Ezekiel 28:4

Yahweh says, “Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom. Don’t let the mighty man glory in his might. Don’t let the rich man glory in his riches.

The rich man’s wealth is his strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty.

In that day, Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan the twisted serpent; and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea.

‘Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him, “You were likened to a young lion of the nations; yet you are as a monster in the seas. You broke out with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.”

The land of Egypt will be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am Yahweh. “ ‘ “Because he has said, ‘The river is mine, and I have made it;’

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

I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more. The children of wickedness will not afflict them any more, as at the first,

When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, arose, and went home, to his city, and set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.

So David assembled all Israel together, from the Shihor the brook of Egypt even to the entrance of Hamath, to bring God’s ark from Kiriath Jearim.

and he said, “Listen, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, king Jehoshaphat. Yahweh says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, and don’t be dismayed because of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

He sees everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride.”

You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

Unless Yahweh builds the house, they who build it labor in vain. Unless Yahweh watches over the city, the watchman guards it in vain.

I turned myself to consider wisdom, madness, and folly; for what can the king’s successor do? Just that which has been done long ago.

The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness—and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.

I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God has done it, that men should fear before him.

I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of those who were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.

Then I saw all the labor and achievement that is the envy of a man’s neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Consider the work of God, for who can make that straight, which he has made crooked?

Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh! Awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Isn’t it you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the monster?

Now what do you gain by going to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? Or why do you to go on the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?

Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy, and sought his life.’ ”

“Don’t let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape. In the north by the river Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen.

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

All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he does according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and no one can stop his hand, or ask him, “What are you doing?”

Flight will perish from the swift; and the strong won’t strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver himself;

Then he sweeps by like the wind, and goes on. He is indeed guilty, whose strength is his god.”

By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, that you may win.

We were also assigned an inheritance in him, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who does all things after the counsel of his will,

for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

In the course of those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.

“When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Perform a miracle!’ then you shall tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent.’ ”

Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he is going out to the water. You shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. You shall take the rod which was turned to a serpent in your hand.

and lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.”

For the land, where you go in to possess isn’t like the land of Egypt that you came out of, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs;

Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For Yahweh had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Yahweh might bring evil on Absalom.

These four were born to the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

The king of Israel answered, “Tell him, ‘Don’t let him who puts on his armor brag like he who takes it off.’ ”

They each killed his man. The Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. Ben Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen.

The children of Israel were mustered and given provisions, and went against them. The children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of young goats; but the Syrians filled the country.

As he was telling the king how he had restored to life him who was dead, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, begged the king for her house and for her land. Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.”

Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and spoke, saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.

I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more. The children of wickedness will not waste them any more, as at the first,

These were born to the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

But if you will go, take action, and be strong for the battle. God will overthrow you before the enemy; for God has power to help, and to overthrow.”

When he gives quietness, who then can condemn? When he hides his face, who then can see him? He is over a nation or a man alike,

Therefore men revere him. He doesn’t regard any who are wise of heart.”

May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that boasts,

A horse is a vain thing for safety, neither does he deliver any by his great power.

You drove out the nations with your hand, but you planted them. You afflicted the peoples, but you spread them abroad.

though you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals, and covered us with the shadow of death.

Rebuke the wild animal of the reeds, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the peoples. Being humbled, may it bring bars of silver. Scatter the nations that delight in war.

You, even you, are to be feared. Who can stand in your sight when you are angry?

They are planted in Yahweh’s house. They will flourish in our God’s courts.

He doesn’t delight in the strength of the horse. He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.

The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, like an unscalable wall in his own imagination.

The horse is prepared for the day of battle; but victory is with Yahweh.

I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.

For he has said, “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding. I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures. Like a valiant man I have brought down their rulers.

You said in your heart, “I will ascend into heaven! I will exalt my throne above the stars of God! I will sit on the mountain of assembly, in the far north!

The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, and all the sown fields of the Nile, will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.

On great waters, the seed of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue. She was the market of nations.

Who has planned this against Tyre, the giver of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the honorable of the earth?

He has stretched out his hand over the sea. He has shaken the kingdoms. Yahweh has ordered the destruction of Canaan’s strongholds.

Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send out the feet of the ox and the donkey.

By your servants, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon. I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees. I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field.

Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall;

You said, ‘I will be a princess forever,’ so that you didn’t lay these things to your heart, nor did you remember the results.

Egypt rises up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers. He says, ‘I will rise up. I will cover the earth. I will destroy cities and its inhabitants.’

They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he has let the appointed time pass by.’

“How do you say, ‘We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war?’

“Behold, I am against you, you proud one,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies; “for your day has come, the time that I will visit you.

Yahweh’s Spirit fell on me, and he said to me, “Speak, ‘Yahweh says: “Thus you have said, house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind.

When your wares went out of the seas, you filled many peoples. You enriched the kings of the earth with the multitude of your riches and of your merchandise.

“Son of man, tell the prince of Tyre, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the middle of the seas;’ yet you are man, and not God, though you set your heart as the heart of God—

behold, you are wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that is hidden from you;

by your great wisdom and by your trading you have increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches—”

and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I am against you, Sidon. I will be glorified among you. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I have executed judgments in her, and am sanctified in her.

Speak and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the middle of his rivers, that has said, ‘My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.’

The king spoke and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?”

but have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. You have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which don’t see, or hear, or know; and you have not glorified the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways.

You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, for you trusted in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men.

Because you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my finest treasures into your temples,

I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them,” says Yahweh your God.

Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by him.

Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious, and his food is good.

The beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.

They worshiped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”

I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon.

I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, something like frogs;

He seized the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years,

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.”