Ezekiel 27
Expanded Bible
A Funeral Song for Tyre
27 The ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to me, saying: 2 “·Human [T Son of man; 2:1], sing a ·funeral song [lament; dirge] for the city of Tyre. 3 Speak to Tyre, which ·has ports for the Mediterranean Sea [L sits at the gateway to the Sea] and is a ·place for trade [merchant] for the people of many coastlands. ‘This is what the Lord God says:
Tyre, you have said,
“I am ·like a beautiful ship [L perfect in beauty].”
4 ·You were at home on [L Your borders were in the heart of] the high seas.
Your builders made your beauty perfect.
5 They made all your boards
of fir trees from ·Mount Hermon [L Senir].
They took a cedar tree from Lebanon
to make a ship’s mast for you.
6 They made your oars
from oak trees from Bashan.
They made your deck
from cypress trees from the coast of ·Cyprus [L Kittim]
·and set ivory into it [inlaid with ivory].
7 Your sail of ·linen with designs sewed on it [embroidered linen] came from Egypt
and ·became like a flag for you [served as your banner].
Your ·cloth shades over the deck [awnings] were blue and purple
and came from the ·island [coastlands] of ·Cyprus [L Elisha; C a city on the east side of Cyprus and an older name for the island].
8 ·Men [Residents; or Leaders] from Sidon [C a major city twenty-five miles north of Tyre] and Arvad [C a city on the Phoenician coast, north of Sidon] used oars to row you.
Tyre, your skilled men were ·the sailors [or captains; pilots] on your deck.
9 ·Workers [or Veteran craftsmen; L Elders] of Byblos were with you,
putting caulk in your ship’s seams.
All the ships of the sea and their sailors
came alongside to trade with you.
10 “‘Men of Persia, ·Lydia [L Lud; C a city in Asia Minor], and ·Put [C present-day Libya, in North Africa]
were warriors in your ·navy [army]
and hung their shields and helmets on your sides.
They ·made you look beautiful [gave you splendor].
11 Men of Arvad [v. 8] and ·Cilicia [L Helech; C southeast Asia Minor]
guarded your city walls all around.
Men of Gammad [C an unknown location, perhaps northern Asia Minor]
were in your watchtowers
and hung their shields around your walls.
They made your beauty perfect.
12 “‘People of Tarshish [C probably in southern Spain; Jonah 1:3] became traders for you because of your great wealth. They ·traded [exchanged] your goods for silver, iron, tin, and lead.
13 “‘People of ·Greece [L Javan], Tubal, and Meshech [C both in Asia Minor; 32:26] became merchants for you. They traded your goods for slaves and items of bronze.
14 “‘People of Beth Togarmah [C eastern Asia Minor; present-day Armenia] traded your goods for ·work [or chariot] horses, war horses [C either chariot of cavalry horses], and mules.
15 “‘·People of [L Sons of] Rhodes[a] [C an island off southwest coast of Asia Minor] became merchants for you, selling your goods on many coastlands. They brought back ivory tusks and ·valuable black wood [ebony] as your payment.
16 “‘People of Aram[b] [C Syria] ·became traders for [did business with] you, because you had so many good things to sell. They traded your goods for turquoise, purple cloth, ·cloth with designs sewed on [embroidered work], fine linen, coral, and rubies.
17 “‘People of Judah and Israel became merchants for you. They traded your goods for wheat from Minnith [C a town in Ammon, east of the Jordan River], and for ·meal [millet], honey, olive oil, and balm.
20 “‘People of Dedan [C a territory in southern Edom] became merchants for you, trading saddle blankets for riding.
21 “‘People of Arabia and all the ·rulers [princes] of Kedar became traders for you. They received lambs, ·male sheep [rams], and goats in payment for you.
22 “‘The merchants of Sheba [C the southwestern Arabian peninsula, present-day Yemen] and Raamah [C a city in southern Arabia] became merchants for you. They traded your goods for all the best spices, ·valuable gems [precious stones], and gold.
