Beginning
Tyre Thinks It Is Like a God
28 The word of the Lord came to me. He said, 2 “Son of man,[a] say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘This is what the Lord God says:
“‘You are very proud!
And you say, “I am a god!
I sit on the seat of gods
in the middle of the seas.”
“‘But you are a man and not God!
You only think you are a god.
3 You think you are wiser than Daniel[b]
and no secret is hidden from you.
4 Through your wisdom and understanding
you have gotten riches for yourself.
And you put gold and silver
in your treasuries.
5 Through your great wisdom and trade,
you have made your riches grow.
And now you are proud
because of those riches.
6 “‘So this is what the Lord God says:
Tyre, you thought you were like a god.
7 I will bring strangers to fight against you.
They are most terrible among the nations!
They will pull out their swords
and use them against the beautiful things your wisdom brought you.
They will ruin your glory.
8 They will bring you down to the grave.
You will be like a sailor who died at sea.
9 That person will kill you.
Will you still say, “I am a god”?
No, he will have you in his power!
You will see that you are a man, not God!
10 Strangers will treat you like a foreigner[c] and kill you,
because I gave the command!’”
This is what the Lord God said.
11 The word of the Lord came to me. He said, 12 “Son of man, sing this sad song about the king of Tyre. Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord God says:
“‘You were the perfect man—
so full of wisdom and perfectly handsome.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God.
You had every precious stone—
rubies, topaz, and diamonds,
beryls, onyx, and jasper,
sapphires, turquoise, and emeralds.
And each of these stones was set in gold.
You were given this beauty on the day you were created.
God made you strong.
14 You were one of the chosen Cherubs
who spread your wings over my throne.
I put you on the holy mountain of God.
You walked among the jewels that sparkled like fire.
15 You were good and honest when I created you,
but then you became evil.
16 Your business brought you many riches.
But they also put cruelty inside you, and you sinned.
So I treated you like something unclean
and threw you off the mountain of God.
You were one of the chosen Cherubs
who spread your wings over my throne.
But I forced you to leave the jewels
that sparkled like fire.
17 Your beauty made you proud.
Your glory ruined your wisdom.
So I threw you down to the ground,
and now other kings stare at you.
18 You did many wrong things.
You were a very crooked merchant.
In this way you made the holy places unclean.
So I brought fire from inside you.
It burned you!
You burned to ashes on the ground.
Now everyone can see your shame.
19 “‘All the people in other nations
were shocked about what happened to you.
What happened to you will make people very afraid.
You are finished!’”
The Message Against Sidon
20 The word of the Lord came to me. He said, 21 “Son of man, look toward Sidon and speak for me against that place. 22 Say, ‘This is what the Lord God says:
“‘I am against you, Sidon!
Your people will learn to respect me.
I will punish Sidon.
Then people will know that I am the Lord.
Then they will learn that I am holy,
and they will treat me that way.
23 I will send disease and death to Sidon,
and many people inside the city will die.
Soldiers outside the city will kill many people.
Then people will know that I am the Lord!
The Nations Will Stop Laughing at Israel
24 “‘Then the surrounding nations that hate Israel will no longer be like stinging nettles[d] and painful thorns. And they will know that I am the Lord God.’”
25 This is what the Lord God said: “I scattered the people of Israel among other nations, but I will gather the family of Israel together again. Then the nations will know that I am holy, and they will treat me that way. At that time the people of Israel will live in their land—I gave that land to my servant Jacob. 26 They will live safely in the land. They will build houses and plant vineyards. I will punish the nations around them that hated them. Then the people of Israel will live in safety, and they will know that I am the Lord their God.”
The Message Against Egypt
29 On the twelfth day of the tenth month of the tenth year of exile,[e] the word of the Lord came to me. He said, 2 “Son of man,[f] look toward Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Speak for me against him and Egypt. 3 Say, ‘This is what the Lord God says:
“‘I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
You are the great monster[g] lying beside the Nile River.
You say, “This is my river!
I made this river!”
4-5 “‘But I will put hooks in your jaws.
The fish in the Nile River will stick to your scales.
I will pull you and your fish up
out of your rivers and onto the dry land.
You will fall on the ground,
and no one will pick you up or bury you.
I will give you to the wild animals and birds.
You will be their food.
6 Then all the people living in Egypt
will know that I am the Lord!
“‘Why will I do these things?
Because the people of Israel leaned on Egypt for support,
but Egypt was only a weak blade of grass.
7 The people of Israel leaned on Egypt for support,
but Egypt only pierced their hands and shoulder.
They leaned on you for support,
but you broke and twisted their back.’”
8 So this is what the Lord God says:
“I will bring a sword against you.
I will destroy all your people and animals.
