30¹ And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying: ² 'Son of man, prophesy, and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Howl ye, ha! for the day! ³ For near 'is' a day, near 'is' a day to Jehovah! A day of clouds, the time of nations it is. ⁴ And come in hath a sword to Egypt, And there hath been great pain in Cush, In the falling of the wounded in Egypt, And they have taken its store, And broken down have been its foundations. ⁵ Cush, and Phut, and Lud, and all the mixture, and Chub, And the sons of the land of the covenant with them by sword do fall, ⁶ Thus said Jehovah: And—fallen have supporters of Egypt, And come down hath the arrogance of her strength, From Migdol to Syene, by sword they fall in her, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. ⁷ And they have been desolated in the midst of desolate lands, And its cities are in the midst of wasted cities. ⁸ And they have known that I 'am' Jehovah, In My giving fire against Egypt, And broken have been all her helpers. ⁹ In that day go forth do messengers from before Me in ships, To trouble confident Cush, And there hath been great pain among them, As the day of Egypt, for lo, it hath come. ¹⁰ Thus said the Lord Jehovah: I have caused the multitude of Egypt to cease, By the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, ¹¹ He and his people with him—the terrible of nations, Are brought in to destroy the land, And they have drawn their swords against Egypt, And have filled the land 'with' the wounded. ¹² And I have made floods a dry place, And I have sold the land into the hand of evil doers, And I have made desolate the land, And its fulness, by the hand of strangers, I, Jehovah, have spoken. ¹³ Thus said the Lord Jehovah: And—I have destroyed idols, And caused vain things to cease from Noph, And a prince of the land of Egypt there is no more, And I give fear in the land of Egypt. ¹⁴ And I have made Pathros desolate, And I have given fire against Zoan, And I have done judgments in No, ¹⁵ And I have poured out My fury on Sin, the stronghold of Egypt, And I have cut off the multitude of No. ¹⁶ And I have given fire against Egypt, Greatly pained is Sin, and No is to be rent, And Noph hath daily distresses. ¹⁷ The youths of Aven and Pi-Beseth by sword do fall, And these into captivity do go. ¹⁸ And in Tehaphnehes hath the day been dark, In My breaking there the yokes of Egypt, And ceased in her hath the excellency of her strength, She—a cloud doth cover her, And her daughters into captivity do go. ¹⁹ And I have done judgments in Egypt, And they have known that I 'am' Jehovah.'

²⁰ And it cometh to pass, in the eleventh year, in the first 'month', in the seventh of the month, hath a word of Jehovah been unto me, saying: 'Son of man, ²¹ The arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, I have broken, And lo, it hath not been bound up to give healing, To put a bandage to bind it, To strengthen it—to lay hold on the sword. ²² Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I 'am' against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, And I have broken his arms, The strong one and the broken one, And have caused the sword to fall out of his hand, ²³ And scattered the Egyptians among nations, And I have spread them through lands, ²⁴ And strengthened the arms of the king of Babylon, And I have given My sword into his hand, And I have broken the arms of Pharaoh, And he hath groaned the groans of a pierced one—before him. ²⁵ And I have strengthened the arms of the king of Babylon, And the arms of Pharaoh do fall down, And they have known that I 'am' Jehovah, In My giving My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, And he hath stretched it out toward the land of Egypt. ²⁶ And I have scattered the Egyptians among nations, And I have spread them through lands, And they have known that I 'am' Jehovah!'

31¹ And it cometh to pass, in the eleventh year, in the third 'month', in the first of the month, hath a word of Jehovah been unto me, saying: ² 'Son of man, say unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and unto his multitude: To whom hast thou been like in thy greatness? ³ Lo, Asshur, a cedar in Lebanon, Fair in branch, and shading bough, and high in stature, And between thickets hath its foliage been. ⁴ Waters have made it great, The deep hath exalted him with its flowings, Going round about its planting, And its conduits it hath sent forth unto all trees of the field. ⁵ Therefore higher hath been his stature than all trees of the field, And multiplied are his boughs, and long are his branches, Because of many waters in his shooting forth, ⁶ In his boughs made a nest hath every fowl of the heavens, And under his branches brought forth hath every beast of the field, And in his shade dwell do all great nations. ⁷ And he is fair in his greatness, In the length of his thin shoots, For his root hath been by great waters. ⁸ Cedars have not hid him in the garden of God, Firs have not been like unto his boughs, And chesnut-trees have not been as his branches, No tree in the garden of God hath been like unto him in his beauty, ⁹ Fair I have made him in the multitude of his thin shoots, And envy him do all trees of Eden that 'are' in the garden of God.