23 “‘People of Haran [C a city in present-day eastern Turkey], Canneh [C unknown location], Eden [C in Mesopotamia near Haran], and the traders of Sheba [v. 22], Asshur [C a city south of Nineveh], and Kilmad [C an unknown location] became merchants for you. 24 They were paid with the best clothes, blue cloth, ·cloth with designs sewed on [embroidered work], carpets of many colors, ·and tightly wound ropes [or rolled up and tied with cords; or made of tightly knotted cords].
25 “‘·Trading ships [or The ships of Tarshish]
carried ·the things you sold [your merchandise].
You were like a ship full of heavy cargo
in the ·middle [L heart] of the sea.
26 The men who rowed you
brought you out into the high seas,
but the east wind broke you to pieces
in the ·middle [L heart] of the sea.
27 Your wealth, your ·trade [products], your goods,
your seamen, your ·sailors [or captains], your ·workers [or caulkers],
your traders, your ·warriors [soldiers],
and everyone else on board
sank into the ·sea [L heart of the sea]
on the day ·your ship was wrecked [L of your fall].
28 The ·people on the shore shake with fear [L countryside shakes; or waves surge]
when your ·sailors [or captains] cry out.
29 All the men who row
·leave [disembark from; or abandon] their ships;
the seamen and the ·sailors [or captains] of other ships
stand on the shore.
30 They cry loudly about you;
they cry ·very much [bitterly].
They throw dust on their heads
and roll in ashes.
31 They shave their heads for you,
and they put on ·rough cloth [burlap; sackcloth; C signs of sorrow and distress].
They ·cry and sob for you [weep over you with bitter souls];
they ·cry loudly [mourn bitterly].
32 And in their ·loud crying [wailing]
they sing a ·funeral song [lament; dirge] for you:
“·No one was ever destroyed [L Who was…?] like Tyre,
·surrounded by [or like a tower in the middle of; or now silent in the midst of] the sea.”
33 When the goods you traded went out over the seas,
you ·met the needs of [satisfied] many nations.
With your great wealth and ·goods [merchandise],
you made kings of the earth rich.
34 But now you are ·broken [shipwrecked; shattered] by the sea
·and have sunk to the bottom [L in the depths of the waters].
Your ·goods [merchandise] and all the people on board
have gone down with you.
35 All those who live along the ·shore [coastland]
are ·shocked [appalled; aghast] by what happened to you.
Their kings are ·terribly afraid [horrified],
and their faces ·show their fear [are troubled/contorted].
36 The traders among the nations hiss at you.
You have ·come to a terrible end [or become a horror],
and you are gone forever.’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 27:15 Rhodes Greek copies read “Rhodes.” Hebrew copies read “Dedan.”
- Ezekiel 27:16 Aram Some Hebrew copies read “Edom.”
- Ezekiel 27:18 barrels of wine Some Hebrew copies read “Vedan and Javan.”
Ezekiel 27
Amplified Bible
Dirge for Tyre
27 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 2 “Now you, son of man, take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) for Tyre, 3 and say to Tyre, who lives at the entrance to the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, ‘Thus says the Lord God,
“O Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’
4
“Your borders are in the heart of the seas;
Your builders have perfected your beauty.
5
“They have made all your planks of fir trees from [a]Senir;
They have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
6
“Of the oaks of Bashan they have made your oars;
They have made your deck of boxwood from the coastlands of Cyprus, inlaid with ivory.
7
“Your sail was of fine embroidered linen from Egypt
So that it became your distinguishing mark (insignia);
Your [ship’s] awning [which covered you] was blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah [of Asia Minor].
8
“The inhabitants of Sidon and [the island] of Arvad were your oarsmen;
Your skilled and wise men, O Tyre, were with you; they were your pilots.
9
“The elders of [b]Gebal and its skilled and wise men were with you, repairing your leaks;
All the ships of the sea with their mariners were with you to deal in your merchandise.
10 “Persia and Lud and Put (Libya) were in your army as your men of war. They hung the shield and the helmet on you; they gave you splendor. 11 The men of Arvad with your army were upon your walls, all around, and the Gammadim (men of valor) were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls, all around; they perfected your beauty.
