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28 The word of the Eternal came to me with a message about the prince of Tyre.
Tyre’s troubles start not long after Judah is destroyed in 586 b.c. Nebuchadnezzar marches there and begins a siege that lasts for almost 13 years. The part of the city on the mainland is captured by Nebuchadnezzar, but the princes of Tyre continue to rule from their island palace for another two centuries. In 332 b.c. Alexander the Great will use the rubble of the mainland city to construct a bridge to the island. Soon the island of Tyre will be in ruins, as it will remain forever.
Eternal One: 2 Son of man, go to the prince of Tyre, and give him this message. This is what I, Eternal Lord, have to say:
Your heart is swollen with pride—
a pride that says, “I am a god.
I sit on a divine throne in the heart of the sea.”
But I assure you, prince, you are nothing more
than a mortal man—a man of mortal destiny.
Even though you have the self-confidence of a god,
you are made entirely of flesh and blood.
3 But obviously you must be wiser than Daniel, that ancient judge in Ugarit.
Clearly, you understand every mystery.
4 You used your wisdom and discernment to amass a great fortune,
to fill your treasuries with gold and silver.
5 Your knack for trade has built your wealth,
but your success and riches have made your heart swell with pride.
Because of Tyre’s location off the coast, she receives daily supplies and survives a long war; therefore, her ruler, Ethbaal III, has every human reason to be confident. Such confidence and wickedness is bred into him: Ethbaal’s ancestor, Ethbaal I, was a priest of their goddess Astarte and seized the throne for himself. He was a powerful prince, making political connections and spreading the worship of his goddess all over the region. Ethbaal I’s daughter, Jezebel, was famous for entrenching pagan worship in Israel, so Tyre is indirectly the root of Israel’s wickedness.
6 Here is what the Eternal Lord has to say:
Eternal One: Because you imagine yourself as wise as a god,
7 I am going to recruit outsiders—merciless nations—to take you down.
They will draw their swords and cut you down to size,
attacking the beautiful things your wisdom procured and destroying your splendor.
8 They will force you down to the pit,
and you will die the death
of those struck down in the heart of the sea.
9 At that moment, will you protest to your executioners, “But I’m a god!”?
To those who strike you down you are no god.
To them, you are nothing more than a mortal man.
10 You will die the death of all who are uncircumcised,
at the hand of outsiders.
Like the Israelites, the people of Tyre practice circumcision.
So said the Eternal Lord.
11 The word of the Eternal continued giving me His message.
Eternal One: 12 Son of man, sing a lament for the prince of Tyre. Tell him this is what I, the Eternal Lord, have to say:
You were a paradigm of perfection, human life at its best.
You had everything a leader needs: immense wisdom and perfect beauty.
13 You lived in Eden, God’s garden.
You were clothed in magnificent splendor, covered in jewels:
Sardius, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper,
lapis lazuli, turquoise, and emerald.
All the mountings were made of gold,[a]
prepared for you on the day you were created.
14 I anointed you the guardian[b] of the garden and stationed you at your post to protect it.
You were on the divine mountain, the holy mount of God.
There you walked among the fiery stones.
15 You were entirely pure from the day you were created,
until wickedness crept in and was found in you!
16 Too much buying and selling—a greedy obsession!
You became motivated to violence and did wicked things.
Polluted and disgraced, I drove you off the mountain of God!
I expelled you, O guardian protector, from the fiery stones.
17 Your heart swelled with pride because of your beauty and talents.
Your hunger for fame, your thirst for glory corrupted your wisdom.
This is why I drove you to the ground
and made an example out of you before a company of kings.
18 You desecrated your sanctuaries
by pursuing sin after sin and cheating in business.
I set a flame inside of you, and it devoured you completely.
I reduced you to a pile of ashes on the ground,
a sight for all to see.
Ezekiel prophesies that the prince of Tyre will die violently without the benefit of a proper burial and find no peace in the afterlife.
19 All the nations who know you are appalled at what has happened to you.
The end of your story is a horror:
you are gone, never to return.
The prince of Tyre’s biography echoes the creation story. Adam, too, is described as a perfect and honored creation of God, given guardianship of the earth and full access to God. Expelled from paradise, wickedness becomes entrenched and spreads until God is forced to execute His judgment.
20 The word of the Eternal came to me with a message against Sidon.
Eternal One: 21-22 Son of man, face Sidon and preach to her. This is what I, the Eternal Lord, have to say:
Look, Sidon! I am against you;
My glory will be revealed when I prevail over you.
