Ezekiel 26
New English Translation
A Prophecy Against Tyre
26 In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month,[a] the Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, because Tyre[b] has said about Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I will become rich,[c] now that she[d] has been destroyed,’ 3 therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look,[e] I am against you,[f] O Tyre! I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. 4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers. I will scrape her soil[g] from her and make her a bare rock. 5 She will be a place where fishing nets are spread, surrounded by the sea. For I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. She will become plunder for the nations, 6 and her daughters[h] who are in the field will be slaughtered by the sword. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
7 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Take note that[i] I am about to bring King Nebuchadrezzar[j] of Babylon, king of kings, against Tyre from the north, with horses, chariots, and horsemen, an army and hordes of people. 8 He will kill your daughters in the field with the sword. He will build a siege wall against you, erect a siege ramp against you, and raise a great shield against you. 9 He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his weapons.[k] 10 He will cover you with the dust kicked up by his many horses.[l] Your walls will shake from the noise of the horsemen, wheels, and chariots when he enters your gates like those who invade through a city’s broken walls.[m] 11 With his horses’ hooves he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will tumble down to the ground. 12 They will steal your wealth and loot your merchandise. They will tear down your walls and destroy your luxurious[n] homes. Your stones, your trees, and your soil he will throw[o] into the water.[p] 13 I will silence[q] the noise of your songs; the sound of your harps will be heard no more. 14 I will make you a bare rock; you will be a place where fishing nets are spread. You will never be built again,[r] for I, the Lord, have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Tyre: Oh, how the coastlands will shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan at the massive slaughter in your midst! 16 All the princes of the sea will vacate[s] their thrones. They will remove their robes and strip off their embroidered clothes; they will clothe themselves with trembling. They will sit on the ground; they will tremble continually and be shocked at what has happened to you.[t] 17 They will sing this lament over you:[u]
“‘How you have perished—you have vanished[v] from the seas,
O renowned city, once mighty in the sea,
she and her inhabitants, who spread their terror![w]
18 Now the coastlands will tremble on the day of your fall;
the coastlands by the sea will be terrified by your passing.’[x]
19 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I make you desolate like the uninhabited cities, when I bring up the deep over you and the surging[y] waters overwhelm you, 20 then I will bring you down to bygone people,[z] to be with those who descend to the Pit. I will make you live in the lower parts of the earth among[aa] the primeval ruins, with those who descend to the Pit, so that you will not be inhabited or stand[ab] in the land of the living. 21 I will bring terrors on you, and you will be no more! Though you are sought after, you will never be found again, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 26:1 tc Date formulae typically include the month. According to D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 2:34, n. 27) some emend to “in the twelfth year in the eleventh month,” relying partially on the copy of the LXX from Alexandrinus, where Albright suggested that “eleventh month” may have dropped out due to haplography.sn April 23, 587 b.c.
- Ezekiel 26:2 sn Tyre was located on the Mediterranean coast north of Israel.
- Ezekiel 26:2 tn Heb “I will be filled.”
- Ezekiel 26:2 sn That is, Jerusalem.
- Ezekiel 26:3 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws attention to something and has been translated here as a verb.
- Ezekiel 26:3 tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘hinnenî ’êlékâ’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.
- Ezekiel 26:4 tn Or “debris.”
- Ezekiel 26:6 sn That is, the towns located inland that were under Tyre’s rule.
- Ezekiel 26:7 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws attention to something.
- Ezekiel 26:7 tn Heb “Nebuchadrezzar” is a variant and more correct spelling of Nebuchadnezzar, as the Babylonian name Nabu-kudurri-uṣur has an an “r” rather than an “n.”
- Ezekiel 26:9 tn Heb “swords.”
- Ezekiel 26:10 tn Heb “From the abundance of his horses he will cover you (with) their dust.”
- Ezekiel 26:10 tn Heb “like those who enter a breached city.”
- Ezekiel 26:12 tn Heb “desirable.”
- Ezekiel 26:12 tn Heb “set.”
- Ezekiel 26:12 tn Heb “into the midst of the water.”
- Ezekiel 26:13 tn Heb “cause to end.”
- Ezekiel 26:14 sn This prophecy was fulfilled by Alexander the Great in 332 b.c.
- Ezekiel 26:16 tn Heb “descend from.”
- Ezekiel 26:16 tn Heb “and they will be astonished over you.”
- Ezekiel 26:17 tn Heb “and they will lift up over you a lament and they will say to you.”
- Ezekiel 26:17 tn Heb “O inhabitant.” The translation follows the LXX and understands a different Hebrew verb, meaning “cease,” behind the consonantal text. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 2:72, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:43.
- Ezekiel 26:17 tn Heb “she and her inhabitants who placed their terror to all her inhabitants.” The relationship of the final prepositional phrase to what precedes is unclear. The preposition probably has a specifying function here, drawing attention to Tyre’s inhabitants as the source of the terror mentioned prior to this. In this case, one might paraphrase verse 17b: “she and her inhabitants, who spread their terror; yes, her inhabitants (were the source of this terror).”
- Ezekiel 26:18 tn Heb “from your going out.”
- Ezekiel 26:19 tn Heb “many.”
- Ezekiel 26:20 tn Heb “to the people of antiquity.”
- Ezekiel 26:20 tn Heb “like.” The translation assumes an emendation of the preposition כ (kaf, “like”) to ב (bet, “in, among”).
- Ezekiel 26:20 tn Heb “and I will place beauty.” This reading makes little sense; many, following the lead of the LXX, emend the text to read: “nor will you stand,” with the negative particle before the preceding verb understood by ellipsis; see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:73. D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 2:47) offers another alternative, taking the apparent first person verb form as an archaic second feminine form and translating “nor radiate splendor.”
Ezekiel 26
Common English Bible
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.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 26:11 LXX; MT it will fall
- Ezekiel 26:20 Or the land of the lowest places
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