¹ And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third [month], on the first of the month, [that] the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, say unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude: Whom art thou like in thy greatness?

³ Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature: and his top was amidst the thick boughs.

⁴ The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high; its streams ran round about his plantation, and it sent out its rivulets unto all the trees of the field.

⁵ Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long, because of great waters, when he shot forth.

⁶ All the fowl of the heavens made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all the great nations.

⁷ Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: because his root was by great waters.

⁸ The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him; the cypresses were not like his boughs, and the plane-trees were not as his branches: no tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.

⁹ I had made him fair by the multitude of his branches; and all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.

¹⁰ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast lifted up thyself in stature, ... and he hath set his top amidst the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height,

¹¹ I have given him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.

¹² And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off and have left him; upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken in all the watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.

¹³ Upon his fallen [trunk] do all the fowl of the heavens dwell, and all the beasts of the field are upon his branches:

¹⁴ to the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, nor set their top amidst the thick boughs, and that none of them that drink water stand up in his height by himself; for they are all given over unto death in the lower parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.

¹⁵ Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In the day when he went down to Sheol, I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed; and I made Lebanon black for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.

¹⁶ I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol, with them that go down into the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the lower parts of the earth.

¹⁷ They also went down into Sheol with him unto them that were slain with the sword, and [that were] his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the nations.

¹⁸ To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden, unto the lower parts of the earth; thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord Jehovah.

¹ Praise Yahweh! Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.

² Who can utter the mighty acts of Yahweh, or fully declare all his praise?

³ Blessed are those who keep justice. Blessed is one who does what is right at all times.

⁴ Remember me, Yahweh, with the favor that you show to your people. Visit me with your salvation,

⁵ that I may see the prosperity of your chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance.

⁶ We have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly.

⁷ Our fathers didn't understand your wonders in Egypt. They didn't remember the multitude of your loving kindnesses, but were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.

⁸ Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power known.

⁹ He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up; so he led them through the depths, as through a desert.

¹⁰ He saved them from the hand of him who hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

¹¹ The waters covered their adversaries. There was not one of them left.

¹² Then they believed his words. They sang his praise.

¹³ They soon forgot his works. They didn't wait for his counsel,

¹⁴ but gave in to craving in the desert, and tested God in the wasteland.

¹⁵ He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.

¹⁶ They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron, Yahweh's saint.

¹⁷ The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.

¹⁸ A fire was kindled in their company. The flame burned up the wicked.

¹⁹ They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped a molten image.

²⁰ Thus they exchanged their glory for an image of a bull that eats grass.

²¹ They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,

²² Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome things by the Red Sea.

²³ Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had Moses, his chosen, not stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, so that he wouldn't destroy them.

²⁴ Yes, they despised the pleasant land. They didn't believe his word,

²⁵ but murmured in their tents, and didn't listen to Yahweh's voice.

²⁶ Therefore he swore to them that he would overthrow them in the wilderness,

²⁷ that he would overthrow their seed among the nations, and scatter them in the lands.

²⁸ They joined themselves also to Baal Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.

²⁹ Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds. The plague broke in on them.

³⁰ Then Phinehas stood up, and executed judgment, so the plague was stopped.

³¹ That was credited to him for righteousness, for all generations to come.

³² They angered him also at the waters of Meribah, so that Moses was troubled for their sakes;

³³ because they were rebellious against his spirit, he spoke rashly with his lips.

³⁴ They didn't destroy the peoples, as Yahweh commanded them,

³⁵ but mixed themselves with the nations, and learned their works.

³⁶ They served their idols, which became a snare to them.

³⁷ Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.

³⁸ They shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted with blood.

³⁹ Thus were they defiled with their works, and prostituted themselves in their deeds.

⁴⁰ Therefore Yahweh burned with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance.

⁴¹ He gave them into the hand of the nations. Those who hated them ruled over them.

⁴² Their enemies also oppressed them. They were brought into subjection under their hand.

⁴³ Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their counsel, and were brought low in their iniquity.

⁴⁴ Nevertheless he regarded their distress, when he heard their cry.

⁴⁵ He remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.

⁴⁶ He made them also to be pitied by all those who carried them captive.

⁴⁷ Save us, Yahweh, our God, gather us from among the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, to triumph in your praise!

⁴⁸ Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting! Let all the people say, "Amen." Praise Yah! BOOK V