Ezekiel 26-28
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 26
Against Tyre.[a][b] 1 In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, Tyre has said in regard to Jerusalem:
Aha! The gateway to the nations has been shattered;
she has opened her doors to me.
Now that she lies in ruins,
her wealth will be mine.
3 Therefore, thus says the Lord God:
Behold, I am against you, O Tyre,
and as the sea raises up its waves,
I will raise up many nations against you.
4 They will destroy your walls, O Tyre,
and demolish your towers.
I will scrape away your soil
and reduce you to a bare rock.
5 You shall become a drying ground for nets
in the midst of the sea.
Thus I have decreed, says the Lord God,
you will become the prey of the nations,
6 and your towns on the mainland will be destroyed.
Thus, everyone will know that I am the Lord.
7 For thus says the Lord God: From the north I will bring against Tyre King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the king of kings, with horses, chariots, cavalry, and a large and powerful army.
8 He will put to the sword
the inhabitants of your neighboring towns.
He will construct siege-works against you,
surround you with a siege-ramp,
and raise his shields against you.
9 He will direct the power of his battering rams
against your walls
and demolish your towers with his axes.
10 His horses shall be so great in number
that you will be covered with their dust.
Your very walls will shake
from the noise of cavalry, wheels, and chariots
when he enters your gates,
like those entering a city
whose walls have been breached.
11 All of your streets will be trampled
by the hoofs of his horses.
He will put your people to the sword
and throw your massive pillars to the ground.
12 Your riches will be plundered,
and your merchandise will be looted.
They will tear down your walls,
and your fine houses will be destroyed.
Your stones and timber and even your rubble,
they will cast into the sea.
13 I will silence the music of your songs;
the sound of your lyres will no longer be heard.
14 I will make Tyre a bare rock,
a place where nets are spread to dry.
You shall never again be rebuilt,
for I, the Lord, have spoken,
says the Lord God.
15 Thus says the Lord God to Tyre: Will not the islands quake at the noise of your fall, amid the groaning of your wounded and the slaughter taking place in your midst? 16 Then all the princes of the sea will step down from their thrones, remove their robes, and take off their embroidered garments. Their bodies having been overcome with incessant trembling, they will sit on the ground, totally appalled at you. 17 Then they will raise a lament over you:
How you have perished, swept from the sea,
O greatly renowned city!
You were once mighty on the sea,
you and your inhabitants,
who used to spread terror
on all the mainland.
18 Now the coastlands tremble
on the day of your fall;
the islands of the sea
are appalled at your passing.
19 For thus says the Lord God: When I make you a ruined city, like other deserted cities, when I raise the deep over you and its mighty waters cover you, 20 then I will thrust you down with those who have descended into the pit, to the people of past ages, and I will force you to live in the netherworld, in the ruins of primeval times, with those who have gone down into the pit, so that you will never again be inhabited or take your place in the land of the living. 21 I will bring you to a horrible end, and you will be no more. People will search for you, but you will never be found again.
Chapter 27
Lamentation over Tyre. 1 This word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, raise lament over Tyre, 3 and say to Tyre which is enthroned at the entrance to the sea and serves as the center of trade between the nations and many coastlands: Thus says the Lord God:
O Tyre, you often used to declare,
“I am a ship perfect in beauty.”
4 Your frontiers bordered the high seas,
and your builders perfected your beauty.
5 They used cypress from Senir[c]
to construct all your planks;
they took cedar of Lebanon
to make a mast above you.
6 From oaks of Bashan,
they made your oars;
they constructed your deck with cypress[d]
from the coasts of Kittim.
7 Fine embroidered linen from Egypt
was used for your sail
and also for your flag.
Purple and scarlet from the coasts of Elishah[e]
served as your awnings.
8 The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad
served as your oarsmen.
Skilled men of Zemer were aboard
to act as your sailors.
9 The elders and craftsmen were available
to caulk your seams.
All the ships of the sea with their sailors
came to you to trade for your wares.
