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
English Standard Version
A Lament for Tyre
27 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Now you, (A)son of man, (B)raise a lamentation over Tyre, 3 and say to Tyre, who dwells at (C)the entrances to the sea, (D)merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, thus says the Lord God:
“O Tyre, you have said,
‘I am (E)perfect in beauty.’
4 Your borders are (F)in the heart of the seas;
your builders made perfect your beauty.
5 They made all your planks
of fir trees from (G)Senir;
they took (H)a cedar from Lebanon
to make a mast for you.
6 Of (I)oaks of Bashan
they made your oars;
they made your deck of pines
from (J)the coasts of Cyprus,
inlaid with ivory.
7 (K)Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt
was your sail,
serving as your banner;
blue and purple from (L)the coasts of Elishah
was your awning.
8 The inhabitants of Sidon and (M)Arvad
were your rowers;
your skilled men, O Tyre, were in you;
they were (N)your pilots.
9 The elders of (O)Gebal and her skilled men were in you,
(P)caulking your seams;
all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you
to barter for your wares.
10 (Q)“Persia and (R)Lud and (S)Put were in your army as your men of war. (T)They hung the shield and helmet in you; they gave you splendor. 11 Men of (U)Arvad and Helech were on your walls all around, and men of Gamad were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls all around; they made (V)perfect your beauty.
12 (W)“Tarshish did (X)business with you because of your great wealth of every kind; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your (Y)wares. 13 (Z)Javan, (AA)Tubal, and (AB)Meshech traded with you; they exchanged human beings and vessels of bronze for your merchandise. 14 From (AC)Beth-togarmah they exchanged horses, war horses, and mules (AD)for your wares. 15 The men of (AE)Dedan[a] traded with you. Many coastlands were your own special markets; they brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony. 16 Syria (AF)did business with you because of your abundant goods; they exchanged for your wares (AG)emeralds, (AH)purple, (AI)embroidered work, (AJ)fine linen, coral, and (AK)ruby. 17 Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise (AL)wheat of (AM)Minnith, meal,[b] honey, oil, and (AN)balm. 18 (AO)Damascus did business with you for your abundant goods, because of your great wealth of every kind; wine of Helbon and (AP)wool of Sahar 19 and casks of wine[c] from Uzal they exchanged for your wares; wrought iron, (AQ)cassia, and (AR)calamus were bartered for your merchandise. 20 Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. 21 Arabia and all the princes of (AS)Kedar were your favored dealers (AT)in lambs, rams, and goats; in these they did business with you. 22 The traders of (AU)Sheba and (AV)Raamah traded with you; they exchanged (AW)for your wares (AX)the best of all kinds of spices and all precious stones and gold. 23 (AY)Haran, Canneh, (AZ)Eden, traders of Sheba, (BA)Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you. 24 In your market these traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of (BB)blue and (BC)embroidered work, and in carpets of colored material, bound with cords and made secure. 25 (BD)The ships of (BE)Tarshish traveled for you with your merchandise. So you were filled and heavily laden (BF)in the heart of the seas.
26 “Your rowers have brought you out
into the high seas.
(BG)The east wind has wrecked you
in the heart of the seas.
27 Your riches, your wares, your merchandise,
your mariners and (BH)your pilots,
(BI)your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise,
and all your men of war who are in you,
with all your crew
that is in your midst,
sink into the heart of the seas
(BJ)on the day of your fall.
28 At the sound of the cry of your pilots
(BK)the countryside shakes,
29 and down from their ships
(BL)come all who handle the oar.
The mariners and all the pilots of the sea
stand on the land
30 (BM)and shout aloud over you
and cry out bitterly.
(BN)They cast dust on their heads
(BO)and wallow in ashes;
31 they (BP)make themselves bald for you
and put sackcloth on their waist,
and they weep over you in bitterness of soul,
with bitter mourning.
32 In their wailing they (BQ)raise a lamentation for you
and lament over you:
(BR)‘Who is like Tyre,
like one destroyed in the midst of the sea?
33 When your wares came from the seas,
(BS)you satisfied many peoples;
with your abundant wealth and merchandise
(BT)you enriched the kings of the earth.
34 Now (BU)you are wrecked by the seas,
in the depths of the waters;
your merchandise and all your crew in your midst
have sunk with you.
35 (BV)All the inhabitants of the coastlands
are appalled at you,
and (BW)the hair of their kings bristles with horror;
their faces are convulsed.
36 (BX)The merchants among the peoples (BY)hiss at you;
(BZ)you have come to a dreadful end
and shall be no more forever.’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 27:15 Hebrew; Septuagint Rhodes
- Ezekiel 27:17 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
- Ezekiel 27:19 Probable reading; Hebrew wool of Sahar 19 and Dan and Javan
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
