sword .'
* "
Assyria is there ,
and all her company ,
With their graves all around her ,
All of them slain ,
fallen by the sword .
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Her graves are set in the recesses of the Pit ,
And her company is all around her grave ,
All of them slain ,
fallen by the sword ,
Who caused terror in the land of the living .
* "
There is Elam and all her multitude ,
All around her grave ,
All of them slain ,
fallen by the sword ,
Who have gone down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth ,
Who caused their terror in the land of the living ;
Now they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit .
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They have set her bed in the midst of the slain ,
With all her multitude ,
With her graves all around it ,
All of them uncircumcised ,
slain by the sword ;
Though their terror was caused In the land of the living ,
Yet they bear their shame With those who go down to the Pit ;
It was put in the midst of the slain .
* "
There are Meshech and Tubal and all their multitudes ,
With all their graves around it ,
All of them uncircumcised ,
slain by the sword ,
Though they caused their terror in the land of the living .
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They do not lie with the mighty Who are fallen of the uncircumcised ,
Who have gone down to hell with their weapons of war ;
They have laid their swords under their heads ,
But their iniquities will be on their bones ,
Because of the terror of the mighty in the land of the living .
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Yes ,
you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised ,
And lie with those slain by the sword .
* "
There is Edom ,
Her kings and all her princes ,
Who despite their might Are laid beside those slain by the sword ;
They shall lie with the uncircumcised ,
And with those who go down to the Pit .
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There are the princes of the north ,
All of them ,
and all the Sidonians ,
Who have gone down with the slain In shame at the terror which they caused by their might ;
They lie uncircumcised with those slain by the sword ,
And bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit .
* "
Pharaoh will see them And be comforted over all his multitude ,
Pharaoh and all his army ,
Slain by the sword ,"
Says the Lord GOD .
* "
For I have caused My terror in the land of the living ;
And he shall be placed in the midst of the uncircumcised With those slain by the sword ,
Pharaoh and all his multitude ,"
Says the Lord GOD .
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Again the word of the LORD came to me ,
saying ,
* "
Son of man ,
speak to the children of your people ,
and say to them : "
When I bring the sword upon a land ,
and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman ,
*
when he sees the sword coming upon the land ,
if he blows the trumpet and warns the people ,
*
then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning ,
if the sword comes and takes him away ,
his blood shall be on his own head .
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He heard the sound of the trumpet ,
but did not take warning ;
his blood shall be upon himself .
But he who takes warning will save his life .
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But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet ,
and the people are not warned ,
and the sword comes and takes any person from among them ,
he is taken away in his iniquity ;
but his blood I will require at the watchman '
s hand .'
* "
So you ,
son of man :
I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel ;
therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me .
*
When I say to the wicked , "
O wicked man ,
you shall surely die !'
and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way ,
that wicked man shall die in his iniquity ;
but his blood I will require at your hand .
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Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way ,
and he does not turn from his way ,
he shall die in his iniquity ;
but you have delivered your soul .
* "
Therefore you ,
O son of man ,
say to the house of Israel : "
Thus you say , "
If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us ,
and we pine away in them ,
how can we then live ?"'
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Say to them : "
As I live ,'
says the Lord GOD , "
I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked ,
but that the wicked turn from his way and live .
Turn ,
turn from your evil ways !
For why should you die ,
O house of Israel ?'
* "
Therefore you ,
O son of man ,
say to the children of your people : "
The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression ;
as for the wickedness of the wicked ,
he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness ;
nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins .'
*
When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live ,
but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity ,
none of his righteous works shall be remembered ;
but because of the iniquity that he has committed ,
he shall die .
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Again ,
when I say to the wicked , "
You shall surely die ,'
if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right ,
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if the wicked restores the pledge ,
gives back what he has stolen ,
and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity ,
he shall surely live ;
he shall not die .
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None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him ;
he has done what is lawful and right ;
he shall surely live .
* "
Yet the children of your people say , "
The way of the LORD is not fair .'
But it is their way which is not fair !
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When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity ,
he shall die because of it .
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But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right ,
he shall live because of it .
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Yet you say , "
The way of the LORD is not fair .'
O house of Israel ,
I will judge every one of you according to his own ways ."
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And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity ,
in the tenth month ,
on the fifth day of the month ,
that one who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said , "
The city has been captured !"
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Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me the evening before the man came who had escaped .
And He had opened my mouth ;
so when he came to me in the morning ,
my mouth was opened ,
and I was no longer mute .
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Then the word of the LORD came to me ,
saying :
* "
Son of man ,
they who inhabit those ruins in the land of Israel are saying , "
Abraham was only one ,
and he inherited the land .
But we are many ;
the land has been given to us as a possession .'
* "
Therefore say to them , "
Thus says the Lord GOD : "
You eat meat with blood ,
you lift up your eyes toward your idols ,
and shed blood .
Should you then possess the land ?
*
You rely on your sword ,
you commit abominations ,
and you defile one another '
s wives .
Should you then possess the land ?"'
* "
Say thus to them , "
Thus says the Lord GOD : "
As I live ,
surely those who are in the ruins shall fall by the sword ,
and the one who is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured ,
and those who are in the strongholds and caves shall die of the pestilence .
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For I will make the land most desolate ,
her arrogant strength shall cease ,
and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that no one will pass through .
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Then they shall know that I am the LORD ,
when I have made the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed ."'
* "
As for you ,
son of man ,
the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses ;
and they speak to one another ,
everyone saying to his brother , "
Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD .'
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So they come to you as people do ,
they sit before you as My people ,
and they hear your words ,
but they do not do them ;
for with their mouth they show much love ,
but their hearts pursue their own gain .
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Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument ;
for they hear your words ,
but they do not do them .
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And when this comes to pass--surely it will come--then they will know that a prophet has been among them ."
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And the word of the LORD came to me ,
saying ,