10 Men from Persia and Lud and Put[f]
served as warriors in your army.
They proudly displayed on your walls
their shields and helmets to bring you splendor.
11 Men of Arvad and Helech
guarded your walls on every side,
while the men of Gamad manned your towers.
They hung their shields all around your walls,
thereby perfecting your beauty.
12 [g]Tarshish[h] traded with you because of the vast abundance of your wealth, exchanging silver, iron, tin, and lead for your wares. 13 [i]Javan, Tubal, and Meshech also traded with you, exchanging slaves and articles of bronze for your merchandise.
14 Beth-togarmah exchanged horses, steeds, and mules for your wares. 15 The Rhodians dealt with you; many islands engaged in trade with you and paid you with ivory tusks and ebony. 16 Edom traded with you because of the large variety of your products; for your wares they exchanged turquoise, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies. 17 Judah and the land of Israel also traded with you, exchanging for your goods wheat, figs, honey, oil, and balm.
18 Damascus traded with you because of your great wealth, offering to you wine from Helbon and wool from Zahar. 19 [j]Danites and Javanites traded wrought iron, cassia, and aromatic cane from Uzal for your wares, 20 while Dedan traded with you for saddle blankets.
21 Arabia and all the sheikhs of Kedar were your customers, paying you with lambs, rams, and goats. 22 Merchants from Sheba and Raamah traded with you, offering in exchange the finest spices, every kind of precious stones, and gold.
23 Haran, Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you,[k] 24 offering in return rich garments, embroidered purple cloaks, and materials of many colors bound with cords that were firmly woven.
25 The ships of Tarshish were employed
as carriers for your wares.
Therefore, you were filled and heavily laden
as you sailed the high seas.
26 Your oarsmen rowed through deep waters
on their journey home.
But the east wind[l] wrecked you
when you were far out at sea.
27 Your riches, your goods, your cargo,
your sailors and your crew,
your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise,
and all their warriors and passengers
sank into the depths of the sea
on the day of your shipwreck.
28 The coasts will begin to quake
upon hearing the cries of your sailors.
29 Then those who handle the oars
will begin to desert their ships.
The sailors and all the seafaring people
will remain ashore.
30 They will mourn aloud over you
and weep bitterly.
They will throw dust on their heads
and roll in ashes.
31 They will shave their heads for you
and put on sackcloth.
For you, they will weep in anguish
and with heartfelt bitterness.
32 In their mourning, they will raise a dirge
and lament over you:
Who was ever destroyed like Tyre
in the midst of the sea?
33 When your goods were unloaded,
you satisfied a multitude of peoples.
You enriched the kings of the earth
with your abundant wealth and merchandise.
34 Now you have been demolished by the sea
in the watery depths.
Your merchandise and all your crew
have gone down with you.
35 All who dwell on the coastlands
are aghast at your fate.
Their kings are horrified;
their faces are convulsed.
36 The merchants among the nations
now hiss at you.
Destruction has overwhelmed you,
and you will be no more.
Chapter 28
The Prince of Tyre. 1 This word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre: Thus says the Lord God:
Your heart has grown proud,
and thus you say, “I am a god;
I sit on a godly throne
in the heart of the seas.”
But in reality you are a man, and not a god,
even though you compare your mind
with that of a god.
3 Are you as wise as Daniel?
Is no secret hidden from you?
4 By your wisdom and your intelligence,
you have amassed great wealth for yourself.
You have deposited gold and silver
into your treasuries.
5 Because of your skill in trading,
your wealth has greatly increased;
and as a result of your riches,
your heart is filled with arrogant pride.
6 Therefore, thus says the Lord God:
Because you consider your wisdom
to be equal to that of God,
7 I will bring foreigners against you,
the most barbarous of all the nations.
They will draw their swords
against the beauty of your wisdom
and defile your splendor.
8 They will hurl you down to the pit,
and you will die a violent death
in the heart of the seas.
9 Will you then still say, “I am a god,”
when your murderers confront you?
