Ezekiel 28:14–26

You were the anointed cherub.

I placed you on the mountain of God.

You strolled in magnificence

among the stones of fire.

From the day of your creation

you were sheer perfection …

and then imperfection—evil!—was detected in you.

In much buying and selling

you turned violent, you sinned!

I threw you, disgraced, off the mountain of God.

I threw you out—you, the anointed angel-cherub.

No more strolling among the gems of fire for you!

Your beauty went to your head.

You corrupted wisdom

by using it to get worldly fame.

I threw you to the ground,

sent you sprawling before an audience of kings

and let them gloat over your demise.

By sin after sin after sin,

by your corrupt ways of doing business,

you defiled your holy places of worship.

So I set a fire around and within you.

It burned you up. I reduced you to ashes.

All anyone sees now

when they look for you is ashes,

a pitiful mound of ashes.

All who once knew you

now throw up their hands:

‘This can’t have happened!

This has happened!’ ”

^20–23God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, confront Sidon. Preach against it. Say, ‘Message from God, the Master:

“ ‘Look! I’m against you, Sidon.

I intend to be known for who I truly am among you.’

They’ll know that I am God

when I set things right

and reveal my holy presence.

I’ll order an epidemic of disease there,

along with murder and mayhem in the streets.

People will drop dead right and left,

as war presses in from every side.

Then they’ll realize that I mean business,

that I am God.

²⁴“No longer will Israel have to put up with

their thistle-and-thorn neighbors

Who have treated them so contemptuously.

And they also will realize that I am God.”

^25–26God, the Master, says, “When I gather Israel from the peoples among whom they’ve been scattered and put my holiness on display among them with all the nations looking on, then they’ll live in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob. They’ll live there in safety. They’ll build houses. They’ll plant vineyards, living in safety. Meanwhile, I’ll bring judgment on all the neighbors who have treated them with such contempt. And they’ll realize that I am God.”