¹⁰ Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because that thou hast been high in stature, And he yieldeth his foliage between thickets, And high is his heart in his haughtiness, ¹¹ I give him into the hand of a god of nations, He dealeth sorely with him, In his wickedness I have cast him out. ¹² And cut him off do strangers, The terrible of nations, and they leave him, On the mountains and in all valleys have his thin shoots fallen, And broken are his boughs at all streams of the land, And go down from his shade do all peoples of the land, and they leave him. ¹³ On his ruin dwell do all fowls of the heavens, And on his boughs have been all the beasts of the field, ¹⁴ In order that none of the trees of the waters May become haughty because of their stature, Nor give their foliage between thickets, Nor any drinking waters stand up unto them in their haughtiness, For all of them are given up to death, Unto the earth—the lower part, In the midst of the sons of men, Unto those going down to the pit. ¹⁵ Thus said the Lord Jehovah: In the day of his going down to sheol I have caused mourning, I have covered for him the deep, and diminish its flowings, And restrained are many waters, And I make Lebanon black for him, And all trees of the field have been covered for him. ¹⁶ From the sound of his fall I have caused nations to shake, In My causing him to go down to sheol, With those going down to the pit, And comforted in the earth—the lower part, are all trees of Eden, The choice and the good of Lebanon, All drinking waters. ¹⁷ Also they with him have gone down to sheol, Unto the pierced of the sword, And—his arm—they dwelt in his shade in the midst of nations. ¹⁸ Unto whom hast thou been thus like, In honour and in greatness among the trees of Eden, And thou hast been brought down with the trees of Eden, Unto the earth—the lower part, In the midst of the uncircumcised thou liest, With the pierced of the sword? It 'is' Pharaoh, and all his multitude, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'

32¹ And it cometh to pass, in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first of the month, hath a word of Jehovah been unto me, saying, ² 'Son of man, lift up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and thou hast said unto him: A young lion of nations thou hast been like, And thou 'art' as a dragon in the seas, And thou comest forth with thy flowings, And dost trouble the waters with thy feet, And thou dost foul their flowings. ³ Thus said the Lord Jehovah: And—I have spread out for thee My net, With an assembly of many peoples, And they have brought thee up in My net. ⁴ And I have left thee in the land, On the face of the field I do cast thee out, And have caused to dwell upon thee every fowl of the heavens, And have satisfied out of thee the beasts of the whole earth. ⁵ And I have put thy flesh on the mountains, And filled the valleys 'with' thy hugeness, ⁶ And watered the land with thy flowing, From thy blood—unto the mountains, And streams are filled from thee. ⁷ And in quenching thee I have covered the heavens, And have made black their stars, The sun with a cloud I do cover, And the moon causeth not its light to shine. ⁸ All luminaries of light in the heavens, I make black over thee, And I have given darkness over thy land, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, ⁹ And I have vexed the heart of many peoples, In My bringing in thy destruction among nations, Unto lands that thou hast not known. ¹⁰ And I have made many peoples astonished at thee, And their kings are afraid at thee with trembling, In My brandishing My sword before their faces, And they have trembled every moment, Each for his life—in the day of thy fall. ¹¹ For thus said the Lord Jehovah: A sword of the king of Babylon entereth thee, ¹² By swords of the mighty I cause thy multitude to fall, The terrible of nations—all of them, And they have spoiled the excellency of Egypt, And destroyed hath been all her multitude. ¹³ And I have destroyed all her beasts, From beside many waters, And trouble them not doth a foot of man any more, Yea, the hoofs of beasts trouble them not. ¹⁴ Then do I cause their waters to sink, And their rivers as oil I cause to go, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. ¹⁵ In My making the land of Egypt a desolation, And desolated hath been the land of its fulness, In My smiting all the inhabitants in it, And they have known that I 'am' Jehovah. ¹⁶ A lamentation it 'is', and they have lamented her, Daughters of the nations do lament her, For Egypt, and for all her multitude, they lament her, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.'

