The Daily Audio Bible

31 The Lord gave this message to me on the first day of the 3rd month, in the 11th year: ² ‘Son of man, say this to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and all his people:

¹⁰ So this is what the Almighty Lord says:

That great tree, Assyria, was very tall. Its top reached up to the clouds. It was very proud because it was so great. ¹¹ Because of that, I put it under the power of the ruler of the nations. He has punished it as it deserved for its sins. In that way, I have removed it. ¹² Foreigners from cruel nations have cut it down. They have left it on the ground. Its broken branches lie on the mountains and in the valleys. The people of other nations no longer live in its shade. They have gone away. ¹³ Now the birds go and sit on the bits of the tree that remain. The wild animals walk over its branches. ¹⁴ Because of that, no tree will ever grow as tall again. Even if it receives plenty of water, no tree will grow so tall that its top reaches up to the clouds. All trees will die and fall to the ground. Like people, they must die and go into their graves, under the ground.

¹⁵ This is what the Almighty Lord says: This tree has died and it has gone down into its grave. When that happened, I caused people to be very sad. I caused the springs of water to stop. There were no longer streams with plenty of water. I caused the mountains of Lebanon to become dark. All the trees in the forest became dry. ¹⁶ The other nations shook when they heard that great tree fall. I had caused it to go down into its grave, deep under the ground, as all people must die. The other strong trees saw what had happened to the great cedar tree. They were the trees of Eden and the best trees of Lebanon that had received plenty of water. They were pleased to see that the great cedar tree had fallen down. ¹⁷ The trees that had lived in the great tree's shade also fell and went into their graves. Those are the nations that had helped the great tree to fight its battles. They went to join other soldiers who had died in war.

¹⁸ Yes, Egypt is very strong, like the great trees of Eden. You are as great and powerful as any nation. But you will fall to the ground and go into your grave. It happened to Assyria and the other nations, and it will happen to you. You will lie under the ground among people who do not belong to me and who have died in war.

This is a picture of what will happen to Pharaoh and all his people. That is what the Almighty Lord says.” ’^[a]

A funeral song for Egypt and its king

32 The Lord gave this message to me on the first day of the 12th month, in the 12th year: ² ‘Son of man, sing a funeral song about Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Say this to him:

³ This is what the Almighty Lord says:

That is what the Almighty Lord says.

¹¹ This is what the Almighty Lord says:

That is what the Almighty Lord says.

¹⁶ That is the funeral song that they will sing about Egypt. Women of many nations will sing it. They will sing it because of the death of Egypt and all her people. That is what the Almighty Lord says.’

¹⁷ In the 12th year, the Lord gave this message to me on the 15th day of the month: ¹⁸ ‘Son of man, weep for the many people of Egypt. Send them down to the place of dead people, deep under the ground. They will be there in their graves with the people of other powerful nations. ¹⁹ Say to them, “You think you are more beautiful than the people of other nations. But you too must go down to lie in your graves among those who do not belong to God.”

²⁰ An enemy has come to attack Egypt! Many of its people will die among the soldiers who die in battle. The enemy will take many of Egypt's people away as their prisoners. ²¹ In the place of dead people, brave soldiers will welcome the people of Egypt and those who helped them. They will say, “They have come down to join us who do not belong to God. They have died in battle and now they lie in their graves.”

²² The people of Assyria and its whole army are there in their graves! All of them died in battle. ²³ Their graves are in the deepest parts of the deep hole of death. Soldiers who fought with them lie all around. They were very cruel to people when they were alive. But they died in battle and now they lie in their graves.

²⁴ The people of Elam and its whole army are also there! All of them died in battle too. They were cruel to many people when they were alive. Now they have gone down deep below the ground, as people who do not belong to God. They are ashamed to join with other people in the deep hole of death. ²⁵ Elam lies there on a bed that people have prepared for her. All Elam's soldiers lie around its grave. None of them belongs to God and they have all died in battle. When they were alive, they made people very afraid. But now they are ashamed, as they lie in their graves among other dead people in the deep hole of death.

²⁶ Meshech and Tubal are also there in their graves, with their soldiers all around. When they were alive, they made people very afraid. Now they have all died in battle and none of them belongs to God. ²⁷ They do not lie with the brave dead soldiers of long ago. Those men went down into their graves with honour. People buried them with their weapons. They put their swords under their heads. When those brave men were alive, they caused people to be very afraid of them.

