Ezekiel 26:1–29:19

Judgment on Tyre

¹Now in the eleventh year, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me saying,

²“Son of man, because ^aTyre has said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the ^bgateway of the peoples is broken; it has ^1copened to me. I shall be filled, now that she is laid waste,’

³therefore thus says the Lord ¹God, ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring up ^amany nations against you, as the ^bsea brings up its waves.

⁴‘They will ^adestroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; and I will scrape her debris from her and make her a bare rock.

⁵‘She will be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,’ declares the Lord God, ‘and she will become ^aspoil for the nations.

⁶‘Also her ^adaughters who are ¹on the mainland will be slain by the sword, and they will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

⁷For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^aking of kings, with horses, ^bchariots, cavalry and ¹a great army.

⁸“He will slay your daughters ¹on the mainland with the sword; and he will make ^asiege walls against you, cast up a ^bramp against you and raise up a large shield against you.

⁹“The blow of his battering rams he will direct against your walls, and with his ¹axes he will break down your towers.

¹⁰“Because of the multitude of his ^ahorses, the dust raised by them will cover you; your walls will ^bshake at the noise of cavalry and ¹wagons and chariots when he ^centers your gates as men enter a city that is breached.

¹¹“With the hoofs of his ^ahorses he will trample all your streets. He will slay your people with the sword; and your strong pillars will ^bcome down to the ground.

¹²“Also they will make a spoil of your riches and a prey of your ^amerchandise, ^bbreak down your walls and destroy your ^cpleasant houses, and ¹throw your stones and your timbers and your debris ^dinto the water.

¹³“So I will ¹silence the sound of your ^asongs, and the sound of your ^bharps will be heard no more.

¹⁴“I will make you a bare rock; you will be a place for the spreading of nets. You will be ^abuilt no more, for I the ^bLord have spoken,” declares the Lord God.

¹⁵Thus says the Lord God to Tyre, “Shall not the ^acoastlands ^bshake at the sound of your fall when the wounded groan, when the slaughter occurs in your midst?

¹⁶“Then all the princes of the sea will ^ago down from their thrones, remove their robes and strip off their embroidered garments. They will ^bclothe themselves with ¹trembling; they will sit on the ground, ^ctremble every moment and be appalled at you.

¹⁷“They will take up a ^alamentation over you and say to you,

‘^bHow you have perished, O inhabited one,

From the seas, O renowned city,

Which was ^cmighty on the sea,

She and her inhabitants,

Who ¹imposed ²her terror

On all her inhabitants!

¹⁸‘Now the ^acoastlands will tremble

On the day of your fall;

Yes, the coastlands which are by the sea

Will be terrified at your ^bpassing.’ ”

¹⁹For thus says the Lord God, “When I make you a desolate city, like the cities which are not inhabited, when I ^abring up the deep over you and the great waters cover you,

²⁰then I will bring you down with those who ^ago down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will make you dwell in the ^blower parts of the earth, like the ancient waste places, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not ¹be inhabited; but I will set ^cglory in the land of the living.

²¹“I will ¹bring ^aterrors on you and you will be no more; though you will be sought, ^byou will never be found again,” declares the Lord God.

Chapter 27

Lament over Tyre

¹Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying,

²“And you, son of man, ^atake up a lamentation over Tyre;

³and say to Tyre, ^awho dwells at the ¹entrance to the sea, ^bmerchant of the peoples to many coastlands, ‘Thus says the Lord ²God,

“O Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’

⁴“Your borders are in the heart of the seas;

Your builders have perfected your beauty.

⁵“They have ¹made all your planks of fir trees from ^aSenir;

They have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.

⁶“Of ^aoaks from ^bBashan they have made your oars;

With ivory they have ¹inlaid your deck of boxwood from the coastlands of ^cCyprus.

⁷“Your sail was of fine embroidered linen from Egypt

So that it became your ¹distinguishing mark;

Your ²awning was ^3ablue and purple from the coastlands of ^bElishah.

⁸“The inhabitants of Sidon and ^aArvad were your rowers;

Your ^bwise men, O Tyre, were ¹aboard; they were your pilots.

⁹“The elders of ^aGebal and her wise men were with you repairing your seams;

All the ships of the sea and their sailors were with you in order to deal in your merchandise.

¹⁰“^aPersia and Lud and Put were in your army, your men of war. They hung shield and helmet in you; they set forth your splendor.

¹¹“The sons of Arvad and your army were on your walls, all around, and the ¹Gammadim were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls all around; they perfected your beauty.

¹²“Tarshish was your customer because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth; with silver, iron, tin and lead they paid for your wares.

¹³“^aJavan, Tubal and ^bMeshech, they were your traders; with the ^clives of men and vessels of bronze they paid for your merchandise.

