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Ezekiel 32: Down to the Pit

In a final lament, Pharaoh the sea-monster is netted, the heavens darken over him, and Egypt is laid in the grave among the fallen nations.

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Ezekiel 32 (WEB)

1 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,

2 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; and you broke out with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.

3 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will spread out my net on you with a company of many peoples; and they shall bring you up in my net.

4 I will leave you on the land, I will cast you out on the open field, and will cause all the birds of the sky to settle on you, and I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth with you.

5 I will lay your flesh on the mountains, and fill the valleys with your height.

6 I will also water with your blood the land in which you swim, even to the mountains; and the watercourses shall be full of you.

7 When I shall extinguish you, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.

8 All the bright lights of the sky will I make dark over you, and set darkness on your land, says the Lord Yahweh.

9 I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I shall bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known.

10 Yes, I will make many peoples amazed at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for you, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of your fall.

11 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come on you.

12 By the swords of the mighty will I cause your multitude to fall; the terrible of the nations are they all: and they shall bring to nothing the pride of Egypt, and all its multitude shall be destroyed.

13 I will destroy also all its animals from beside many waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of animals trouble them.

14 Then will I make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, says the Lord Yahweh.

15 When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate and waste, a land destitute of that of which it was full, when I shall strike all those who dwell therein, then shall they know that I am Yahweh.

16 This is the lamentation with which they shall lament; the daughters of the nations shall lament therewith; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they lament therewith, says the Lord Yahweh.

17 Also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,

18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit.

19 Whom do you pass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised.

20 They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword; draw her away and all her multitudes.

21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with those who help him: they are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.

22 Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are all around her; all of them slain, fallen by the sword;

23 whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living.

24 There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit.

25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude; her graves are around her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of those who are slain.

26 There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude; their graves are around them; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living.

27 They shall not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who have gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are on their bones; for they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

28 But you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shall lie with those who are slain by the sword.

29 There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who in their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the pit.

30 There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who are gone down with the slain; in the terror which they caused by their might they are put to shame; and they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, says the Lord Yahweh.

32 For I have put his terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord Yahweh.

Summary

The series of oracles against Egypt closes with two laments over Pharaoh. He thought himself a young lion among the nations, but he is really a thrashing monster of the seas, troubling the waters. So the Lord will spread his net over him with a host of peoples, haul him up, and fling him on the open field as food for the birds and beasts. The imagery turns cosmic: when God extinguishes Pharaoh, he will darken the heavens, the stars, the sun, and the moon, casting the whole land into mourning. The sword of the king of Babylon will come, the pride of Egypt will be broken, and her noisy multitude will fall silent. The second lament is a descent into the realm of the dead. Pharaoh and his multitude are sent down to the pit to join the fallen nations already there—Assyria, Elam, Meshech and Tubal, Edom, the princes of the north, and the Sidonians—all the once-terrifying powers now lying still among the slain. There Pharaoh finds grim company; he is comforted, in a dark sense, to discover that he shares the grave of every empire that once spread terror in the land of the living.

Key Figures

  • Yahweh (the LORD) — The God who nets the monster Pharaoh, darkens the heavens over Egypt, and consigns the proud nation to the pit among the fallen.
  • Pharaoh — The king of Egypt who thought himself a lion but is the thrashing sea-monster, hauled up in God's net and laid low among the slain.
  • Egypt's multitude — The vast people and army of Egypt whose pride is broken, who fall by the sword and are sent down to the lower parts of the earth.
  • The fallen nations — Assyria, Elam, Meshech and Tubal, Edom, and others already in the pit, the company of empires that once spread terror and now lie still.

Key Verse

Ezekiel 32:2 (WEB)

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; and you broke out with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.

Lessons Learned

  • Our inflated self-image looks very different in the light of God's truth.
  • The pride of even the greatest power ends in silence and the grave.
  • Every empire that spread terror in the land of the living finally lies still in the pit.
  • Reflecting on death and judgment is meant to humble us and turn us to the living God.
  • God sees us as we truly are. Pharaoh fancied himself “a young lion,” but he is “as a monster in the seas” fouling the waters (Ezekiel 32:2, WEB). God's word strips away our flattering self-image.
  • No one escapes God's net. “I will spread out my net on you… and they shall bring you up in my net” (Ezekiel 32:3, WEB). The proud cannot thrash their way free of the Lord's judgment.
  • Earthly terror ends in the grave. Pharaoh joins those “who caused their terror in the land of the living” and now lie slain (Ezekiel 32:25-26, WEB). The dread the mighty inspire is undone by death.
  • The pit levels every empire. Pharaoh “shall be comforted over all his multitude” among the fallen nations (Ezekiel 32:31, WEB). Death is the great equalizer that humbles all human pride.
  1. How does the contrast between a “young lion” and a thrashing “monster in the seas” expose Pharaoh's self-image?
  2. What is the effect of the cosmic darkening imagery in verses 7-8?
  3. Why does the lament catalogue so many other fallen nations already in the pit?
  4. What does it mean that Pharaoh is “comforted” to find such company in death (32:31)?
  5. How does meditating on the end of all earthly pride change the way you live today?
  1. Pharaoh imagines himself a noble, dominant lion, but God names him a churning monster who only muddies the waters (32:2). The contrast punctures his self-flattery and reveals that what he counts as majestic power is, in truth, destructive and chaotic in God's sight.
  2. Darkening the sun, moon, and stars (32:7-8) signals that the fall of Egypt is no ordinary event but a world-shaking act of God. The cosmic language conveys how total the judgment is and how seriously God takes the pride of nations, echoing the imagery of the day of the Lord.
  3. Listing Assyria, Elam, Edom, and the rest (32:22-30) shows that Egypt is simply the latest in a long line of terrifying powers now lying still in the grave. The roll call drives home that no empire is exempt; all proud strength ends in the same silent place.
  4. It is a grim, ironic comfort: Pharaoh's only consolation is that he is not alone, that every other dreaded power shares his fate (32:31). Help the group feel the hollowness of this—worldly greatness offers no real hope at the end, only company in ruin, which points us to seek life beyond the pit in God.
  5. This is a gentle personal-application question. Invite members to consider how the certainty of death and the leveling of all human pride reorders their priorities. Encourage them to invest in what lasts—knowing and serving God—and to hold loosely the status and power the world prizes.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), the King James Version (KJV), and the American Standard Version (ASV), all of which are in the public domain.