No, you are a man, not a god,
in the hands of those about to slay you.
10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised
at the hands of foreigners.
I have spoken, declares the Lord God.
11 This word of the Lord was then addressed to me: 12 Son of man, raise a lament for the king of Tyre and say to him: Thus says the Lord God:
At one time, you were a model of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God,
and adorned with every precious stone:
ruby, topaz, and emerald,
chrysolite, onyx, and jasper,
sapphire, turquoise, and jade.
Your settings and mountings were made of gold;
on the day you were created, they were made.
14 I appointed a cherub as your guardian;
you were on the holy mountain of God,
walking amid the fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your behavior
from the day you were created,
until iniquity first appeared in you.
16 As a result of your abundant trade,
you became filled with violence, and you sinned.
Therefore, I cast you down in disgrace
from the mountain of God,
and the guardian cherub drove you out
from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart had grown proud
because of your beauty,
and for the sake of your splendor,
you corrupted your wisdom.
I flung you to the earth,
so great was your guilt,
and I made you a spectacle to behold
in the sight of kings.
18 Because of the immense number of your crimes
and your dishonesty in business,
you profaned our sanctuaries.
Therefore, I have brought forth fire from your midst,
and I allowed it to devour you.
I have reduced you to ashes on the ground
for everyone to behold.
19 All of the nations who knew you
were aghast at your fate.
You have come to a hideous end,
and you will be no more.
20 Against Sidon. This word of the Lord came to me: 21 Son of man, turn toward Sidon[m] and prophesy against her, and say: 22 Thus says the Lord God:
I am against you, O Sidon,
and I will show my glory in your midst.
Then people will know that I am the Lord
when I inflict punishments on her
and manifest my holiness in her.
23 For I will send a plague upon her,
and there will be bloodshed in her streets.
And the dead shall fall in her midst
by the sword raised against her from all sides;
then they will know that I am the Lord.
24 No longer will the people of Israel have to endure thorns that wound, or briars that tear from hostile neighbors who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
25 Thus says the Lord God: When I gather the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of all the nations, then they will live on the land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 They will live there in safety, building houses and planting vineyards. They will live there in security while I inflict punishments upon all their neighbors who have despised them. Thus they will know that I am the Lord, their God.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 26:1 The fate of Tyre seems to set a pattern, and Ezekiel lingers over it, mingling gloomy laments of great poetic power with prophecies of destruction. At the beginning of the sixth century B.C., this fortified island enjoyed an exceptional status, being as it was at the forefront of commercial activity and in possession of immense wealth.
- Ezekiel 26:1 The siege of Tyre proved difficult; it was begun by Nebuchadnezzar in 585 B.C. and lasted thirteen years, ending with the surrender of the city.
- Ezekiel 27:5 Senir: the massif of Mount Hermon.
- Ezekiel 27:6 Cypress: in Hebrew, Kittim. The name is used here in a broad sense to include the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean.
- Ezekiel 27:7 Coasts of Elishah: identification uncertain; elsewhere described as near places on the Mediterranean.
- Ezekiel 27:10 Put: in Africa, near the Indian Ocean.
- Ezekiel 27:12 A section in prose is introduced into the middle of the lament; it provides valuable information on international trade in the sixth century B.C., especially in the Palestinian area.
- Ezekiel 27:12 Tarshish: a city founded on the Spanish coast by people from Tyre; it symbolizes the far-off places of the then known world.
- Ezekiel 27:13 Tubal, and Meshech: south of the Caucasus. Beth-togarmah: in Armenia. Rhod[es]: the Hebrew has “Dedan” (v. 20), which was in Arabia. Helbon: an Assyrian city.
- Ezekiel 27:19 References are to tribes in southern Arabia.
- Ezekiel 27:23 Mesopotamian cities.
- Ezekiel 27:26 East wind: the Babylonians, who, like the wind, destroy every country and people.
- Ezekiel 28:21 Sidon had been the capital of Phoenicia before Tyre.
