A funeral song for the king of Egypt

32 Almost 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.

3 But 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.

4 They 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.

5 I will cause them to scatter your flesh on the hills

and fill the valleys with your bones.

6 I 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.

7 When 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.

8 I 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.

9 And 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.

10 I 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.”

11 This is what Yahweh the Lord says:

“The swords of the army of the King of Babylon will strike you.

12 I 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.

13 I 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.

14 Then I will allow the streams in Egypt to become calm again

and flow as smoothly [SIM] as olive oil flows.

15 When 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.” ’

16 That 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.”