Ezekiel 31 - Easy To Read Version

¹ On the first day of the third month (June) in the eleventh year \{of exile\}, {\cf2\super [253]} the word of the Lord came to me. He said,

² “Son of man, {\cf2\super [254]} say these things to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and to his people:

³ Assyria was a cedar tree in Lebanon\par With beautiful branches,\par With forest shade,\par And very tall.\par Its top was among the clouds!\par

⁴ The water made the tree grow.\par The deep river made the tree tall.\par Rivers flowed around the place\par where the tree was planted.\par Only small streams flowed from that tree\par to all the other trees of the field.\par

⁵ So that tree was taller\par than all the other trees of the field.\par And it grew many branches.\par There was plenty of water,\par so the tree branches spread out.\par

⁶ All the birds of the sky made their nests\par in the branches of that tree.\par And all the animals of the field gave birth\par under the branches of that tree.\par All the great nations lived\par under the shade of that tree.\par

⁷ The tree was very beautiful.\par It was so large!\par It had such long branches.\par Its roots had plenty of water!\par

⁸ Even the cedar trees in God’s garden\par were not as big as this tree.\par Cypress trees did not have as many branches.\par Plane-trees did not have such branches.\par No tree in God’s garden\par was as beautiful as this tree.\par

⁹ I gave it many branches\par and made it beautiful.\par And all the trees in Eden, God’s garden,\par were jealous!’”\par

¹⁰ So the Lord my Master says these things: “That tree grew tall. Its top reached up to the clouds. It grew so big that it became proud!

¹¹ So I let a powerful king have that tree. That ruler punished the tree for the bad things it did. I took that tree out of my garden.

¹² Strangers—the most terrible people in the world—cut it down and scattered its branches on the mountains and in the valleys. Its broken limbs drifted down the rivers flowing through that land. There was no more shadow under that tree, so all the people left.

¹³ Now birds live in that fallen tree. Wild animals walk over its fallen branches.

¹⁴ “Now, none of the trees by that water will be proud. They won’t try to reach the clouds. None of the strong trees that drink that water will brag about being tall. Why? Because all of them have been appointed to die. They will all go down into the world below—to Sheol, the place of death. They will join the other people who died and went down into that deep hole.”

¹⁵ The Lord my Master says these things, “I made the people cry on the day that tree went down to Sheol. {\cf2\super [255]} I covered him with the deep ocean. I stopped its rivers and all the water stopped flowing. I made Lebanon mourn {\cf2\super [256]} for it. All the trees of the field became sick with sadness for that big tree.

¹⁶ I made the tree fall—and the nations shook with fear at the sound of the falling tree. I sent the tree down to the place of death, to join the other people that had gone down into that deep hole. In the past, all the trees of Eden, the best of Lebanon, drank that water. Those trees were comforted in the world below.

¹⁷ Yes, those trees also went down with the big tree to the place of death. They joined the people that were killed in battle. That big tree made the other trees strong. Those trees had lived under the big tree’s shadow among the nations.

¹⁸ “Egypt, there were many big and powerful trees in Eden. Which of those trees should I compare you to! They all went down into the world below! And you too will join those foreigners {\cf2\super [257]} in that place of death. You will lie there among the people killed in battle.