¹⁴“Those from ^aBeth-togarmah gave horses and war horses and mules for your wares.

¹⁵“The sons of ^aDedan were your traders. Many coastlands were ¹your market; ^bivory tusks and ebony they brought as your payment.

¹⁶“^aAram was your customer because of the abundance of your ¹goods; they paid for your wares with ^bemeralds, purple, ^cembroidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies.

¹⁷“Judah and the land of Israel, they were your traders; with the wheat of ^aMinnith, ¹cakes, honey, oil and balm they paid for your merchandise.

¹⁸“^aDamascus was your customer because of the abundance of your ¹goods, because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth, because of the wine of Helbon and white wool.

¹⁹“Vedan and Javan paid for your wares ¹from Uzal; wrought iron, cassia and ²sweet cane were among your merchandise.

²⁰“^aDedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding.

²¹“^aArabia and all the princes of Kedar, they were ¹your customers for ^blambs, rams and goats; for these they were your customers.

²²“The traders of ^aSheba and Raamah, they traded with you; they paid for your wares with the best of all kinds of ^bspices, and with all kinds of precious stones and gold.

²³“Haran, Canneh, ^aEden, the traders of Sheba, Asshur and Chilmad traded with you.

²⁴“They traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of ¹blue and embroidered work, and in carpets of many colors and tightly wound cords, which were among your merchandise.

²⁵“The ^aships of Tarshish were ¹the carriers for your merchandise.

And you were filled and were very ²glorious

In the heart of the seas.

²⁶“Your rowers have brought you

Into ^agreat waters;

The ^beast wind has broken you

In the heart of the seas.

²⁷“Your wealth, your wares, your merchandise,

Your sailors and your pilots,

Your repairers of seams, your dealers in merchandise

And all your men of war who are in you,

With all your company that is in your midst,

Will fall into the heart of the seas

On the day of your overthrow.

²⁸“At the sound of the cry of your pilots

The pasture lands will ^ashake.

²⁹“All who handle the oar,

The ^asailors and all the pilots of the sea

Will come down from their ships;

They will stand on the land,

³⁰And they will ^amake their voice heard over you

And will cry bitterly.

They will ^bcast dust on their heads,

They will ^cwallow in ashes.

³¹“Also they will make themselves ^abald for you

And ^bgird themselves with sackcloth;

And they will ^cweep for you in bitterness of soul

With bitter mourning.

³²“Moreover, in their wailing they will take up a ^alamentation for you

And lament over you:

‘Who is like Tyre,

Like her who is silent in the midst of the sea?

³³‘When your wares went out from the seas,

You satisfied many peoples;

With the ^aabundance of your wealth and your merchandise

You enriched the kings of earth.

³⁴‘¹Now that you are ^abroken by the seas

In the depths of the waters,

Your ^bmerchandise and all your company

Have fallen in the midst of you.

³⁵‘All the ^ainhabitants of the coastlands

Are appalled at you,

And their kings are horribly afraid;

They are troubled in countenance.

³⁶‘The merchants among the peoples ^ahiss at you;

You have become ¹terrified

And you ^bwill cease to be forever.’ ” ’ ”

Chapter 28

Tyre’s King Overthrown

¹The word of the Lord came again to me, saying,

²“Son of man, say to the ¹leader of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord ²God,

“Because your heart is lifted up

And you have said, ‘^aI am a god,

I sit in the seat of ³gods

In the heart of the seas’;

Yet you are a ^bman and not God,

Although you make your heart like the heart of God—

³Behold, you are wiser than ^aDaniel;

There is no secret that is a match for you.

⁴“By your wisdom and understanding

You have acquired ^ariches for yourself

And have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries.

⁵“By your great wisdom, by your ^atrade

You have increased your riches

And your ^bheart is lifted up because of your riches—

⁶Therefore thus says the Lord God,

‘Because you have ^amade your heart

Like the heart of God,

⁷Therefore, behold, I will bring ^astrangers upon you,

The ^bmost ruthless of the nations.

And they will draw their swords

Against the beauty of your wisdom

And defile your splendor.

⁸‘They will bring you down to the pit,

And you will die the ^adeath of those who are slain

In the heart of the seas.

⁹‘Will you still say, “I am a god,”

In the presence of your slayer,

Though you are a man and not God,

In the hands of those who wound you?

¹⁰‘You will die the death of the ^auncircumcised

By the hand of strangers,

For I have spoken!’ declares the Lord God!” ’ ”

¹¹Again the word of the Lord came to me saying,

¹²“Son of man, ^atake up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God,

“You ¹had the seal of perfection,

Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

¹³“You were in ^aEden, the…