Ezekiel 26
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.
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.
