Ezekiel 28
New English Translation
A Prophecy Against the King of Tyre
28 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, say to the prince[a] of Tyre, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘Your heart is proud[b] and you said, “I am a god;[c]
I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas”—
yet you are a man and not a god,
though you think you are godlike.[d]
3 Look, you are wiser than Daniel;[e]
no secret is hidden from you.[f]
4 By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself;
you have amassed gold and silver in your treasuries.
5 By your great skill[g] in trade you have increased your wealth,
and your heart is proud because of your wealth.
6 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
Because you think you are godlike,[h]
7 I am about to bring foreigners[i] against you, the most terrifying of nations.
They will draw their swords against the grandeur made by your wisdom,[j]
and they will defile your splendor.
8 They will bring you down to the Pit, and you will die violently[k] in the heart of the seas.
9 Will you still say, “I am a god,” before the one who kills you—
though you are a man and not a god—
when you are in the power of those who wound you?
10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised[l] by the hand of foreigners;
for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
11 The Lord’s message came to me: 12 “Son of man, sing[m] a lament for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘You were the sealer[n] of perfection,
full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God.[o]
Every precious stone was your covering,
the ruby, topaz, and emerald,
the chrysolite, onyx, and jasper,
the sapphire, turquoise, and beryl;[p]
your settings and mounts were made of gold.
On the day you were created they were prepared.
14 I placed you there with an anointed[q] guardian[r] cherub;[s]
you were on the holy mountain of God;
you walked about amidst fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your behavior[t] from the day you were created,
until sin was discovered in you.
16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence,[u] and you sinned;
so I defiled you and banished you[v] from the mountain of God—
the guardian cherub expelled you[w] from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
you corrupted your wisdom on account of your splendor.
I threw you down to the ground;
I placed you before kings, that they might see you.
18 By the multitude of your iniquities, through the sinfulness of your trade,
you desecrated your sanctuaries.
So I drew fire out from within you;
it consumed you,
and I turned you to ashes on the earth
before the eyes of all who saw you.
19 All who know you among the peoples are shocked at you;
you have become terrified and will be no more.’”
A Prophecy Against Sidon
20 The Lord’s message came to me: 21 “Son of man, turn toward[x] Sidon[y] and prophesy against it. 22 Say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘Look, I am against you,[z] Sidon,
and I will magnify myself in your midst.
Then they will know that I am the Lord
when I execute judgments on her
and reveal my sovereign power[aa] in her.
23 I will send a plague into the city[ab] and bloodshed into its streets;
the slain will fall within it, by the sword that attacks it[ac] from every side.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.
24 “‘No longer will Israel suffer from the sharp briers[ad] or painful thorns of all who surround and scorn them.[ae] Then they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.
25 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I regather the house of Israel from the peoples where they are dispersed, I will reveal my sovereign power[af] over them in the sight of the nations, and they will live in their land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 They will live securely in it; they will build houses and plant vineyards. They will live securely[ag] when I execute my judgments on all those who scorn them and surround them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 28:2 tn Or “ruler” (NIV, NCV).
- Ezekiel 28:2 tn Heb “lifted up.” sn See Prov 16:5.
- Ezekiel 28:2 tn Or “I am divine.”
- Ezekiel 28:2 tn Heb “and you made your heart/mind (לֵב, lev) like the heart/mind of gods.”
- Ezekiel 28:3 sn Or perhaps “Danel” (so TEV), referring to a ruler known from Canaanite legend. See the note on “Daniel” in 14:14. A reference to Danel (preserved in legend at Ugarit, near the northern end of the Phoenician coast) makes more sense here when addressing Tyre than in 14:14.
- Ezekiel 28:3 sn The tone here is sarcastic, reflecting the ruler’s view of himself.
- Ezekiel 28:5 tn Or “wisdom.”
- Ezekiel 28:6 tn Heb “because of your making your heart like the heart of gods.”
- Ezekiel 28:7 sn This is probably a reference to the Babylonians.
- Ezekiel 28:7 tn Heb “they will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom.”
- Ezekiel 28:8 tn Heb “you will die the death of the slain.”
- Ezekiel 28:10 sn The Phoenicians practiced circumcision, so the language here must be figurative, indicating that they would be treated in a disgraceful manner. Uncircumcised peoples were viewed as inferior and unclean. See 31:18 and 32:17-32, as well as the discussion in D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:99.
- Ezekiel 28:12 tn Heb “lift up.”
- Ezekiel 28:12 tn For a discussion of possible nuances of this phrase, see M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:580-81.
- Ezekiel 28:13 sn The imagery of the lament appears to draw upon an extrabiblical Eden tradition about the expulsion of the first man (see v. 14 and the note there) from the garden due to his pride. The biblical Eden tradition speaks of cherubim placed as guardians at the garden entrance following the sin of Adam and Eve (Gen 3:24), but no guardian cherub like the one described in verse 14 is depicted or mentioned in the biblical account. Ezekiel’s imagery also appears to reflect Mesopotamian and Canaanite mythology at certain points. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:119-20.
- Ezekiel 28:13 tn The exact identification of each gemstone is uncertain. The list should be compared to that of the priest in Exod 28:17-20, which lists twelve stones in rows of three. The LXX apparently imports the Exod 28 list. See reference to the types of stones in L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.
- Ezekiel 28:14 tn Or “winged”; see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.
- Ezekiel 28:14 tn The meaning of this phrase in Hebrew is uncertain. The word translated here “guards” occurs in Exod 25:20 in reference to the cherubim “covering” the ark.