They will know that I am the Eternal One
when I have punished her
and revealed My holy self to her.
23 I will rain down disease upon her—an epidemic of death!
Her streets will become rivers of blood!
The wounded will fall within her walls,
and the battle will rage on every side!
Then they will know that I am the Eternal One.
24 As for the people of Israel, they will no longer have to deal with the spiteful, thorny neighbors who mocked their destruction. Then they will know that I am the Eternal Lord.
25 Here is what the Eternal Lord has to say:
Eternal One: When I gather the people of Israel from the nations where they have been scattered, I will reveal My holiness through them with all the nations watching. They will live in their own land—the land I gave to My servant, Jacob. 26 They will live safely there, building houses and planting vineyards. They will live safely there when I punish all of their neighbors who mocked them and treated them shamefully. Then they will know that I am the Eternal their God.
29 In the 10th year, on the 12th day of the 10th month, the word of the Eternal came to me with a message about Egypt.
Eternal One: 2 Son of man, face Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and preach against him and against all of Egypt! 3 Tell him this is what I, the Eternal Lord, have to say:
Look, I am against you,
Pharaoh king of Egypt.
You are like a great river monster,
snaking through the streams in the Nile,
declaring, “I own the Nile. I made it, and it is mine.”
4 But I will set a hook in your jaws
and make the fish of the Nile cling to your scales.
I will haul you in out of your waterways,
with all the fish clinging to your scales.
5 Then I will take you and leave you out in the desert,
you and all the fish of your waters.
You’ll collapse in the wide open space,
but no one will bother to collect your remains
Or bury you with your ancestors.
You’ll be food for wild beasts of the earth and birds in the sky.
6 Then all who live in Egypt will know that I am the Eternal One.
You have been nothing more than a staff made of wobbly reeds to the people of Israel.
7 When they took hold of you, looking for support,
you splintered and tore their hands.
When they leaned on you, you snapped in two,
and they wrenched their backs because of you.[c]
8 So this is what I, the Eternal Lord, have to say: “Look, I will march an army against you! It’s coming to slaughter your people and your animals. 9 I am going to make the land of Egypt a lonely wasteland; then they will know that I am the Eternal One.”
Because of your arrogant utterance, “I own the Nile. I made it, and it is mine,” 10 I oppose you and your streams. I will turn the land of Egypt into a lonely wasteland from Migdol to Aswan,[d] all the way to Ethiopia.[e] 11-12 No people or animals will pass through there. Not a single person will live there for 40 years. I will turn the land of Egypt into a wasteland, a tragedy among tragedies, the most devastating of devastations! Any cities still standing after the war will lie in ruins for 40 years. I will scatter the Egyptians to the wind and divide them among the nations.
13 After 40 years have passed, I am going to gather the Egyptians from the nations where I scattered them. 14 I will restore their fortunes and lead them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their ancestors. There, Egypt will begin again, but this time as an insignificant kingdom.
According to Egyptian legends, their people originate in southern Egypt near Pathros. Ezekiel is apparently aware of these stories and indicates God will give Egypt a new start.
15 She will be the weakest of any kingdom, never gaining power and never again ruling over other nations. 16 The people of Israel will never again turn to Egypt in a time of crisis because Egypt’s fate will be a reminder of her sins—when Israel chose to trust a pagan nation instead of Me. Then My people will know that I am the Eternal Lord.
The prophet directs his oracle against Pharaoh, but in reality the pharaoh represents all of the people. Pharaoh’s audacious claim that he created the Nile stands in clear contradiction to the fact that Israel’s God created the heavens and the earth. So God becomes his enemy, fishes the great river monster out of the river—the lifeline of Egypt—and leaves his body as food for the animals and birds of the desert. The “monster” could refer either to the Nile crocodile—a symbol of the Pharaoh’s power—or the mythical creature of chaos who opposes God but is ultimately defeated by Him. The other fishes clinging to his scales appear to represent all those who depend on Pharaoh, including the Egyptian people and those foolish enough to align with them.
17 In the 27th year, on the 1st day of the 1st month, the word of the Eternal came to me.
Eternal One: 18 Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has exhausted his army with the long siege of Tyre. His soldiers’ bodies are spent, their heads bald and shoulders rubbed raw, yet they have made little progress. The king and his army have not been rewarded for all of their hard work against Tyre.
