Ezekiel Chapter 31
Showing all 18 verses for Ezekiel Chapter 31.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, "
"In the eleventh year, on the first day of the third month, the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel."
I mark the moments right before your own turning points too, even when you can't yet see what's coming. Pay close attention to the choices and warnings that arrive just before a crisis - they matter more than they seem to at the time.
"Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness? "
"Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes: Who are you like in your greatness?"
I often ask questions rather than give answers, because a question you sit with and answer yourself changes you more deeply than a fact simply handed to you. Ask yourself honestly who or what you're really like in your own greatest moments of pride.
"Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs. "
"Think of Assyria: it was like a cedar of Lebanon, with beautiful branches, thick shady foliage, and towering height - its top reaching up among the clouds."
I often use other people's stories to help you see truths about your own life you might resist hearing directly. Notice the patterns in other people's rises and falls - they're often mirrors, not just history.
"The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. "
"The waters made him grow great; the deep springs raised him up high, sending their streams all around his roots and channelling their rivers out to all the trees of the field."
I want you to trace your own strengths and blessings back to their real sources - the people, opportunities, and gifts that fed your growth. Gratitude for your roots keeps pride from quietly taking credit for what was actually given.
"Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth. "
"So his height rose above all the other trees of the field; his branches multiplied and grew long, because of the abundant water feeding his growth."
I notice how quickly growth without gratitude tips into excess. When things are going well and expanding fast, pause and stay rooted in humility - it's often exactly when growth is easiest that pride creeps in unnoticed.
"All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow all great nations. "
💡 Highlighted words feature Jacobean 1611 tooltips to clarify shifted 17th-century English terms.
"All the birds of the sky nested in his branches, all the wild animals gave birth under his boughs, and all the great nations lived in his shade."
If you have influence or resources that others depend on, I want you to see that as a genuine gift to steward well, not just a personal achievement to protect. Real strength is measured by how well it shelters others, not by how tall it stands alone.
"Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters. "
"He was truly beautiful in his greatness, in the length of his branches, because his roots reached down to abundant water."
I never ask you to shrink your genuine gifts or achievements out of false humility. Own your real greatness honestly - the danger isn't the gift itself, but forgetting where it came from.
"The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. "
"Even the cedars in the garden of God could not rival him; the pine trees could not compare to his boughs, and the plane trees couldn't match his branches - no tree in the garden of God was as beautiful as he was."
I want you to notice how easy it is to be genuinely, remarkably good at something and still lose your way through it. Extraordinary gifts carry extraordinary responsibility to stay grounded - the higher the branch, the more it matters to keep the roots in view.
"I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him. "
"I made him beautiful with abundant branches, so that all the trees of Eden, in the garden of God, envied him."
I delight in making you genuinely beautiful, gifted, remarkable - I'm not stingy with good things. All I ask in return is that you remember where they came from, because forgetting the giver is what quietly poisons a gift.
"Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; "
"Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you lifted yourself up in height, shooting your top up among the thick branches, and your heart grew proud in your loftiness -"
I look at your heart's response to your own success far more than at the success itself. You can be tall, gifted, accomplished, and still keep a humble heart - that combination is exactly what I'm hoping to see in you.
"I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness. "
"I have handed him over to the mightiest of the nations, who will deal with him as his wickedness deserves - I have driven him out."
I want you to hold your own power, whatever form it takes, with the awareness that there's always something greater than you. That awareness isn't meant to frighten you - it's meant to keep you humble, connected, and safe from the isolation that unchecked pride creates.
"And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him. "
"Foreigners, the most ruthless of nations, cut him down and abandoned him; his branches fell across the mountains and every valley, his boughs lay broken by all the rivers of the land, and all the peoples of the earth walked away from his shadow and left him."
I want your relationships and loyalties to run deeper than what someone can currently provide you. Be the kind of person who stays present with others through their falls too, not only while they're flourishing - that loyalty is worth more than any shelter you could offer while standing tall.
"Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches: "
"On his fallen ruins the birds of the sky will settle, and the wild animals will be among his branches."
I don't want your sense of worth built on things that are, in the end, indifferent to you - status, reputation, other people's need of you. Build your identity on something that holds steady whether you're flourishing or fallen: your honesty, your love, your relationship with truth itself.
"To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit. "
"This is so that no other trees by the water will exalt themselves for their height, or lift their tops among the thick branches, or stand proud in their loftiness, however well-watered they are - because they are all destined for death, for the depths of the earth, among mortal men, with those who go down to the pit."
I want death and limitation to make you humble, not despairing - the fact that we're all mortal is actually the great leveller that should keep pride in check and compassion alive between us. Let your own limits keep you grounded and connected to everyone else who shares them.
"Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him. "
"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day he went down to the grave, I caused mourning - I covered over the deep waters for him, held back its rivers, and stopped the great waters; I made Lebanon mourn for him, and all the trees of the field wilted in grief for him."
I never celebrate anyone's downfall, even a deserved one. When you see someone fall from a position of pride, let your first response be sorrow for the loss rather than satisfaction at the justice - that's the difference between judgement and cruelty.
"I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth. "
"I made the nations tremble at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to the grave with those who go down to the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, all the well-watered ones, were comforted in the depths of the earth."
I know that even hard, humbling experiences become more bearable when you're not facing them alone. If you're going through a fall or a loss right now, seek out others who understand it rather than isolating yourself in shame - shared burdens really are lighter.
"They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that under his shadow in the midst of the heathen. "
💡 Highlighted words feature Jacobean 1611 tooltips to clarify shifted 17th-century English terms.
"They also went down to the grave with him, to those slain by the sword - those who had been his strength, who lived under his shadow among the nations."
I want you to think carefully about what you're attaching your fortunes to, because you will likely share its fate, for better or worse. Choose what and whom you build your life around wisely and with your eyes open.
"To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD. "
"Who are you like in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet you too will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the depths of the earth; you will lie among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Sovereign LORD."
I want every story I tell you to eventually become personal - not just an interesting tale about someone else's downfall, but a mirror for your own life. Ask yourself honestly, as this chapter asks Pharaoh: who, or what, are you really like in your own proudest moments?