The Downfall of Tyre

26 In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, because Tyre(A) said about Jerusalem, ‘Aha!(B) The gateway to the peoples is shattered. She has been turned over to me.[a] I will be filled now that she lies in ruins,’ therefore this is what the Lord God says: See, I am against you, Tyre!(C) I will raise up many nations against you, just as the sea raises its waves. They will destroy the walls of Tyre and demolish her towers. I will scrape the soil from her and turn her into a bare rock. She will become a place in the sea to spread nets, for I have spoken.” This is the declaration of the Lord God. “She will become plunder for the nations,(D) and her villages on the mainland will be slaughtered by the sword.(E) Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

For this is what the Lord God says: “See, I am about to bring King Nebuchadnezzar[b] of Babylon, king of kings,(F) against Tyre from the north with horses, chariots, cavalry, and a huge assembly of troops. He will slaughter your villages on the mainland with the sword. He will set up siege works,(G) build a ramp, and raise a wall of shields against you. He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his iron tools. 10 His horses will be so numerous that their dust will cover you. When he enters your gates as an army entering a breached city, your walls will shake from the noise of cavalry, wagons, and chariots. 11 He will trample all your streets with the hooves of his horses.(H) He will slaughter your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground. 12 They will take your wealth as spoil and plunder your merchandise.(I) They will also demolish your walls and tear down your beautiful homes. Then they will throw your stones, timber, and soil into the water. 13 I will put an end to the noise of your songs,(J) and the sound of your lyres will no longer be heard. 14 I will turn you into a bare rock, and you will be a place to spread nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I, the Lord, have spoken.”(K) This is the declaration of the Lord God.

15 This is what the Lord God says to Tyre: “Won’t the coasts and islands quake at the sound of your downfall,(L) when the wounded groan and slaughter occurs within you? 16 All the princes of the sea will descend from their thrones,(M) remove their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground, tremble continually, and be appalled(N) at you. 17 Then they will lament(O) for you and say of you,

‘How you have perished, city of renown,
you who were populated from the seas![c]
She who was powerful on the sea,
she and all of her inhabitants
inflicted their terror.[d]
18 Now the coastlands tremble(P)
on the day of your downfall;
the islands in the sea
are alarmed by your demise.’”

19 For this is what the Lord God says: “When I make you a ruined city like other deserted cities, when I raise up the deep against you so that the mighty waters cover you, 20 then I will bring you down to be with those who descend to the Pit,(Q) to the people of antiquity. I will make you dwell in the underworld[e] like[f] the ancient ruins, with those who descend to the Pit, so that you will no longer be inhabited or display your splendor[g] in the land of the living.(R) 21 I will make you an object of horror, and you will no longer exist.(S) You will be sought but will never be found again.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Footnotes

  1. 26:2 Or It has swung open for me
  2. 26:7 Lit Nebuchadrezzar
  3. 26:17 Some LXX mss read ‘How you were destroyed from the seas, city of renown!
  4. 26:17 Lit and all her inhabitants who put their terror on all her inhabitants; Hb obscure
  5. 26:20 Lit the lower parts of the earth
  6. 26:20 Some Hb mss, LXX; other Hb mss, Syr read in
  7. 26:20 LXX reads or appear

Ezekiel Prophesies Against Tyre

26 And it was in the eleventh[a] year, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came[b] to me, saying,[c] “Son of man,[d] because[e] Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Ah! The gates of the peoples are broken; it has swung open to me; I shall be filled, for it lies in ruins!’ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! I am against you, Tyre, and I will bring up against you many nations like the stirring up of the sea stirring up its waves.[f] And I will destroy the walls of Tyre, and they will demolish its towers, and I will scrape away its earthen dirt from it, and I will make it into a bare rock.[g] It will become a place for spreading out dragnets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken,’ declares[h] the Lord Yahweh. ‘And it will become as plunder for the nations, and its daughters who are in the field with the sword, they will be killed; and they will know that I am Yahweh.’”