²⁸ You too, Egypt, will lie in your grave among those who do not belong to God. You will lie beside other people who died in battle.

²⁹ Edom is there, too, with its kings and leaders. They were powerful, but now they lie in their graves, among those who have died in battle. They have gone down into the deep hole of death with those who do not belong to God.

³⁰ All the rulers of the north are there, as well as all the people of Sidon. They used their power to make people very afraid. But now they are ashamed, like other people who have gone down into the deep hole of death. They lie in their graves with those who have died in battle, and they do not belong to God.

³¹ The Almighty Lord says this: Pharaoh will not feel so sad when he sees all these other dead people in their graves. He and his whole army will know that they are not the only people to have died in battle. ³² When he was alive, I caused him to make people very afraid. But Pharaoh and all his great army will lie in their graves among other people who died in battle. They will lie with people who do not belong to God. That is what I, the Almighty Lord, have said.’

We must not refuse to do what God says

¹⁴ Do everything that you can to live in peace with other people. Make yourself separate from bad things. Nobody will see the Lord unless their life is good and clean. ¹⁵ Remember that God is very kind. Nobody should refuse to let God help them. Make sure that nobody among you causes trouble so that people turn against God. A person who is angry against God is like poison. He spoils many other people's lives so that God does not accept them.

¹⁶ Make sure that nobody among you has sex in a wrong way. Be careful that nobody is careless about God's rules, like Esau was long ago.^[a] He gave away everything that he would have received as his father's first son. He gave it all away so that he could get only one meal. ¹⁷ As you know, after that, he still wanted to receive those good things from his father. He wanted his father to ask God to bless him. But his father refused to do that. Esau cried very much when he asked his father to give him those good things. But there was no way that Esau could change what he had done.

A picture of two mountains

¹⁸ You have come near to God. But you have not come to a place that you can touch, like Sinai mountain.^[b] That mountain burned with fire. But where the people stood, it was completely dark. They could not see at all. There was also a very strong wind and a storm. ¹⁹ There was the loud sound of a trumpet. There was a powerful voice that spoke to them. When the people heard that voice, they were very afraid. So they asked that the voice would not speak to them any more. ²⁰ They were very afraid of what God had told them. God had said, ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, you must kill it with stones.’ ²¹ Even Moses was very afraid when he saw God's great power. He said, ‘I am full of fear!’

²² But as believers in Christ, you have not come to God in that way. You have come to Mount Zion.^[c] You have come to the city of the true God who lives. You have come to the city of Jerusalem that is in heaven. There are many thousands of happy angels all together in that place. ²³ All God's people meet together there. They are like his most important sons. They belong in heaven because God has written down their names. You have come to God himself, who will judge all people. You have come to the place where the spirits of God's people are. Those people have become right with God. God has now finished his work in them. ²⁴ You have come to Jesus, who brought the new agreement from God to his people. In that agreement, the blood of Jesus' death makes us clean from our sins. It tells us that God has forgiven us. When Cain killed his brother Abel, Abel's blood brought God's punishment. So we see that Jesus' blood brought us something much better than that.^[d]

²⁵ So be careful! Always be ready to listen when God speaks. God used Moses as his servant on the earth to speak to Israel's people. When they refused to obey, God punished them. They could not get away. As for us, God speaks to us from heaven. So we will certainly not get away from God's punishment if we turn away from him. ²⁶ At Sinai mountain many years ago, God's voice caused the earth to shake. But now God has promised this: ‘Once again I will cause the earth to shake. But this time I will also cause heaven to shake.’ ²⁷ These words, ‘once again,’ show us that God will take away the things that he has made. All things on the earth that he causes to shake will finish. After that, everything that nobody can shake will continue to be there.^[e]

²⁸ But we are receiving a place where we will rule with God. We belong to God's kingdom, and nobody can ever shake that! So we should thank God. We should worship him in a way that makes him happy. He is great, and we should serve him well and respect him. ²⁹ Remember that our God is like a fire. He destroys everything that is not good.

Hallelujah, God helps weak people^[a]

Hallelujah, God does great things^[b]