Lamentation over the Pharaoh of Egypt (Ezek 32:1-32:2)

“In the twelfth year,

In the twelfth month,

On the first day

Of the month,

The word of Yahweh

Came to me.

‘Son of man!

Raise a lamentation

Over Pharaoh,

King of Egypt!

Say to him!

‘You consider yourself

A lion

Among the nations.

But you are

Like a dragon

In the seas.

You trash about

In your streams.

You trouble the water

With your feet.

You foul

Your streams.’”

Once again there is another oracle of Yahweh to Ezekiel, the son of man, with a specific date, the 1^st day of the 12^th month of the 12^th year of King Zedekiah, 585 BCE. Yahweh wanted Ezekiel to present a lamentation over the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. In fact, Ezekiel was to speak to him with these exact words that Yahweh was giving him. How he was going to do this is not clear. Although the king of Egypt considered himself a lion among nations, he was rather a sea monster dragon in the water, trashing around with his feet in small streams, polluting the water. In other words, the Pharaoh was not as important as he thought that he was.