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Prophecy Against Tyre

26 It was the eleventh year of our captivity, on the first day of the month. The Lord spoke his word to me, saying: “Human, the city of Tyre has spoken against Jerusalem: ‘The city that traded with the nations is destroyed. Now we can be the trading center. Since the city of Jerusalem is ruined, we can make money.’ So this is what the Lord God says: I am against you, Tyre. I will bring many nations against you, like the sea beating its waves on your island shores. They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers. I will also scrape away her ruins and make her a bare rock. Tyre will be an island where fishermen dry their nets. I have spoken, says the Lord God. The nations will steal treasures from Tyre. Also, her villages on the shore across from the island will be destroyed by war. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Nebuchadnezzar to Attack Tyre

“This is what the Lord God says: I will bring a king from the north against Tyre. He is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the greatest king, with his horses, chariots, horsemen, and a great army. He will fight a battle and destroy your villages on the shore across from the island. He will set up devices to attack you. He will build a road of earth to the top of the walls. He will raise his shields against you. He will bring logs to pound through your city walls, and he will break down your towers with his iron bars. 10 His horses will be so many that they will cover you with their dust. Your walls will shake at the noise of horsemen, wagons, and chariots. The king of Babylon will enter your city gates as men enter a city where the walls are broken through. 11 The hoofs of his horses will run over your streets. He will kill your army with the sword, and your strong pillars will fall down to the ground. 12 Also, his men will take away your riches and will steal the things you sell. They will break down your walls and destroy your nice houses. They will throw your stones, wood, and trash into the sea. 13 So I will stop your songs; the music of your harps will not be heard anymore. 14 I will make you a bare rock, and you will be a place for drying fishing nets. You will not be built again, because I, the Lord, have spoken, says the Lord God.

15 “This is what the Lord God says to Tyre: The people who live along the seacoast will shake with fear when they hear about your defeat. Those of you who are injured and dying will groan. 16 Then all the leaders of the seacoast will get down from their thrones, take off their beautiful needlework clothes, and show how afraid they are. They will sit on the ground and tremble all the time. When they see you, they will be shocked. 17 They will begin singing a funeral song about you and will say to you:

‘Tyre, you famous city, you have been destroyed!
    You have lost your sea power!
You and your people
    had great power on the seas.
You made everyone around you
    afraid of you.
18 Now the people who live by the coast tremble,
    now that you have fallen.
The islands of the sea
    are afraid because you have been defeated.’

19 “This is what the Lord God says: I will make you an empty city, like cities that have no people living in them. I will bring the deep ocean waters over you, and the Mediterranean Sea will cover you. 20 At that time I will send you down to the place of the dead to join those who died long ago. I will make you live with the dead below the earth in places that are like old ruins. You will not come back from there or have any place in the world of the living again. 21 Other people will be afraid of what happened to you, and it will be the end of you. People will look for you, but they will never find you again, says the Lord God.”

A Prophecy Against Tyre

26 In the eleventh month of the twelfth[a] year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:(A) “Son of man, because Tyre(B) has said of Jerusalem, ‘Aha!(C) The gate to the nations is broken, and its doors have swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will prosper,’ therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea(D) casting up its waves. They will destroy(E) the walls of Tyre(F) and pull down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock. Out in the sea(G) she will become a place to spread fishnets,(H) for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. She will become plunder(I) for the nations,(J) and her settlements on the mainland will be ravaged by the sword. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: From the north I am going to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar[b](K) king of Babylon, king of kings,(L) with horses and chariots,(M) with horsemen and a great army. He will ravage your settlements on the mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works(N) against you, build a ramp(O) up to your walls and raise his shields against you. He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and demolish your towers with his weapons.(P) 10 His horses will be so many that they will cover you with dust. Your walls will tremble at the noise of the warhorses, wagons and chariots(Q) when he enters your gates as men enter a city whose walls have been broken through. 11 The hooves(R) of his horses will trample all your streets; he will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars(S) will fall to the ground.(T) 12 They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea.(U) 13 I will put an end(V) to your noisy songs,(W) and the music of your harps(X) will be heard no more.(Y) 14 I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread fishnets. You will never be rebuilt,(Z) for I the Lord have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.

15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Tyre: Will not the coastlands(AA) tremble(AB) at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan(AC) and the slaughter takes place in you? 16 Then all the princes of the coast will step down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and take off their embroidered(AD) garments. Clothed(AE) with terror, they will sit on the ground,(AF) trembling(AG) every moment, appalled(AH) at you. 17 Then they will take up a lament(AI) concerning you and say to you:

“‘How you are destroyed, city of renown,
    peopled by men of the sea!
You were a power on the seas,
    you and your citizens;
you put your terror
    on all who lived there.(AJ)
18 Now the coastlands tremble(AK)
    on the day of your fall;
the islands in the sea
    are terrified at your collapse.’(AL)

19 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I make you a desolate city, like cities no longer inhabited, and when I bring the ocean depths(AM) over you and its vast waters cover you,(AN) 20 then I will bring you down with those who go down to the pit,(AO) to the people of long ago. I will make you dwell in the earth below, as in ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, and you will not return or take your place[c] in the land of the living.(AP) 21 I will bring you to a horrible end and you will be no more.(AQ) You will be sought, but you will never again be found, declares the Sovereign Lord.”(AR)

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 26:1 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text does not have month of the twelfth.
  2. Ezekiel 26:7 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, of which Nebuchadnezzar is a variant; here and often in Ezekiel and Jeremiah
  3. Ezekiel 26:20 Septuagint; Hebrew return, and I will give glory