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Tyre’s King Is Expelled From Eden

28 The word of the Lord came to me. Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre that this is what the Lord God says.

Because you became arrogant and said, “I am a god, and I occupy a throne of a god in the heart of the seas,” even though you are a mere man and not a god, and because you regard your wisdom as divine wisdom— You really think you are wiser than Daniel, don’t you? No mystery baffles you. By your wisdom and your shrewdness you have gained wealth for yourself and put gold and silver into your treasuries. By your great skill in trading, you increased your wealth, but you became conceited because of your wealth.

Therefore, this is what the Lord God says. Because you regard your wisdom as divine wisdom, therefore, I am about to bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations. They will unsheathe their swords against your beautiful wisdom, and they will desecrate your radiant splendor. They will cast you down to the pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the sea. Will you still claim “I am a god” in the presence of the one who kills you? It will be clear that you are merely a man and not a god when you fall into the hands of those who run you through. 10 You will die a death like that of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God.

11 The word of the Lord came to me.

12 Son of man, raise a lament over the king of Tyre. Say to him that this is what the Lord God says.

You were a seal of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone was covering you: carnelian, diamond, emerald, topaz, onyx, jasper, sapphire, agate, and beryl.[a] Your mountings and your settings were worked in gold. They were prepared on the day you were created.

14 You were a cherub, the anointed guardian. I appointed you. You were on the holy mountain of God, and you walked about in the midst of sparkling stones. 15 Your conduct was blameless from the day you were created until guilt was found in you. 16 In your widespread trade, you practiced much violence and you sinned. I defiled you by banishing you from the mountain of God. I expelled you, you guardian cherub, from among the sparkling stones.

17 You became arrogant because of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom together with your splendor. So I hurled you down to the earth and set you in front of kings who gloated over you. 18 By your many sins during your unscrupulous trade, you defiled your sanctuaries. So I made fire break out from your midst, and it devoured you. I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. 19 All those among the people who knew you are appalled at you. You have become horrifying, and you will never exist again, forever.

An Oracle Against Sidon

20 The word of the Lord came to me.

21 Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her. 22 Say that this is what the Lord God says.

I am against you, Sidon. I will display my glory in your midst, and they will know that I am the Lord, when I inflict punishments on you and display my holiness in you. 23 I will release the plague in her. There will be blood in her streets, and the slain will fall in her midst when the sword comes against her from all sides. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Hope for Israel

24 Never again will the house of Israel be subjected to those who deride them, who are all around them like prickly briers or painful thorns. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.

25 This is what the Lord God says. When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples where they have been scattered, I will display my holiness through them in the sight of the nations. Then they will live on their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 They will live on it in security. They will build houses and plant vineyards. They will live on it in security when I inflict judgments upon all those around them who despise them. Then they will know that I am the Lord, their God.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 28:13 The identification of some of the gemstones is uncertain.

28 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,

Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:

With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:

By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:

Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;

Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.

They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.

Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.

10 Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.

11 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

20 Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

21 Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it,

22 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.

23 For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

24 And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord God.

25 Thus saith the Lord God; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.

26 And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God.