Ezekiel 31:2-4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
2 Son of man, say to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his hordes: In your greatness, whom do you resemble?
3 Assyria! It is Assyria![a]
A cedar of Lebanon—
Beautiful branches,
thick shade,
Towering heights,
its crown in the clouds!(A)
4 The waters made it grow,
the deep made it tall,
Letting its currents flow
around the place it was planted,
Then sending its channels
to all the other trees of the field.(B)
Footnotes
- 31:3 Assyria: this translates te’ashshur, which some interpret as “cypress tree.” The oracle, however, compares the fate of Pharaoh to the terrible demise of Assyria because of its arrogant pride (cf. Na 1–3). Ezekiel may have drawn on an ancient myth of a cosmic tree of life to emphasize the greatness of Egypt’s fall.
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