Ezekiel 26:1–27:36

Ezekiel Prophesies Against Tyre

26And it was in the eleventh^a year, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^{b 2}“Son of man,^c because^d Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Ah! The gates of the peoples are broken; it has swung open to me; I shall be filled, for it lies in ruins!’ ³Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! I am against you, Tyre, and I will bring up against you many nations like the stirring up of the sea stirring up its waves.^{e 4}And I will destroy the walls of Tyre, and they will demolish its towers, and I will scrape away its earthen dirt from it, and I will make it into a bare rock.^{f 5}It will become a place for spreading out dragnets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken,’ declares^g the Lord Yahweh. ‘And it will become as plunder for the nations, ⁶and its daughters who are in the field with the sword, they will be killed; and they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”

⁷For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am bringing to Tyre Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, from the north, the king of kings, with horse and with chariot and with horsemen and his assembly and many people. ⁸Your daughters he will kill in the field with the sword, and he will place^h against you siege works, and he will build against you a siege ramp, and he will raise against you a shield, ⁹and the thrust of his battering ram he will direct against your walls, and your towers he will break down with his weapons. ¹⁰From the abundance of his horses he will cover you with their fine dust; at the sound of horseman and wheel and chariot your walls will shake, at his coming into your gates like the entrance of a city that is being broken through. ¹¹With the hooves of his horses he will trample all of your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your strong stone pillarsⁱ will tumble down to the earth. ¹²And they will plunder your wealth, and they will loot your merchandise, and they will break down your walls, and the houses of your delight they will break down, and your stones and your timbers and your earthen dirt they will cast into the midst of the water. ¹³And, I will put an end to the noise of your songs, and the sound of your lyres will not be heard any longer. ¹⁴And I will make you into a bare rock,^j a place for the spreading out of dragnets. You will not be built again, for I, Yahweh, I have spoken,” declares^k the Lord Yahweh.

¹⁵Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Tyre, “Will not the coastlands shake from the sound of your downfall, at the groaning of the wounded, at people being killed^l in the midst of you? ¹⁶And all the princes of the sea will go down from their thrones, and they will remove their robes, and their beautiful garments^m of finished cloth they will take off. With terror they will be clothed, and on the ground they will sit, and they will tremble continually,ⁿ and they will be appalled over you. ¹⁷And they will raise a lament over you, and they will say to you,

‘How you have been lost who was inhabited from^o the seas;

the city that was praised, that was strong.

It is located on the sea,

and its inhabitants imposed their terror on all of its inhabitants.^p

¹⁸Now the coastlands will tremble

at the day of your downfall,

and the islands that are in the sea

will be horrified because of your departure.’ ”

¹⁹For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “When I make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited, when bringing up over you the deep, the great surging waters^q will cover you. ²⁰And I will bring you down with those who are going down to the grave,^r an ancient people,^s and I will cause you to dwell in the world^t of the depths, in the ruins from of old with those who are going down to the grave,^u so that you will not be inhabited and have a place^v in the land of the living. ²¹Sudden terrors I will bring on you, and you shall no longer exist; and you will be sought, and you will not be found again forever,”^w declares^x the Lord Yahweh.

A Lament for Doomed Tyre

27And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^{a 2}“And you, son of man,^b raise a lament against Tyre. ³And you must say to Tyre, the one who sits at the entrance of the sea as the merchant of the peoples to the many coastlands, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

Tyre, you yourself said^c

“I am perfect in beauty!”^d

⁴In the heart of the seas are your boundaries;

your builders perfected your beauty.

⁵They built with pine trees from Senir

all of your boards for you;

they took cedars from Lebanon

to make a sailing mast for you.^e

⁶They made your oars

with oaks from Bashan;

your deck they made with inlaid ivory,

with cypress trees from the coastlands of Cyprus.^f

⁷Your sail was fine linen with colorful weaving from Egypt

to serve as a banner for you;^g

blue and purple cloth from the coastlands of Cyprus^h

was your awning.