- Ezekiel 28:14 tn Heb “you (were) an anointed cherub that covers, and I placed you.” In the Hebrew text the ruler of Tyre is equated with a cherub, and the verb “I placed you” is taken with what follows (“on the holy mountain of God”). However, this reading is problematic. The pronoun “you” at the beginning of verse 14 is feminine singular in the Hebrew text; elsewhere in this passage the ruler of Tyre is addressed with masculine singular forms. It is possible that the pronoun is a rare (see Deut 5:24; Num 11:15) or defectively written (see 1 Sam 24:19; Neh 9:6; Job 1:10; Ps 6:3; Eccl 7:22) masculine form, but it is more likely that the form should be repointed as the preposition “with” (see the LXX). In this case the ruler of Tyre is compared to the first man, not to a cherub. If this emendation is accepted, then the verb “I placed you” belongs with what precedes and concludes the first sentence in the verse. It is noteworthy that the verbs in the second and third lines of the verse also appear at the end of the sentence in the Hebrew text. The presence of a conjunction at the beginning of “I placed you” is problematic for the proposal, but it may reflect a later misunderstanding of the syntax of the verse. For a defense of the proposed emendation, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.
- Ezekiel 28:15 tn Heb “ways.”
- Ezekiel 28:16 tn Heb “they filled your midst with violence.”
- Ezekiel 28:16 tn Heb “I defiled you.” The presence of the preposition “from” following the verb indicates that a verb of motion is implied as well. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.
- Ezekiel 28:16 tn Heb “and I expelled you, O guardian cherub.” The Hebrew text takes the verb as first person and understands “guardian cherub” as a vocative, in apposition to the pronominal suffix on the verb. However, if the emendation in verse 14a is accepted (see the note above), then one may follow the LXX here as well and emend the verb to a third person perfect. In this case the subject of the verb is the guardian cherub. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.
- Ezekiel 28:21 tn Heb “set your face against.”
- Ezekiel 28:21 sn Sidon was located 25 miles north of Tyre.
- Ezekiel 28:22 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 28:22 tn Or “reveal my holiness.” God’s “holiness” is fundamentally his transcendence as sovereign ruler of the world. The revelation of his authority and power through judgment is in view in this context.
- Ezekiel 28:23 tn Heb “into it”; the referent of the feminine pronoun has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Ezekiel 28:23 tn Heb “by a sword against it.”
- Ezekiel 28:24 sn Similar language is used in reference to Israel’s adversaries in Num 33:55 and Josh 23:13.
- Ezekiel 28:24 tn Heb “and there will not be for the house of Israel a brier that pricks and a thorn that inflicts pain from all the ones who surround them, the ones who scorn them.”
- Ezekiel 28:25 tn Or “reveal my holiness.” See verse 22.
- Ezekiel 28:26 sn This promise was given in Lev 25:18-19.
Ezekiel 28
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Proclamation against the King of Tyre
28 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, say to the prince of Tyre: Thus says the Lord God:
Because your heart is proud
and you have said, “I am a god;
I sit in the seat of the gods,
in the heart of the seas,”
yet you are but a mortal and no god,
though you compare your mind
with the mind of a god.(A)
3 You are indeed wiser than Daniel;[a]
no secret is hidden from you;(B)
4 by your wisdom and your understanding
you have amassed wealth for yourself
and have gathered gold and silver
into your treasuries.(C)
5 By your great wisdom in trade
you have increased your wealth,
and your heart has become proud in your wealth.(D)
6 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
Because you compare your mind
with the mind of a god,(E)
7 therefore, I will bring strangers against you,
the most terrible of the nations;
they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom
and defile your splendor.(F)
8 They shall thrust you down to the Pit,
and you shall die a violent death
in the heart of the seas.(G)
9 Will you still say, “I am a god,”
in the presence of those who kill you,
though you are but a mortal and no god,
in the hands of those who pierce you?
10 You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
by the hand of foreigners,
for I have spoken, says the Lord God.(H)
Lamentation over the King of Tyre
11 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me: 12 Mortal, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him: Thus says the Lord God:
You were the signet of perfection,[b]
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.(I)
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
every precious stone was your covering,
carnelian, chrysolite, and moonstone,
beryl, onyx, and jasper,
sapphire,[c] turquoise, and emerald;
and worked in gold were your settings
and your engravings.[d]
On the day that you were created
they were prepared.(J)
14 You were a cherub;[e]
I placed you on the holy mountain of God;
you walked among the stones of fire.(K)
15 You were blameless in your ways
from the day that you were created,
until iniquity was found in you.(L)
16 In the abundance of your trade
you were filled with violence, and you sinned,
so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
and I drove you out, O guardian cherub,
from among the stones of fire.(M)
17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
I exposed you before kings,
to feast their eyes on you.(N)
18 By the multitude of your iniquities,
in the unrighteousness of your trade,
you profaned your sanctuaries.
So I brought out fire from within you;
it consumed you,
and I turned you to ashes on the earth
in the sight of all who saw you.(O)
19 All who know you among the peoples
are appalled at you;
you have come to a dreadful end
and shall be no more forever.(P)
Proclamation against Sidon
20 The word of the Lord came to me: 21 Mortal, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against it,(Q) 22 and say: Thus says the Lord God:
I am against you, O Sidon,
and I will gain glory in your midst.
They shall know that I am the Lord
when I execute judgments in it
and manifest my holiness in it;(R)
23 for I will send pestilence into it,
and bloodshed into its streets;
and the dead shall fall in its midst,
by the sword that is against it on every side.
And they shall know that I am the Lord.(S)
24 The house of Israel shall no longer find a pricking brier or a piercing thorn among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. And they shall know that I am the Lord God.(T)
Future Blessing for Israel
25 Thus says the Lord God: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall settle on their own soil that I gave to my servant Jacob.(U) 26 They shall live in safety in it and shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall live in safety when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God.(V)
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