Ezekiel 26:1–28:19

¹In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken, it has swung open to me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,’ ³therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. ⁴They shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers; and I will scrape her soil from her, and make her a bare rock. ⁵She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading of nets; for I have spoken, says the Lord GOD; and she shall become a spoil to the nations; ⁶and her daughters on the mainland shall be slain by the sword. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

⁷“For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a host of many soldiers. ⁸He will slay with the sword your daughters on the mainland; he will set up a siege wall against you, and throw up a mound against you, and raise a roof of shields against you. ⁹He will direct the shock of his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers. ¹⁰His horses will be so many that their dust will cover you; your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen and wagons and chariots, when he enters your gates as one enters a city which has been breached. ¹¹With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets; he will slay your people with the sword; and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground. ¹²They will make a spoil of your riches and a prey of your merchandise; they will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses; your stones and timber and soil they will cast into the midst of the waters. ¹³And I will stop the music of your songs, and the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more. ¹⁴I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a place for the spreading of nets; you shall never be rebuilt; for I the Lord have spoken, says the Lord GOD.

¹⁵“Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre: Will not the coastlands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when slaughter is made in the midst of you? ¹⁶Then all the princes of the sea will step down from their thrones, and remove their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments; they will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit upon the ground and tremble every moment, and be appalled at you. ¹⁷And they will raise a lamentation over you, and say to you,

‘How you have vanished from the seas,

O city renowned,

that was mighty on the sea,

you and your inhabitants,

who imposed your terror

on all the mainland!

¹⁸Now the isles tremble

on the day of your fall;

yea, the isles that are in the sea

are dismayed at your passing.’

¹⁹“For thus says the Lord GOD: When I make you a city laid waste, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you, and the great waters cover you, ²⁰then I will thrust you down with those who descend into the Pit, to the people of old, and I will make you to dwell in the nether world, among primeval ruins, with those who go down to the Pit, so that you will not be inhabited or have a place in the land of the living. ²¹I will bring you to a dreadful end, and you shall be no more; though you be sought for, you will never be found again, says the Lord GOD.”

Chapter 27

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²“Now you, son of man, raise a lamentation over Tyre, ³and say to Tyre, who dwells at the entrance to the sea, merchant of the peoples on many coastlands, thus says the Lord GOD:

“O Tyre, you have said,

‘I am perfect in beauty.’

⁴Your borders are in the heart of the seas;

your builders made perfect your beauty.

⁵They made all your planks

of fir trees from Senir;

they took a cedar from Lebanon

to make a mast for you.

⁶Of oaks of Bashan

they made your oars;

they made your deck of pines

from the coasts of Cyprus,

inlaid with ivory.

⁷Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt

was your sail,

serving as your ensign;

blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah

was your awning.

⁸The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad

were your rowers;

skilled men of Zemer were in you,

they were your pilots.

⁹The elders of Gebal and her skilled men were in you,

caulking your seams;

all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you,

to barter for your wares.

¹⁰“Persia and Lud and Put were in your army as your men of war; they hung the shield and helmet in you; they gave you splendor. ¹¹The men of Arvad and Helech were upon your walls round about, and men of Gamad were in your towers; they hung their shields upon your walls round about; they made perfect your beauty.

¹²“Tarshish trafficked with you because of your great wealth of every kind; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your wares. ¹³Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you; they exchanged the persons of men and vessels of bronze for your merchandise. ¹⁴Beth-togarmah exchanged for your wares horses, war horses, and mules. ¹⁵The men of Rhodes traded with you; many coastlands were your own special markets, they brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony. ¹⁶Edom trafficked with you because of your abundant goods; they exchanged for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and agate. ¹⁷Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise wheat, olives and early figs, honey, oil, and balm. ¹⁸Damascus trafficked with you for your abundant goods, because of your great wealth of every kind; wine of Helbon, and white wool, ¹⁹and wine from Uzal they exchanged for your wares; wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were bartered for your merchandise. ²⁰Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. ²¹Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your favored dealers in lambs, rams, and goats; in these they trafficked with you. ²²The traders of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; they exchanged for your wares the best of all kinds of spices, and all precious stones, and gold. ²³Haran, Canneh, Eden, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you. ²⁴These traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue and embroidered work, and in carpets of colored stuff, bound with cords and made secure; in these they traded with you. ²⁵The ships of Tarshish traveled for you with your merchandise.

“So you were filled and heavily laden

in the heart of the seas.

²⁶Your rowers have brought you out

into the high seas.

The east wind has wrecked you

in the heart of the seas.

²⁷Your riches, your wares, your merchandise,

your mariners and your pilots,

your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise,

and all your men of war who are in you,

with all your company

that is in your midst,

sink into the heart of the seas

on the day of your ruin.

²⁸At the sound of the cry of your pilots

the countryside shakes,

²⁹and down from their ships

come all that handle the oar.

The mariners and all the pilots of the sea

stand on the shore

³⁰and wail aloud over you,

and cry bitterly.

They cast dust on their heads

and wallow in ashes;

³¹they make themselves bald for you,

and gird themselves with sackcloth,

and they weep over you in bitterness of soul,

with bitter mourning.

³²In their wailing they raise a lamentation for you,

and lament over you:

‘Who was ever destroyed like Tyre

in the midst of the sea?

³³When your wares came from the seas,

you satisfied many peoples;

with your abundant wealth and merchandise

you enriched the kings of the earth.

³⁴Now you are wrecked by the seas,

in the depths of the waters;

your merchandise and all your crew

have sunk with you.

³⁵All the inhabitants of the coastlands

are appalled at you;

and their kings are horribly afraid,

their faces are convulsed.

³⁶The merchants among the peoples hiss at you;

you have come to a dreadful end

and shall be no more for ever.’ ”

Chapter 28

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord GOD:

“Because your heart is proud,

and you have said, ‘I am a god,

I sit in the seat of the gods,

in the heart of the seas,’

yet you are but a man, and no god,

though you consider yourself as wise as a god—

³you are indeed wiser than Daniel;

no secret is hidden from you;

⁴by your wisdom and your understanding

you have gotten wealth for yourself,

and have gathered gold and silver

into your treasuries;

⁵by your great wisdom in trade

you have increased your wealth,

and your heart has become proud in your wealth—

⁶therefore thus says the Lord GOD:

“Because you consider yourself

as wise as a god,

⁷therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you,

the most terrible of the nations;

and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom

and defile your splendor.

⁸They shall thrust you down into the Pit,

and you shall die the death of the slain

in the heart of the seas.

⁹Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’

in the presence of those who slay you,

though you are but a man, and no god,

in the hands of those who wound you?

¹⁰You shall die the death of the uncircumcised

by the hand of foreigners;

for I have spoken, says the Lord GOD.”

¹¹Moreover the word of the Lord came to me: ¹²“Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD:

“You were the signet of perfection,

full of wisdom

and perfect in beauty.

¹³You were in Eden, the garden of God;

every precious stone was your covering,

carnelian, topaz, and jasper,

chrysolite, beryl, and onyx,

sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald;

and wrought in gold were your settings

and your engravings.

On the day that you were created

they were prepared.

¹⁴With an anointed guardian cherub I placed you;

you were on the holy mountain of God;

in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.

¹⁵You were blameless in your ways

from the day you were created,

till iniquity was found in you.

¹⁶In the abundance of your trade

you were filled with…