⁸The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvan

were your rowers;

your skilled men,ⁱ O Tyre, were from your own people,^j

and they were your seamen.

⁹The elders of Gebal and its skilled men^k were among you^l

as the repairers of the seam of your boat;

all of the ships of the sea and their mariners were among you^m

to barter your wares.

¹⁰Persia and Lud and Put

were among your soldiers;ⁿ

small shield and helmet hung among you^o

and gave to you your adornment.

¹¹The people^p of Arvan and Helech

were on your walls all around,

and Gammadites

were in your towers.

They hung their quivers^q on your walls all around;

they perfected your beauty.

¹²“ ‘Tarshish was your trader; from the abundance of all of their wealth, with silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your merchandise. ¹³Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your traders; in exchange for people^r and an object of bronze they gave you your wares. ¹⁴From Beth Togarmah they exchanged horses and war horses and mules for your wares. ¹⁵The people^s of Dedan were trading with you, many coastlands composed the region of your influence;^t they brought back horns of ivory and ebony as your payment. ¹⁶Edom^u was trading with you because of the abundance of your products, trading with malachite, purple wool yarn and colorful weaving, and fine white fabric and black corals and rubies; all these they exchange for your merchandise. ¹⁷Judah and the land of Israel were trading with you with wheat from Minnith and millet and honey and olive oil and balm; all these they gave for your wares. ¹⁸Damascus was trading with you because of^v the abundance of your products, because of the abundance of all of your wealth, trading with the wine of Helbon and white wool. ¹⁹Vedan and Javan from Uzal, they exchanged wrought iron, cinnamon,^w and reed spice for your merchandise; all this was for your wares. ²⁰Dedan was trading with you, with garments of woven material for riding. ²¹Arabia and all of the leaders of Kedar were your customers;^x with young rams and adult rams and goats they were trading with them with you. ²²The traders of Sheba and Raamah were trading with you, with the finest of every spice and with every precious stone and gold; they exchanged all these for your merchandise. ²³Haran and Canneh and Eden, the traders of Sheba, Assyria, and Kilmad were trading with you. ²⁴They were trading with you in finery, in mantles of blue cloth and colorful embroidered work and with rugs of variegated cloth in twisted cords and knotted tightly; these were among your merchandise.^{y 25}The ships of Tarshish were carrying for you your wares, and you were filled, and you became very heavy in the heart of the seas.

²⁶“ ‘Into many waters

the rowers brought you;

but the east wind^z wrecked you

in the heart of the seas.

²⁷Your wealth and your merchandise, your wares,

your mariners, and your seamen,

your shipwrights^a and the barterers of your wares

and all of your soldiers^b who are in you,

along^c with all of your crew who are in the midst of you,

they will fall in the heart of the seas on the day of your downfall.

²⁸At the sound of the shout^d of your seamen,

the pasturelands will shake.

²⁹And they will go down from their ships,

all of those holding an oar,

mariners, all of the seamen of the sea

will stand on the land,

³⁰and they will lament^e over you with their voice,

and they will cry out^f bitterly,

and they will throw^g dust on their heads,

and they will roll^h in the dust.

³¹They will shave themselves bald for your sake,ⁱ

and they will dress^j themselves in sackcloth,

and they will weep^k over you with a bitterness of soul^l

and with bitter wailing.

³²And they will raise^m over you with their wailing a lament,

and they will chantⁿ a lament over you:

‘Who is like Tyre,

like this destruction in the midst of the sea?’

³³When your merchandise went out from the seas,

you satisfied many peoples with the abundance of your wealth,

and by your wares

you made rich the kings of the world.

³⁴Now you are broken by seas

in the depths of waters;

your wares and all of your crew

in the midst of you have sunk.

³⁵All of the inhabitants of the coastlands

are appalled over you,

and their kings shudder^o in horror;

they distort their faces!^p

³⁶The traders among the peoples hiss over you;

you have become a horror,

and you shall be no more forever!’ ”^q