Ezekiel 25-27
Common English Bible
Against the neighboring nations
25 The Lord’s word came to me: 2 Human one, face the Ammonites and prophesy against them. 3 Say to the Ammonites: Hear the Lord God’s word! The Lord God proclaims: You laughed when my sanctuary was degraded, when Israel’s fertile land was laid waste, and when the house of Judah went into exile; 4 therefore, I’m handing you over to people in the east for them to take possession. They will set up their encampments against you, establish residence, devour your fruit, and drink your milk. 5 I’ll make Rabbah into pastureland for camels and Ammon a resting place for flocks. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
6 The Lord God proclaims: Because you clapped your hands and stamped your feet when you rejoiced with utter contempt for Israel’s fertile land, 7 I’m about to overpower you. Nations will plunder you. I will cut you off from the peoples, remove you from the lands, and utterly destroy you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
8 The Lord God proclaims: Because Moab and Seir say, “Aha! The house of Judah has become like all the nations,” 9 I’ll open up the flank of Moab from the cities at its border, the land’s splendid cities, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim. 10 I’ll hand it over, along with the Ammonites, to people in the east for them to take possession. And so Ammon will no longer be remembered among the nations. 11 I’ll execute judgments in Moab, and they will know that I am the Lord.
12 The Lord God proclaims: Edom acted with excessive force against the house of Judah. The Judeans were guilty, but Edom’s vengeance was excessive. 13 So the Lord God now proclaims: I’ll overpower Edom, eliminate all living creatures, and make it a wasteland from Teman to Dedan. They will fall by the sword. 14 I will execute my vengeance in Edom through my people Israel’s power. They will act in Edom according to my anger and fury, and they will know my vengeance. This is what the Lord God says.
15 The Lord God proclaims: When the Philistines set out to right the wrongs done to them, they enacted revenge with utter contempt and old hatreds. 16 So now the Lord God proclaims: I will overpower the Philistines, eliminate the Cherethites, and obliterate all who are left along the coastline. 17 I will act against them with great vengeance and with wrathful punishments. When I execute my vengeance against them, they will know that I am the Lord.
Against Tyre
26 In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the Lord’s word came to me:
2 Human one, because Tyre laughed at Jerusalem:
“The gate of the peoples is broken,
she lies open before me,
she is destroyed, but I will succeed!”
3 The Lord God now proclaims:
Tyre, I’m now against you!
Just as the sea hurls up its waves,
I will bring many nations up against you.
4 When they destroy the walls of Tyre
and throw down its towers,
I will scrape off all its dirt
and make it into a bare rock,
5 a place for drying nets
in the middle of the sea.
I have spoken! This is what the Lord God says.
It will become prey for the nations,
6 and its towns around it
will be put to the sword.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.
7 The Lord God proclaims:
I’m bringing Nebuchadrezzar against Tyre,
the king of Babylon from the north,
the greatest of all kings,
with horses, chariots, and charioteers,
an assembly, a great army.
8 The towns around you he will destroy with the sword.
Then he will build towers against you,
erect siege ramps against you,
and set up shields.
9 He will pound his battering ram against your walls;
with crowbars he will tear down your towers.
10 The dust from all his horses will cover you
when he enters your gates
as one who enters a breached city.
Your walls will quake
at the thundering of the charioteers and chariot wheels.
11 His horses’ hooves will trample all your courtyards;
he will cut down your people with the sword,
and the monuments to your strength he will bring down[a] to the ground.
12 They will destroy your wealth, plunder your goods,
tear down your walls, and raze your fine houses.
Your stone, lumber, and rubble they will dump into the sea.
13 I will bring an end to your cacophonous songs;
the sound of your lyres will never be heard again.
14 I will make you into a bare rock, a place for drying nets,
and you will never be rebuilt.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
This is what the Lord God says.
A lament for Tyre
15 The Lord God proclaims to Tyre: Won’t the coastlands quake at the news of your downfall, when the wounded groan, and when the slaughter in your midst goes on and on? 16 All the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, remove their royal robes, and strip off their fine garments. They will be clothed only in terror as they sit on the ground. They will be so terrified, they won’t stop shuddering because of you. 17 They will sing a lament for you, and they will say:
How you have perished, queen of the sea,
city once praised,
who once dominated the sea,
she and her rulers,
who spread their terror abroad,
every one of them.
18 Now the wastelands tremble on the day of your fall.
Your expulsion horrifies the islands of the sea.
