Ezekiel 31:3

¹ In the eleventh year, on the first day of the third month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

² “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: ‘Who can be compared to your greatness?

Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds.

⁴ The waters made it grow; the deep springs made it tall, directing their streams all around its base and sending their channels to all the trees of the field.

⁵ Therefore it towered higher than all the trees of the field. Its branches multiplied, and its boughs grew long as it spread them out because of the abundant waters.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds.
KJV: 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.
WEB: Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches, and with a forest-like shade, of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs.
ASV: Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a forest-like shade, and of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs.
DARBY: Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature: and his top was amidst the thick boughs.
BLB: Behold, Assyria [was] a cedar in Lebanon, beautiful of branches and giving shade to the forest and high of stature, and among the clouds was its top.

ÅB: Se, Assur var en seder på Libanon med fagre greiner, en skyggende skog og høy av vekst, og hans krone nådde opp mellom skyene.
OTB: Se, Assyria var som en seder på Libanon,
med vakre grener som ga skygge til skogen,
og ruvet høyt,
dens topp blant skyene.
B1930: Se, Assur var en seder på Libanon med fagre grener, en skyggende skog og høi av vekst, og hans krone nådde op mellem skyene.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Isaiah 10:33–34
Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled.
Read in context
Daniel 4:20–23
The tree you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached the sky and was visible to all the earth,
Read in context
Daniel 4:10
In these visions of my mind as I was lying in bed, I saw this come to pass: There was a tree in the midst of the land, and its height was great.
Read in context
Ezekiel 17:3–4
and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers of many colors, came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar.
Read in context
Judges 9:15
But the thornbush replied, ‘If you really are anointing me as king over you, come and find refuge in my shade. But if not, may fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’
Read in context
Ezekiel 17:22
This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take a shoot from the lofty top of the cedar, and I will set it out. I will pluck a tender sprig from its topmost shoots, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
Read in context
Daniel 4:12
Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit was abundant, and upon it was food for all. Under it the beasts of the field found shelter, in its branches the birds of the air nested, and from it every creature was fed.
Read in context
Ezekiel 31:16
I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend to the Pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, all the well-watered trees, were consoled in the earth below.
Read in context