Day 326 of 730

¹The word of the Lord came again to me, saying,

²"Son of man, prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Wail, 'Alas for the day!'

³For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near; it shall be a day of clouds, a time of the nations.

⁴A sword shall come on Egypt, and anguish shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt; and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.

⁵Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud, and all the mixed people, and Cub, and the children of the land that is allied with them, shall fall with them by the sword."'

⁶"Thus says the Lord: 'They also who uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Seveneh shall they fall in it by the sword,' says the Lord God.

⁷'They shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted.

⁸They shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and all her helpers are destroyed.

⁹In that day shall messengers go forth from before me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid; and there shall be anguish on them, as in the day of Egypt; for, behold, it comes.'

¹⁰"Thus says the Lord God: 'I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

¹¹He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land; and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.

¹²I will make the rivers dry, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men; and I will make the land desolate, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I, the Lord, have spoken it.'

¹³"Thus says the Lord God: 'I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the images to cease from Memphis; and there shall be no more a prince from the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.

¹⁴I will make Pathros desolate, and will set a fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments on No.

¹⁵I will pour my wrath on Sin, the stronghold of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No.

¹⁶I will set a fire in Egypt: Sin shall be in great anguish, and No shall be broken up; and Memphis shall have adversaries in the daytime.

¹⁷The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the sword; and these cities shall go into captivity.

¹⁸At Tehaphnehes also the day shall withdraw itself, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt, and the pride of her power shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.

¹⁹Thus will I execute judgments on Egypt; and they shall know that I am the Lord.'"

²⁰It happened in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²¹"Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and behold, it has not been bound up, to apply healing medicines, to put a bandage to bind it, that it be strong to hold the sword.

²²Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong arm, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.

²³I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.

²⁴I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man.

²⁵I will hold up the arms of the king of Babylon; and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out on the land of Egypt.

²⁶I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries; and they shall know that I am the Lord.'"

¹It happened in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude: 'Whom are you like in your greatness?

³Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches, and with a forest-like shade, and of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs.

⁴The waters nourished it, the deep made it to grow: its rivers ran all around its plantation; and it sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.

⁵Therefore its stature was exalted above all the trees of the field; and its boughs were multiplied, and its branches became long by reason of many waters, when it shot them forth.

⁶All the birds of the sky made their nests in its boughs; and under its branches all the animals of the field brought forth their young; and all great nations lived under its shadow.

⁷Thus was it beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its root was by many waters.

⁸The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; the fir trees were not like its boughs, and the plane trees were not as its branches; nor was any tree in the garden of God like it in its beauty.

⁹I made it beautiful by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied it.'

¹⁰"Therefore thus said the Lord God: 'Because you are exalted in stature, and he has set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;

¹¹I will even deliver 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.

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

¹³On his ruin all the birds of the sky shall dwell, and all the animals of the field shall be on his branches;

¹⁴to the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, neither set their top among the thick boughs, nor that their mighty ones stand up on their height, even all who drink water: for they are all delivered to death, to the lower parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with those who go down to the pit.'

¹⁵"Thus says the Lord God: 'In the day when he went down to Sheol I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained its rivers; and the great waters were stayed; and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.

¹⁶I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol 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 lower parts of the earth.

¹⁷They also went down into Sheol with him to those who are slain by the sword; yes, those who were his arm, that lived under his shadow in the midst of the nations.

¹⁸To whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth: you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude,' says the Lord God."

¹Judge me, Lord, for I have walked in my integrity. I have trusted also in Lord without wavering.

²Examine me, Lord, and prove me. Try my heart and my mind.

³For your loving kindness is before my eyes. I have walked in your truth.

⁴I have not sat with deceitful men, neither will I go in with hypocrites.

⁵I hate the assembly of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked.

⁶I will wash my hands in innocence, so I will go about your altar, Lord;

⁷that I may make the voice of thanksgiving to be heard, and tell of all your wondrous works.

⁸Lord, I love the habitation of your house, the place where your glory dwells.

⁹Do not gather my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men;

¹⁰in whose hands is wickedness, their right hand is full of bribes.

¹¹But as for me, I will walk in my integrity. Redeem me, and be merciful to me.

¹²My foot stands in an even place. In the congregations I will bless the Lord.

¹The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

²All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weighs the motives.

³Commit your deeds to the Lord, and your plans shall succeed.

⁴The Lord has made everything for its own end- yes, even the wicked for the day of evil.

⁵Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: they shall certainly not be unpunished.

⁶By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for. By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.

⁷When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

⁸Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues with injustice.

⁹A man's heart plans his course, but the Lord directs his steps.

¹⁰Inspired judgments are on the lips of the king. He shall not betray his mouth.

¹¹Honest balances and scales are the Lord's; all the weights in the bag are his work.

¹²It is an abomination for kings to do wrong, for the throne is established by righteousness.

¹³Righteous lips are the delight of kings. They value one who speaks the truth.

¹⁴The king's wrath is a messenger of death, but a wise man will pacify it.

¹⁵In the light of the king's face is life. His favor is like a cloud of the spring rain.

¹⁶How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! Yes, to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

¹⁷The highway of the upright is to depart from evil. He who keeps his way preserves his soul.

¹⁸Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

¹⁹It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor, than to divide the plunder with the proud.

²⁰He who heeds the Word finds prosperity. Whoever trusts in the Lord is blessed.

²¹The wise in heart shall be called prudent. Pleasantness of the lips promotes instruction.

²²Understanding is a fountain of life to one who has it, but the punishment of fools is their folly.

²³The heart of the wise instructs his mouth, and adds learning to his lips.

²⁴Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

²⁵There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

²⁶The appetite of the laboring man labors for him; for his mouth urges him on.

²⁷A worthless man devises mischief. His speech is like a scorching fire.

²⁸A perverse man stirs up strife. A whisperer separates close friends.

²⁹A man of violence entices his neighbor, and leads him in a way that is not good.

³⁰One who winks his eyes to plot perversities, one who compresses his lips, is bent on evil.

³¹Gray hair is a crown of glory. It is attained by a life of righteousness.

³²One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty; one who rules his spirit, than he who takes a city.

³³The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.