Ezekiel 26:1-14
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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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 26:1-14
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.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 26:11 LXX; MT it will fall
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