12 “Tarshish [in Spain] was your customer and traded with you because of the abundance of your riches of all kinds; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they paid for your wares. 13 Javan (Greece), Tubal and Meshech (Asia Minor) traded with you; with the lives of men [taken as slaves] and vessels of bronze they paid for your merchandise. 14 Those from Beth-togarmah (Armenia) traded for your wares with [chariot] horses, war horses, and mules. 15 The men of [c]Dedan were your traders. Many coastlands were your markets; ivory tusks and ebony they brought to you in payment or as gifts. 16 [d]Aram traded with you because of the abundance of the goods you made. They paid for your merchandise with emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies. 17 Judah and the land of Israel, they were your traders; with the wheat of Minnith [in Ammon], cakes, honey, oil, and balm they paid for your goods. 18 [e]Damascus traded with you because of the abundance of your handiworks and the immense wealth of every kind, with the wine of Helbon [Aleppo] and the white wool [of Sachar in Syria]. 19 Vedan and Javan traded with yarn from Uzal [in Arabia] for your wares; wrought iron, cassia, and sweet cane were among your merchandise. 20 Dedan traded with you in saddle blankets for riding. 21 Arabia and all the princes of Kedar, they were your customers for lambs, rams, and goats [favored by you]; for these they were your customers. 22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah [in Arabia], they traded with you; they paid for your wares with the choicest of all kinds of spices and all kinds of precious stones and gold. 23 Haran and Canneh and Eden [in Mesopotamia], the merchants of Sheba [on the Euphrates], Asshur and Chilmad traded with you. 24 They traded with you in choice fabrics and garments, in clothes of blue or violet and embroidered work, and in [treasures of] multi-colored damask and knotted carpets bound with tightly wound cords, which were among your merchandise. 25 The ships of Tarshish were the caravans for your merchandise,
And you [Tyre] were replenished and very glorious [heavily laden with an imposing fleet]
In the heart of the seas.
26
“Your rowers have brought you
Into great and deep waters;
The east wind has broken and shipwrecked you
In the heart of the seas.
27
“Your riches, your wares, your merchandise
Your oarsmen and your pilots,
Your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise,
And all your men of war who are with you,
With all your company that is in your midst,
Will sink in the heart of the seas
On the day of your ruin.
28
“The pasture lands and the countryside will shake
At the [piercing] sound of the [hopeless, wailing] cry of your pilots.
29
“All who handle the oar,
The mariners and all the pilots of the sea
Will come down from their ships;
They will stand on the shore,
30
And they will make their voice heard [as they wail loudly] over you
And they will cry bitterly.
They will throw dust on their heads;
They will wallow in ashes.
31
“And they will make themselves [completely] bald for you
And wrap themselves in sackcloth;
And in bitterness of soul they will weep for you
With bitter mourning and wailing.
32
“In their wailing they will take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) for you
And sing a dirge for you:
‘Who is like Tyre,
Like her who is silent [destroyed] in the midst of the sea?
33
‘When your wares went out to the sea,
You met the desire, and the demand, and the necessities of many people;
You enriched the kings of the earth
With your abundant wealth and merchandise.
34
‘Now you are shattered by the seas
In the depths of the waters;
Your merchandise and all your crew
Have gone down with you.
35
‘All the inhabitants of the coastlands
Are aghast and appalled at you,
And their kings are horribly frightened and shudder;
Their faces twitch and pale.
36
‘The merchants among the people hiss at you [with malicious joy];
You have become a horror and a source of terrors.
You will cease to be [f]forever.’”’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 27:5 A peak of Mount Hermon.
- Ezekiel 27:9 A city north of Sidon.
- Ezekiel 27:15 The first Dedanites to settle in Arabia may have sailed to Arabia from the island of Rhodes.
- Ezekiel 27:16 The people of the kingdom of Aram were descendants of Aram, the son of Shem, son of Noah (Gen 10:22, 23). The territory of the Arameans also included areas later identified as Syria and Mesopotamia.
- Ezekiel 27:18 The capital city of Aram.
- Ezekiel 27:36 As late as the thirteenth century a.d. the grandeur of the ancient city of Tyre was still visible. As time passed a large part of the western section of “the island” became covered by the sea, and early travelers told of seeing “houses, towers, and streets far down in the deep.” The site gradually disappeared; however, sporadic excavations (subject to the political climate) began in 1947, and many sections of the ancient city have been uncovered. Tyre is located about 50 miles south of Beirut.
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