The Fall of Tyre’s Ruler

28 The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre: This is what the Lord God says:

Your[a] heart is proud,
and you have said, ‘I am a god;(A)
I sit in the seat of gods
in the heart of the sea.’
Yet you are a man and not a god,
though you have regarded your heart
as that of a god.
Yes, you are wiser than Daniel;(B)
no secret is hidden from you!
By your wisdom and understanding
you have acquired wealth for yourself.
You have acquired gold and silver
for your treasuries.(C)
By your great skill in trading
you have increased your wealth,
but your heart has become proud
because of your wealth.”

Therefore this is what the Lord God says:

Because you regard your heart as that of a god,
I am about to bring strangers against you,
ruthless men from the nations.
They will draw their swords
against your magnificent wisdom
and will defile your splendor.(D)
They will bring you down to the Pit,(E)
and you will die a violent death
in the heart of the sea.
Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’
in the presence of those who kill[b] you?
Yet you will be only a man, not a god,
in the hands of those who kill you.
10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised(F)
at the hands of strangers.(G)
For I have spoken.
This is the declaration of the Lord God.

A Lament for Tyre’s King

11 The word of the Lord came to me: 12 “Son of man, lament(H) for the king of Tyre and say to him: This is what the Lord God says:

You were the seal[c] of perfection,[d]
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.(I)
13 You were in Eden,(J) the garden of God.
Every kind of precious stone covered you:
carnelian, topaz, and diamond,[e]
beryl, onyx, and jasper,
sapphire,[f] turquoise[g] and emerald.[h]
Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold;(K)
they were prepared on the day you were created.
14 You were an anointed guardian cherub,(L)
for[i] I had appointed you.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.
15 From the day you were created
you were blameless in your ways
until wickedness was found in you.
16 Through the abundance of your trade,
you were filled with violence, and you sinned.
So I expelled you in disgrace
from the mountain of God,
and banished you, guardian cherub,[j]
from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart became proud because of your beauty;(M)
For the sake of your splendor
you corrupted your wisdom.
So I threw you down to the earth;
I made you a spectacle before kings.
18 You profaned your sanctuaries
by the magnitude of your iniquities
in your dishonest trade.
So I made fire come from within you,
and it consumed you.(N)
I reduced you to ashes on the ground
in the sight of everyone watching you.
19 All those who know you among the nations
are appalled at you.
You have become an object of horror
and will never exist again.”(O)

A Prophecy against Sidon

20 The word of the Lord came to me: 21 “Son of man, turn your face toward Sidon(P) and prophesy against it. 22 You are to say: This is what the Lord God says:

Look! I am against you, Sidon,(Q)
and I will display My glory within you.
They will know that I am Yahweh
when I execute judgments against her(R)
and demonstrate My holiness through her.
23 I will send a plague against her(S)
and bloodshed in her streets;
the slain will fall within her,
while the sword is against her[k] on every side.
Then they will know that I am Yahweh.

24 “The house of Israel will no longer be hurt by[l] prickly briers or painful thorns(T) from all their neighbors who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.

25 “This is what the Lord God says: When I gather the house of Israel(U) from the peoples where they are scattered and demonstrate My holiness through them in the sight of the nations, then they will live in their own land, which I gave to My servant Jacob. 26 They will live there securely,(V) build houses, and plant vineyards.(W) They will live securely when I execute judgments(X) against all their neighbors who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am Yahweh their God.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 28:2 Lit Because your
  2. Ezekiel 28:9 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Vg; other Hb mss read of the one who kills
  3. Ezekiel 28:12 Or sealer
  4. Ezekiel 28:12 Hb obscure
  5. Ezekiel 28:13 Hb obscure
  6. Ezekiel 28:13 Or lapis lazuli
  7. Ezekiel 28:13 Or malachite, or garnet
  8. Ezekiel 28:13 Or beryl
  9. Ezekiel 28:14 Or With an anointed guardian cherub
  10. Ezekiel 28:16 Or and the guardian cherub banished you
  11. Ezekiel 28:23 Or within her by the sword
  12. Ezekiel 28:24 Lit longer have

Prince of Tyre

28 The Lord’s word came to me: Human one, say to the prince of Tyre, The Lord God proclaims: In your arrogance, you say, “I am God, and as God I rule the seas!” Though you claim to have the mind of a god, you are mortal, not divine. You are certainly wiser than Daniel; no secrets are hidden from you. By your wisdom and discernment, you made yourself rich, and you filled your storehouses with silver and gold. Through your shrewd trading you multiplied your riches. But then you became proud of your riches.

So now the Lord God proclaims: Because you claim to have the mind of a god, I’ll bring foreigners, the most ruthless nations, against you. They will let loose their swords against your fine wisdom, and they will degrade your splendor. They will hurl you to destruction, and you will die, murdered, on the high seas. When you face your murderers, will you still say, “I’m God”? In your killers’ hands, you are mortal, not divine. 10 You will die as the uncircumcised do, at the hands of foreigners. I have spoken. This is what the Lord God has said.

11 The Lord’s word came to me: 12 Human one, sing a lament for the king of Tyre. Say to him, The Lord God proclaims: You were full of wisdom and beauty, the image of perfection. 13 You were in Eden, God’s garden. You were covered with gold and every precious stone: carnelian, topaz, and moonstone; beryl, onyx, and jasper; lapis lazuli, turquoise, and emerald. On the day that you were created, finely crafted pendants and engravings were prepared. 14 You, a winged creature, were installed as a guardian. I placed you in God’s holy mountain where you walked among the stones of fire. 15 From the day you were created until injustice was found in you, your ways were assured. 16 But because of your trade, your oppressive business practices piled up, and you became impure. So I expelled you from God’s mountain. I removed you, winged creature, guardian, from among the stones of fire. 17 You exalted yourself because of your beauty and corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I will cast you down to the earth in the sight of kings, and I will make a spectacle of you. 18 Because of your corrupt trade, which surpassed your many other sins, you made your sanctuaries impure. Therefore, I will bring fire from your midst. When it has consumed you, I will turn you into dust on the earth in the sight of all who see you. 19 Everyone among the peoples who knows you will be appalled because of you. You will become a terror. From that time on, you will be nothing.

Against Sidon

20 The Lord’s word came to me: 21 Human one, face Sidon, prophesy against it, 22 and say, The Lord God proclaims: I’m against you, Sidon, and I will manifest my glory in you. When I’ve executed judgment against it and through it have manifested my holiness, they will know that I am the Lord. 23 I will hurl plague against it, and blood will run in its streets. When the sword comes against it from all sides, the slain will fall within it. Then they will know that I am the Lord. 24 The house of Israel will no longer suffer from the pricking thorn or painful briar of any of its neighbors who hold it in contempt. And they will know that I am the Lord God.

25 The Lord God proclaims: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they’ve scattered, and I demonstrate my holiness through them in the sight of the nations, they will live on their fertile land, which I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 They will live on it in safety. They will build houses, plant vineyards, and live in safety. When I execute judgments against all who hold them in contempt on every side, they will know that I, the Lord, am their God.