Ezekiel 27
Evangelical Heritage Version
A Lament Over Tyre
27 The word of the Lord came to me. 2 You, son of man, take up a lament over Tyre. 3 Tell Tyre, who dwells at the entrances to the sea as a merchant traveling to many coastlands, this is what the Lord God says.
Tyre, you say, “I am a perfect beauty.”
4 Your borders were in the heart of the sea.
Your builders perfected your beauty.
5 They built for you a double-decked ship,[a] made of fir[b] from Senir.
They took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
6 They made your oars of oak from Bashan.
Your planks were made of pine,[c] inlaid with ivory,
from the coasts of Cyprus.[d]
7 Your sail was brightly decorated linen from Egypt,
which also served as your banner.
Your awning was blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah.
8 Inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad served as your rowers.
Tyre, your own skilled men, who were with you,
manned your sails.
9 Skilled veterans from Gebal[e] were on board with you,
serving as your repairmen.
All the ships of the sea and their sailors
were in your harbor to engage in trade with you.
10 Warriors from Persia, Lud,[f] and Put were in your army.
They hung up their shields and helmets among you.
They enhanced your splendor.
11 Men of Arvad and Cilicia were on your walls all around,
and men of Gammad were on your towers.
They hung their quivers all around on your walls.
They made your beauty perfect.
Tyre’s Trade[g]
12 Tarshish traded with you because of your great wealth of every kind. They traded silver, iron, tin, and lead for your exports.
13 Ionia, Tubal, and Meshek also dealt with you. They traded human beings and articles of bronze for your wares.
14 From Beth Togarmah, horses, war horses, and mules were traded to you because of the abundance of your products.
15 The men of Rhodes[h] also dealt with you. Many coastlands were agents of your trade, bringing back ivory tusks and ebony in payment to you.
16 Edom[i] traded with you because of the abundance of your products. They sold turquoise, purple, and finely embroidered cloth, linen, coral, and rubies[j] to you as exports.
17 Judah and the land of Israel also dealt with you. With wheat of Minnith, flour, honey, oil, and balm they bought your wares.
18 Damascus traded with you because of the abundance of your products, because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth. They sold wine of Helbon, wool from Sahar, 19 and wine casks from Izalla[k] as exports. Wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were traded for your goods.
20 Dedan traded to you saddle blankets used for riding. 21 Arabia and all the rulers of Kedar were your agents for trade in lambs, rams, and goats. They were your agents for those. 22 Merchants of Sheba and Ra’amah dealt with you in all kinds of expensive perfumes and in all kinds of precious stones and gold, which they sold you for your merchandise.
23 Haran, Kanneh, and Eden, and dealers from Sheba, Assyria, and Kilmad were your dealers. 24 They were your dealers in elegant clothing, in purple garments and finely embroidered cloth, in carpets with multicolored trim, tightly wound with ropes for your marketplaces.
25 Tarshish ships traveled for you with your merchandise.
Tyre’s Collapse
So you were full and very heavily loaded in the midst of the seas. 26 Your rowers brought you out into deep water. An east wind broke you up in the heart of the sea. 27 Your wealth, your exports and your imports, your sailors and your pilots, your repairmen, and those who bring you imports, all your warriors on board—in fact, all your company who were on board—will sink into the heart of the sea on the day of your collapse.
28 At the sound of the cry of distress from your pilots, the fields on the mainland will quake. 29 All who handle the oars will abandon their ships. The sailors and all the pilots of the sea will stand on shore. 30 They will shout loudly because of you and cry out bitterly. They will throw dirt on their heads and roll in ashes. 31 They will make themselves bald on account of you and put on sackcloth. They will weep bitterly over you, with a bitter lament. 32 In their grief, they will raise a lament over you. They utter this lament over you, “Who is like Tyre, now silenced in the midst of the sea?” 33 When your exports were unloaded from the seas, you satisfied many peoples. By your abundant wealth and your imports, you enriched the kings of the earth. 34 Now you have been broken up by the seas and sunk into the watery depths. Your merchandise and the entire company on board have sunk. 35 All the inhabitants of the coastlands are appalled because of you. Their kings’ hair stands on end. Their faces show distress. 36 Traders among the peoples whistle and hiss at you. You have become horrifying, and you will never exist again, forever.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 27:5 Or a ship with a double hull. The Hebrew word indicates that the planks were double. The meaning of many of the nautical terms in this section is uncertain.
- Ezekiel 27:5 The identification of some of the types of trees is uncertain.
- Ezekiel 27:6 The translation pine follows a different word division than that which occurs in the main Hebrew text, which has the reading daughter of Assyria.
- Ezekiel 27:6 The Hebrew reads Kittim. This term may include locations other than Cyprus.
- Ezekiel 27:9 Also called Byblos
- Ezekiel 27:10 Or Lydia
- Ezekiel 27:12 The meaning of many of the terms in verses 12-15 is uncertain.
- Ezekiel 27:15 The Greek text reads Rhodes, a Mediterranean island. The Hebrew reads Dedan, a desert oasis in Arabia, which is dealt with in verse 20.
- Ezekiel 27:16 The translation Edom follows some Hebrew manuscripts and ancient versions. Most Hebrew manuscripts read Aram, but verse 18 deals with that country under the heading Damascus, and the commodities in this verse fit better with Edom.
- Ezekiel 27:16 The identification of some of the precious items is uncertain.
- Ezekiel 27:19 In the translation, words from the beginning of verse 19 complete the sentence of verse 18. The Hebrew text at the beginning of verse 19 seems to read Dan and Javan paid for your wares, traversing back and forth, a sentence which does not fit this context.
Ezekiel 27
King James Version
27 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,
2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;
3 And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.
4 Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.
5 They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.
6 Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim.
7 Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.
8 The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots.
9 The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise.
10 They of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness.
11 The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect.
12 Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.
13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market.
14 They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules.
15 The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony.
16 Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate.
17 Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm.
18 Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool.
19 Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.
20 Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots.
21 Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants.
22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.
23 Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants.
24 These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.
25 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.
26 Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.
27 Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.
28 The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.
29 And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land;
30 And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes:
31 And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.
32 And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?
33 When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.
34 In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall.
35 All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance.
36 The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.