¹⁷ And it cometh to pass, in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth of the month, hath a word of Jehovah been unto me, saying, ¹⁸ 'Son of man, Wail for the multitude of Egypt, And cause it to go down, It—and the daughters of honourable nations, Unto the earth—the lower parts, With those going down to the pit. ¹⁹ Than whom hast thou been more pleasant? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised. ²⁰ In the midst of the pierced of the sword they fall, 'To' the sword she hath been given, They drew her out, and all her multitude. ²¹ Speak to him do the gods of the mighty out of the midst of sheol, With his helpers—they have gone down, They have lain with the uncircumcised, The pierced of the sword. ²² There 'is' Asshur, and all her assembly, Round about him 'are' his graves, All of them 'are' wounded, who are falling by sword, ²³ Whose graves are appointed in the sides of the pit, And her assembly is round about her grave, All of them wounded, falling by sword, Because they gave terror in the land of the living. ²⁴ There 'is' Elam, and all her multitude, Round about 'is' her grave, All of them wounded, who are falling by sword, Who have gone down uncircumcised unto the earth—the lower parts, Because they gave their terror in the land of the living, And they bear their shame with those going down to the pit. ²⁵ In the midst of the wounded they have appointed a bed for her with all her multitude, Round about him 'are' her graves, All of them uncircumcised, pierced of the sword, For their terror was given in the land of the living, And they bear their shame with those going down to the pit, In the midst of the pierced he hath been put. ²⁶ There 'is' Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude, Round about him 'are' her graves, All of them uncircumcised, pierced of the sword, For they gave their terror in the land of the living, ²⁷ And they lie not with the mighty, Who are falling of the uncircumcised, Who have gone down to sheol with their weapons of war, And they put their swords under their heads, And their iniquities are on their bones, For the terror of the mighty 'is' in the land of the living. ²⁸ And thou, in the midst of the uncircumcised art broken, And dost lie with the pierced of the sword. ²⁹ There 'is' Edom, her kings, and all her princes, Who have been given up in their might, With the pierced of the sword, They with the uncircumcised do lie, And with those going down to the pit. ³⁰ There 'are' princes of the north, All of them, and every Zidonian, Who have gone down with the pierced in their terror, Of their might they are ashamed, And they lie uncircumcised with the pierced of the sword, And they bear their shame with those going down to the pit. ³¹ Then doth Pharaoh see, And he hath been comforted for all his multitude, The pierced of the sword—Pharaoh and all his force, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. ³² For I have given his terror in the land of the living, And he hath been laid down in the midst of the uncircumcised, With the pierced of the sword—Pharaoh, and all his multitude, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'

Good Stewards of God's Grace

4¹ Christ, then, having suffered for us in the flesh, ye also with the same mind arm yourselves, because he who did suffer in the flesh hath done with sin, ² no more in the desires of men, but in the will of God, to live the rest of the time in the flesh; ³ for sufficient to us 'is' the past time of life the will of the nations to have wrought, having walked in lasciviousnesses, desires, excesses of wines, revelings, drinking-bouts, and unlawful idolatries,

⁴ in which they think it strange—your not running with them to the same excess of dissoluteness, speaking evil, ⁵ who shall give an account to Him who is ready to judge living and dead, ⁶ for for this also to dead men was good news proclaimed, that they may be judged, indeed, according to men in the flesh, and may live according to God in the spirit.

⁷ And of all things the end hath come nigh; be sober-minded, then, and watch unto the prayers, ⁸ and, before all things, to one another having the earnest love, because the love shall cover a multitude of sins; ⁹ hospitable to one another, without murmuring; ¹⁰ each, according as he received a gift, to one another ministering it, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God; ¹¹ if any one doth speak—'as oracles of God;' if any one doth minister—'as of the ability which God doth supply;' that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory and the power—to the ages of the ages. Amen.

Suffering as a Christian

¹² Beloved, think it not strange at the fiery suffering among you that is coming to try you, as if a strange thing were happening to you, ¹³ but, according as ye have fellowship with the sufferings of the Christ, rejoice ye, that also in the revelation of his glory ye may rejoice—exulting; ¹⁴ if ye be reproached in the name of Christ—happy 'are ye', because the Spirit of glory and of God upon you doth rest; in regard, indeed, to them, he is evil-spoken of, and in regard to you, he is glorified; ¹⁵ for let none of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evil-doer, or as an inspector into other men's matters; ¹⁶ and if as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; and let him glorify God in this respect; ¹⁷ because it is the time of the beginning of the judgment from the house of God, and if first from us, what the end of those disobedient to the good news of God? ¹⁸ And if the righteous man is scarcely saved, the ungodly and sinner—where shall he appear? ¹⁹ so that also those suffering according to the will of god, as to a stedfast Creator, let them commit their own souls in good doing.