19 Therefore, the Eternal Lord says:
Eternal One: Look, I am going to hand the land of Egypt over to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He will take away her wealth—her goods and her population—by force and pay his army with the treasures he acquires there. 20 I have given him Egypt’s land as his reward to compensate him for all the work he has done for Me.
21 When that day comes, I will make a horn grow for the people of Israel so that they will be confident that My deliverance is near. Then I will open your mouth so that they will realize you have been speaking for Me all along. Then they will know that I am the Eternal One.
30 The word of the Eternal came to me with a lament for Egypt.
Eternal One: 2 Son of man, speak! Tell them this is what the Eternal Lord has to say:
Weep and wail,
for today is the day you’ve dreaded;
3 The day of God’s judgment is near;
the day of the Eternal is closing in!
It is a day of dark clouds and gloom
that foreshadows the doom of the nations.
4 A sword will come against Egypt,
agony will invade Ethiopia,
When the dead cover the land of Egypt,
when her wealth is taken away and her foundations are leveled.
5 Every nation in league with her will be destroyed in the war: Ethiopia,[f] Put, Lud, all of Arabia, and Libya.
6 Egypt’s friends will crumble
along with her arrogance, her proud strength.
From Migdol to Aswan,[g]
they will fall by the sword.
7 Egypt will be laid waste, a tragedy among tragedies, the most devastating of devastations! Her cities will lie in ruins, surrounded by the empty desolation of other ruined cities. 8 Then they will all know that I am the Eternal One after I burn down Egypt and demolish her allies. 9 On that day of destruction, I will dispatch messengers in ships to wake up the sleeping nation of Ethiopia. They will drown in agony when they hear the news of Egypt’s doom! They will know, “We’re next! Judgment is on the horizon!”
10-11 This is what the Eternal Lord has to say:
Eternal One: I will put an end to the wealth and population of Egypt
using the power of Nebuchadnezzar as My weapon.
I will dispatch the king of Babylon and his armies—
the most ruthless in the world—
to ravage the land!
They will unsheathe their swords against Egypt
and fill the land with the slain.
12 I will dry up the waterways of the Nile
and sell the land to those who have evil designs.
I, the Eternal, promise to recruit foreigners
to destroy the land and plunder away everything of value.
13 I, the Eternal Lord, have this to say:
I will demolish the breathless idols
and destroy the vulgar images in Memphis.[h]
There won’t be a prince left in all the land of Egypt anymore;
I will infect the entire nation with a plague of fear!
14 I will crush Pathros in the south, set fire to Zoan in the delta,
and deliver a horrific punishment to Thebes[i] and all its temples.
15 I will drown Sin[j]—the great fortress of Egypt—in My wrath
and put an end to the wealth and population of Thebes.
16 I will set fire to all of Egypt!
Sin will writhe in pain.
Thebes will be torn apart;
day after day Memphis will live in fear.
17 The young soldiers of Heliopolis[k] and Pi-beseth will die in the battle;
the women will go into captivity.
In the ancient world, conquered peoples become the victors’ property. While the men are often killed, the women are taken away and used as slaves for various purposes.
18 An unnatural darkness will cover Tehaphnehes
when I destroy the dominion of Egypt.
I will put an end to her arrogance, her proud strength!
Dark clouds will veil her,
and her daughters will be led away as slaves.
19 This is how I will deliver My punishing judgments against Egypt;
then they will know that I am the Eternal One.
20 During the eleventh year, on the seventh day of the first month, the word of the Eternal came to me with a message about Egypt:
Eternal One: 21 Son of man, I’ve broken the arm of the Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Look! The bone has not yet been set, and his arm has not been splinted in order to promote healing. Therefore, he won’t be able to handle a sword to defend the nation’s power. 22 So this is what I, the Eternal Lord, have to say: Look! I oppose Pharaoh, king of Egypt. I will break both arms—the strong one and the already-broken one. I’ll make sure he’ll not be able to handle a sword! 23 I will scatter the Egyptians to the wind—dividing them among the nations. 24-25 Meanwhile I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king, and I will place My sword in his hand. But I will break Pharaoh’s arms, and the king of Egypt will groan with the pain of his injury before Nebuchadnezzar. So I will make the arms of Babylon’s king strong, even as the arms of Pharaoh grow weak and fall limp at his side. Then Egypt will know that I am the Eternal One—when I place My sword in the hands of the Babylonian king and he wields it against the land of Egypt. 26 When I scatter the Egyptians to the wind and divide them among the nations, they will know that I am the Eternal One.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.