📖 Ezekiel — Chapter 31 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Ezekiel 31:1 And it came to pass Rin the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Ezekiel 31:2 Son of man, Rspeak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?
Ezekiel 31:3 Behold, Rthe Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon Twith fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.
Ezekiel 31:4 The Rwaters Tmade him great, the deep Tset him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent her Tlittle rivers unto all the trees of the field.
Ezekiel 31:5 Therefore Rhis 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, Twhen he shot forth.
Ezekiel 31:6 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 dwelt all great nations.
Ezekiel 31:7 Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.
Ezekiel 31:8 The Rcedars 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.
Ezekiel 31:9 I have Rmade him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.
Ezekiel 31:10 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; RBecause 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;
Ezekiel 31:11 I have therefore Rdelivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; The shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.
Ezekiel 31:12 And Rstrangers, 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.
Ezekiel 31:13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:
Ezekiel 31:14 To Rthe 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 Ttheir 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.
Ezekiel 31:15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave RI 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 Tto mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.
Ezekiel 31:16 I Rmade 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.
Ezekiel 31:17 They also Rwent down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.
Ezekiel 31:18 To whom Rart 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.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Ezekiel 31:1–6 — A great cedar illustrates imperial power
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Pharaoh is asked whom he resembles in greatness, and Assyria is portrayed as a towering cedar. Waters sustain its growth while birds, beasts, and nations find shelter beneath its spreading branches.
Key Truth: Recognize the reach and dependence of powerful rule.
Check What You Remember
1. Complete the KJV wording: “And it ____ to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, …” (Ezekiel 31:1)
Find it in Ezekiel 31:1 (KJV).
2. Complete the KJV wording: “The ____ made him great, the deep set him up on high …” (Ezekiel 31:4)
Find it in Ezekiel 31:4 (KJV).
3. Complete the KJV wording: “All the ____ of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under …” (Ezekiel 31:6)
Find it in Ezekiel 31:6 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Ezekiel 31:7–12 — Greatness becomes pride and the tree falls
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The cedar’s beauty is described through garden imagery, but its lifted heart brings judgment. Foreign powers cut it down, breaking its branches and driving sheltered peoples away.
Key Truth: Do not let received greatness become self-exaltation.
Check What You Remember
1. Complete the KJV wording: “____ was he fair in his greatness, in the length of …” (Ezekiel 31:7)
Find it in Ezekiel 31:7 (KJV).
2. Complete the KJV wording: “… shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his ____ is lifted up in his height;” (Ezekiel 31:10)
Find it in Ezekiel 31:10 (KJV).
3. Complete the KJV wording: “And ____ , the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, …” (Ezekiel 31:12)
Find it in Ezekiel 31:12 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Ezekiel 31:13–18 — The descent warns Pharaoh
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The fallen tree becomes a warning against proud height, and the imagery follows it down to the grave. The ending applies the comparison directly to Pharaoh and his multitude.
Key Truth: Learn humility from the collapse of earlier powers.
Check What You Remember
1. Complete the KJV wording: “Upon his ____ shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all …” (Ezekiel 31:13)
Find it in Ezekiel 31:13 (KJV).
2. Complete the KJV wording: “I ____ the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, …” (Ezekiel 31:16)
Find it in Ezekiel 31:16 (KJV).
3. Complete the KJV wording: “To ____ art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among …” (Ezekiel 31:18)
Find it in Ezekiel 31:18 (KJV).
Related Scripture (KJV)
Daniel 4:14 — Daniel also records a great tree cut down in a royal warning.
This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.
Reflect and Apply
What responsibility should lead you to humility rather than pride?
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. Which summary best distinguishes Ezekiel 31:1–6 (A great cedar illustrates imperial power) from the chapter’s other sections?
2. Which summary best distinguishes Ezekiel 31:7–12 (Greatness becomes pride and the tree falls) from the chapter’s other sections?
3. Which summary best distinguishes Ezekiel 31:13–18 (The descent warns Pharaoh) from the chapter’s other sections?
4. What turns the great tree’s stature into a warning?
5. How is the cedar account explicitly applied at its close?
Notes
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