For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am bringing to Tyre Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, from the north, the king of kings, with horse and with chariot and with horsemen and his assembly and many people. Your daughters he will kill in the field with the sword, and he will place[i] against you siege works, and he will build against you a siege ramp, and he will raise against you a shield, and the thrust of his battering ram he will direct against your walls, and your towers he will break down with his weapons. 10 From the abundance of his horses he will cover you with their fine dust; at the sound of horseman and wheel and chariot your walls will shake, at his coming into your gates like the entrance of a city that is being broken through. 11 With the hooves of his horses he will trample all of your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your strong stone pillars[j] will tumble down to the earth. 12 And they will plunder your wealth, and they will loot your merchandise, and they will break down your walls, and the houses of your delight they will break down, and your stones and your timbers and your earthen dirt they will cast into the midst of the water. 13 And, I will put an end to the noise of your songs, and the sound of your lyres will not be heard any longer. 14 And I will make you into a bare rock,[k] a place for the spreading out of dragnets. You will not be built again, for I, Yahweh, I have spoken,” declares[l] the Lord Yahweh.

15 Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Tyre, “Will not the coastlands shake from the sound of your downfall, at the groaning of the wounded, at people being killed[m] in the midst of you? 16 And all the princes of the sea will go down from their thrones, and they will remove their robes, and their beautiful garments[n] of finished cloth they will take off. With terror they will be clothed, and on the ground they will sit, and they will tremble continually,[o] and they will be appalled over you. 17 And they will raise a lament over you, and they will say to you,

‘How you have been lost who was inhabited from[p] the seas;
    the city that was praised, that was strong.
It is located on the sea,
    and its inhabitants imposed their terror on all of its inhabitants.[q]
18 Now the coastlands will tremble
    at the day of your downfall,
and the islands that are in the sea
    will be horrified because of your departure.’”

19 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “When I make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited, when bringing up over you the deep, the great surging waters[r] will cover you. 20 And I will bring you down with those who are going down to the grave,[s] an ancient people,[t] and I will cause you to dwell in the world[u] of the depths, in the ruins from of old with those who are going down to the grave,[v] so that you will not be inhabited and have a place[w] in the land of the living. 21 Sudden terrors I will bring on you, and you shall no longer exist; and you will be sought, and you will not be found again forever,”[x] declares[y] the Lord Yahweh.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 26:1 Literally “one ten”
  2. Ezekiel 26:1 Literally “was”
  3. Ezekiel 26:1 Literally “to say”
  4. Ezekiel 26:2 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  5. Ezekiel 26:2 Hebrew “because that”
  6. Ezekiel 26:3 Literally “with respect to its waves”
  7. Ezekiel 26:4 Literally “to barrenness of rock”
  8. Ezekiel 26:5 Literally “declaration of”
  9. Ezekiel 26:8 Hebrew “give”
  10. Ezekiel 26:11 Literally “the stone pillars of strength your”
  11. Ezekiel 26:14 Literally “to barrenness of rock”
  12. Ezekiel 26:14 Literally “declaration of”
  13. Ezekiel 26:15 Literally “at being killed a killing”
  14. Ezekiel 26:16 Literally “the garments of beautiful finished cloth”
  15. Ezekiel 26:16 Literally “for moments”
  16. Ezekiel 26:17 Or “on”
  17. Ezekiel 26:17 Literally “to all of its inhabitants”
  18. Ezekiel 26:19 Literally “the waters the many”
  19. Ezekiel 26:20 Or “pit”
  20. Ezekiel 26:20 Literally “a people of eternity/endless ages”
  21. Ezekiel 26:20 Or “land”
  22. Ezekiel 26:20 Or “pit”
  23. Ezekiel 26:20 Hebrew “and I will give beauty in the land of the living”
  24. Ezekiel 26:21 Literally “to eternity/endless ages”
  25. Ezekiel 26:21 Literally “declaration of”