9 Egypt will be empty and destroyed.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
God said, “Why will I do these things? Because you said, ‘This is my river. I made this river.’ 10 So I am against you. I am against the many branches of your Nile River. I will destroy Egypt completely. The cities will be empty from Migdol to Aswan and as far as the border of Ethiopia. 11 No person or animal will pass through Egypt. Nothing will pass through or settle there for 40 years. 12 I will destroy Egypt. The cities will be in ruins for 40 years! I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations. I will make them strangers[h] in foreign lands.”
13 This is what the Lord God says: “I will scatter the people of Egypt among many nations. But at the end of 40 years, I will gather those people together again. 14 I will bring back the Egyptian captives. I will bring back the Egyptians to the land of Pathros, to the land where they were born. But their kingdom will not be important. 15 It will be the least important kingdom. It will never again lift itself above the other nations. I will make them so small that they will not rule over the nations. 16 And the family of Israel will never again depend on Egypt. The Israelites will remember their sin—they will remember that they turned to Egypt for help and not to God, and they will know that I am the Lord God.”
Babylon Will Get Egypt
17 On the first day of the first month in the twenty-seventh year of exile,[i] the word of the Lord came to me. He said, 18 “Son of man, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made his army fight hard against Tyre. They shaved every soldier’s head. Every shoulder was rubbed bare from carrying heavy loads. Nebuchadnezzar and his army worked hard to defeat Tyre, but they got nothing from all that hard work.” 19 So this is what the Lord God says: “I will give Egypt to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and he will carry away the people. He will take the many valuable things in Egypt to pay his army. 20 I will give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar as a reward for the hard work he did for me.” This is what the Lord God said!
21 “On that day I will make the family of Israel strong. So Ezekiel, I will let you speak to them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
The Army of Babylon Will Attack Egypt
30 The word of the Lord came to me again. He said, 2 “Son of man,[j] speak for me. Say, ‘This is what the Lord God says:
“‘Cry and say,
“A terrible day is coming.”
3 That day is near!
Yes, the Lord’s day for judging is near.
It will be a cloudy day,
the time for judging the nations.
4 A sword will come against Egypt!
People in Ethiopia will shake with fear, when Egypt falls.
The army of Babylon will take the Egyptians as prisoners.
Egypt’s foundations will be torn down.
5 “‘Many people made peace agreements with Egypt. But all those people from Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all Arabia, Libya, and the people of Israel[k] will be destroyed!
6 “‘This is what the Lord says:
Those who support Egypt will fall!
The pride in her power will end.
The people in Egypt will be killed in battle,
all the way from Migdol to Aswan.
This is what the Lord God said!
7 Egypt will join the other countries that were destroyed.
Its cities will be among those that are in ruins.
8 I will start a fire in Egypt,
and all her helpers will be destroyed.
Then they will know that I am the Lord!
9 “‘At that time I will send out messengers. They will go in ships to carry the bad news to Ethiopia. Ethiopia now feels safe, but the people of Ethiopia will shake with fear when Egypt is punished. That time is coming!’”
10 This is what the Lord God says:
“I will use the king of Babylon.
I will use Nebuchadnezzar to destroy the people of Egypt.
11 Nebuchadnezzar and his people
are the most terrible of the nations,
and I will bring them to destroy Egypt.
They will pull out their swords against Egypt.
They will fill the land with dead bodies.
12 I will make the Nile River become dry land.
Then I will sell the dry land to evil people.
I will use strangers to make that land empty.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
The Idols of Egypt Will Be Destroyed
13 This is what the Lord God says:
“I will also destroy the idols in Egypt.
I will take the statues away from Memphis.
There will no longer be a leader in the land of Egypt.
I will put fear there instead.
14 I will make Pathros empty.
I will start a fire in Zoan.
I will punish Thebes.
15 I will pour out my anger against Pelusium, the fortress of Egypt!
I will destroy the people of Thebes.
16 I will start a fire in Egypt;
the city of Pelusium will ache with fear.
The soldiers will break into the city of Thebes,
and Memphis will have new troubles every day.
17 The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis[l] will die in battle,
and the women will be taken away as prisoners.
18 It will be a dark day in Tahpanhes when I break Egypt’s control.[m]
Her proud power will be finished!
A cloud will cover Egypt,
and her daughters will be taken away as prisoners.
19 So I will punish Egypt.
Then they will know that I am the Lord!”
Egypt Will Become Weak Forever
20 On the seventh day of the first month of the eleventh year of exile,[n] the word of the Lord came to me. He said, 21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. No one will wrap his arm with a bandage. It will not heal, so his arm will not be strong enough to hold a sword.”
22 This is what the Lord God says: “I am against Pharaoh, king of Egypt. I will break both his arms, the strong arm and the arm that is already broken. I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations. 24 I will make the arms of the king of Babylon strong. I will put my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh will cry out in pain, the kind of cry that a dying man makes. 25 So I will make the arms of the king of Babylon strong, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
“I will put my sword in the hand of the king of Babylon. Then he will stretch the sword out against the land of Egypt. 26 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord!”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International