19 The Lord God proclaims: When I turn you into ruins like uninhabitable cities, when the deep sea washes over you and the raging seas cover you, 20 I will lead you down into the pit, to the everlasting people. I will install you in the world below,[b] in the everlasting ruins, with those who go down to the pit. And so you will neither rule nor radiate splendor in the land of the living. 21 I will terrify you, and you will disappear. You will be sought but never found again. This is what the Lord God says.
Tyre, the ship of state
27 The Lord’s word came to me: 2 You, human one, sing a lament for Tyre. 3 Say this about Tyre, who sits enthroned at the entrance to the sea, the people’s agent for trade throughout the coastlands. The Lord God proclaims:
Tyre, you say,
“I’m perfectly beautiful!”
4 But your territory is in the depths of the sea,
and it’s your builders who made you beautiful.
5 For you they made your deck of cypress from Senir.
To make your mast, they took cedar from Lebanon.
6 For your oars, they used the oaks of Bashan.
They made your hull, inlaid with ivory, of boxwood from the coasts of Cyprus.
7 Fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail;
it became your emblem.
Your awning was made of blue and purple cloth from the coasts of Elishah.
8 The princes of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen. Your own wise men were in you as your helmsmen. 9 The elders and wise men of Gebal were in you, patching up your leaks. Every seagoing ship and its sailors came to do business with you. 10 Paras, Lud, and Put were the warriors in your army. By hanging their shields and helmets on you, they made you radiant. 11 The men of Arvad and Helech were stationed on your walls all around; the men of Gamad were in your towers. They hung their weapons on your walls all around. They were the ones who completed your beauty.
12 Tarshish was your procurer of great wealth. For your wares, they exchanged silver, iron, tin, and lead. 13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your agents in human trafficking. They gave you bronze vessels for these wares of yours. 14 Beth-togarmah traded horses, warhorses, and mules for your wares. 15 Islanders from Rhodes[c] were your agents. By contract they procured ebony and ivory for you from many coastlands. 16 Aram was your agent for many products. They traded turquoise, purple cloth, colorful brocades, linen, coral, and rubies for your wares. 17 Judah and the land of Israel were your agents, trading the finest wheat,[d] millet,[e] honey, oil, and balm for your wares. 18 For many of your finished products, Damascus traded out of its great wealth the wine of Helbon and white wool. 19 Vedan and Javan from the region of Uzal traded with you. They exchanged wrought iron, cinnamon, and spices for your wares. 20 Dedan was your agent for saddle blankets. 21 Arabia and all the princes of Kedar traded for you. They procured lambs, rams, and goats for you. 22 They were your agents in Sheba and Raamah. For your wares they exchanged the finest spices, every kind of precious stone, and gold. 23 Haran, Canneh, and Eden were your agents,[f] and also Assyria and Chilmad. 24 They procured fine finished goods for you, garments of purple and brocade, and plush carpets rolled up and securely tied with ropes, among your acquisitions. 25 The ships of Tarshish carried your goods.
You were filled to capacity and heavily laden in the middle of the sea.
26 Your oarsmen brought you out onto the high seas;
an east wind sank you into the sea’s depths.
27 Your goods, your wares, your wealth,
your sailors, your helmsmen, those patching your leaks,
your merchants, all your warriors in you,
and all the company that is with you—
they also sank into the sea’s depth
on the day of your demise.
28 At your helmsmen’s cries for help,
the troubled waters seethe.
29 Those entrusted with the oars desert their posts.
All sailors and helmsmen seek footing on the shore.
30 Loudly they cry,
bitterly they wail,
and they put dust on their heads
and cover themselves with ashes.
31 They cut off all their hair
and put on mourning clothes.
In despair they weep for you,
and bitterly perform the mourning rites.
32 In their lamentation they raise a lament for you;
they sing lamentions over you:
“Who was like Tyre, silenced in the middle of the sea?”
33 When your wares came out from the seas,
you satisfied many people.
Your abundant wealth and merchandise
enriched the kings of the earth.
34 Now you are shattered by the seas;
your cargoes, as well as everyone in your company,
are sunk into the water’s depths.
35 Now the inhabitants of the coastlands
shudder on account of you.
And as for their kings, their hair stands on end;
their faces betray their horror.
36 The merchants for the peoples hiss because of you.
You have become a terror;
from now on you are nothing.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 26:11 LXX; MT it will fall
- Ezekiel 26:20 Or the land of the lowest places
- Ezekiel 27:15 Heb Dedan
- Ezekiel 27:17 Or wheat from Minnith
- Ezekiel 27:17 Heb uncertain
- Ezekiel 27:23 LXX; MT adds Sheba.
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