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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Ezekiel 31 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/ezekiel/31.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" 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32">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">Egypt's King Will Be Chopped Down like a Cedar Tree</h3><p class="par"><span class="v26_31_1"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.1" class="v26_31_1">1</span>Eleven years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> spoke to me on the first day of the third month.<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezek.31.1!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> He said:</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v26_31_2"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.2" class="v26_31_2">2</span>Ezekiel, son of man, tell the king of Egypt and his people that I am saying:</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_2">You are more powerful</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_2">than anyone on earth.</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_2">Now listen to this.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_3"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.3" class="v26_31_3">3</span>There was once a cedar tree</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_3">in Lebanon</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_3">with large, strong branches</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_3">reaching to the sky.<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezek.31.3!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_4"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.4" class="v26_31_4">4</span>This tree had plenty of water</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_4">to help it grow tall,</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_4">and nearby streams watered</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_4">the other trees</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_4">in the forest.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_5"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.5" class="v26_31_5">5</span>But this tree towered over</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_5">those other trees,</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_5">and its branches</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_5">grew long and thick.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_6"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.6" class="v26_31_6">6</span>Birds built nests</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_6">in its branches,</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_6">and animals were born</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_6">beneath it.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_6">People from all nations</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_6">lived in the shade</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_6">of this strong tree.</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_7"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.7" class="v26_31_7">7</span>It had beautiful,</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_7">long branches,</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_7">and its roots found water</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_7">deep in the soil.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_8"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.8" class="v26_31_8">8</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Ezek.31.8!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> None of the cedar trees</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_8">in my garden of Eden</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_8">were as beautiful</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_8">as this tree;</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_8">no tree of any kind</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_8">had such long branches.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_9"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.9" class="v26_31_9">9</span>I, the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, gave this tree</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_9">its beauty,</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_9">and I helped the branches</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_9">grow strong.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v26_31_9">All other trees in Eden</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v26_31_9">wanted to be just like it.</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="par"><span class="v26_31_10"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.10" class="v26_31_10">10</span>King of Egypt, now listen to what I, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> God, am saying about that tree:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v26_31_10">The tree grew so tall that it reached the sky<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezek.31.10!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and became very proud and arrogant. </span><span class="v26_31_11"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.11" class="v26_31_11">11</span>So I, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> God, will reject the tree and hand it over to a foreign ruler, who will punish it for its wickedness. </span><span class="v26_31_12"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.12" class="v26_31_12">12</span>Cruel foreigners will chop it down and leave it wherever it falls. Branches and broken limbs will be scattered over the mountains and in the valleys. The people living in the shade of those branches will go somewhere else. </span><span class="v26_31_13"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.13" class="v26_31_13">13</span>Birds will then nest on the stump of the fallen tree, and wild animals will trample its branches.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v26_31_14"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.14" class="v26_31_14">14</span>Never again will any tree dare to grow as tall as this tree, no matter how much water it has. Every tree must die, just as humans die and go down to the world of the dead.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v26_31_15"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.15" class="v26_31_15">15</span>On the day this tree dies and goes to the world below, I, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> God, will command rivers and streams to mourn its death. Every underground spring of water and every river will stop flowing.<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezek.31.15!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> The mountains in Lebanon will be covered with darkness as a sign of their sorrow, and all the trees in the forest will wither. </span><span class="v26_31_16"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.16" class="v26_31_16">16</span>This tree will crash to the ground, and I will send it to the world below. Then the nations of the earth will tremble.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v26_31_16">The trees from Eden and the choice trees from Lebanon are now in the world of the dead, and they will be comforted when this tree falls. </span><span class="v26_31_17"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.17" class="v26_31_17">17</span>Those people who found protection in its shade will also be sent to the world below, where they will join the dead.<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezek.31.17!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v26_31_18"><span class="reftext" id="Ezek.31.18" class="v26_31_18">18</span>King of Egypt, all these things will happen to you and your people! You were like this tree at one time—taller and stronger than anyone on earth. But now you will be chopped down, just as every tree in the garden of Eden must die. You will be sent down to the world of the dead, where you will join the godless and the other victims of violent death. I, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> God, have spoken.</span></p> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">31.1 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Eleven years … third month: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Probably May of 587 <char style="sc">b.c.</char></char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">31.3 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">sky: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 3.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">31.10 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">the sky: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One ancient translation; Hebrew “over the thick branches.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">31.15 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">rivers and streams … stop flowing: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">31.17 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">dead: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 17.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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