Old/New Testament
Tyre, the Door to the Seas
27 The word of the Lord came to me again. He said, 2 “Son of man,[a] sing this sad song about Tyre. 3 Say this about Tyre: ‘Tyre, you are the door to the seas. You are the merchant for many nations. You travel to many countries along the coast. This is what the Lord God says:
“Tyre, you think that you are so beautiful.
You think you are perfectly beautiful!
4 The Mediterranean Sea is the border around your city.
Your builders made you perfectly beautiful,
like the ships that sail from you.
5 Your builders used cypress trees
from the mountains of Senir to make your planks.
They used cedar trees from Lebanon
to make your mast.
6 They used oak trees from Bashan
to make your oars.
They used pine trees from Cyprus
to make the cabin on your deck.[b]
They decorated that shelter with ivory.
7 For your sail, they used colorful linen made in Egypt.
That sail was your flag.
The coverings over your cabin were blue and purple.
They came from the coast of Cyprus.[c]
8 Men from Sidon and Arvad rowed your boats for you.
Tyre, your wise men were the pilots on your ships.
9 The elders and wise men from Byblos[d]
were on board to help put caulking[e] between the boards on your ship.
All the ships of the sea and their sailors
came to trade and do business with you.
10 “‘Men from Persia, Lud, and Put were in your army. They were your men of war who hung their shields and helmets on your walls. They brought honor and glory to your city. 11 Men from Arvad and Cilicia were guards standing on the wall around your city. Men from Gammad were in your towers. They hung their shields on the walls around your city and made your beauty complete.
12 “‘Tarshish was one of your best customers. They traded silver, iron, tin, and lead for all the wonderful things you sold. 13 People in Greece, Turkey, and the area around the Black Sea traded with you. They traded slaves and bronze for the things you sold. 14 People from the nation[f] of Togarmah traded horses, war horses, and mules for the things you sold. 15 The people of Rhodes[g] traded with you. You sold your things in many places. People brought ivory tusks and ebony wood to pay you. 16 Aram traded with you because you had so many good things. They traded emeralds, purple cloth, fine needlework, fine linen, coral, and rubies for the things you sold.
17 “‘The people in Judah and Israel traded with you. They paid for the things you sold with the wheat, olives, early figs, honey, oil, and balm.[h] 18 Damascus was a good customer. They traded with you for the many wonderful things you had. They traded wine from Helbon and white wool for those things. 19 Damascus traded wine from Uzal for the things you sold. They paid with wrought iron, cassia, and sugar cane. 20 Dedan provided good business and traded with you for saddle blankets and riding horses. 21 Arabia and all the leaders of Kedar traded lambs, rams, and goats for your goods. 22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you. They traded all the best spices and every kind of precious stone and gold for your goods. 23 Haran, Canneh, Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Kilmad traded with you. 24 They paid with the finest clothing, blue cloth, cloth with fine needlework, rugs of many colors, and the strongest ropes. These were the things they traded with you. 25 The ships from Tarshish carried the things you sold.
“‘Tyre, you are like one of those cargo ships.
You are on the sea, loaded with many riches.
26 Your oarsmen rowed you far out to sea.
But a powerful east wind will destroy your ship at sea.
27 All your wealth will spill into the sea.
Your wealth—the things you buy and sell—will spill into the sea.
Your whole crew—sailors, pilots, and the men who put caulking between the boards on your ship—
will spill into the sea.
The merchants and soldiers in your city
will all sink into the sea.
That will happen on the day
that you are destroyed!
28 “‘You send your merchants to faraway places.
Those places will shake with fear when they hear your pilots’ cry!
29 Your whole crew will jump ship.
The sailors and pilots will jump ship and swim to the shore.
30 They will be very sad about you.
They will cry, throw dust on their heads, and roll in ashes.
31 They will shave their heads for you.
They will put on sackcloth.
They will cry for you like someone crying for someone who died.
32 “‘And in their loud crying they will sing this sad song about you:
“‘No one is like Tyre!
Tyre is destroyed, in the middle of the sea!
33 Your merchants sailed across the seas.
You satisfied many people with your great wealth and the things you sold.
You made the kings of the earth rich!
34 But now you are broken by the seas
and by the deep waters.
All the things you sell
and all your people have fallen.
35 All the people living on the coast
are shocked about you.
Their kings are terrified.
Their faces show their shock.
36 The merchants in other nations whistle about you.
What happened to you will frighten people,
because you were destroyed.
You are gone forever.’”
Tyre Thinks It Is Like a God
28 The word of the Lord came to me. He said, 2 “Son of man,[i] 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[j]
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[k] 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[l] 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,[m] the word of the Lord came to me. He said, 2 “Son of man,[n] 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[o] 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[p] 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,[q] 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.”
Wives and Husbands
3 In the same way, you wives should be willing to serve your husbands. Then, even those who have refused to accept God’s teaching will be persuaded to believe because of the way you live. You will not need to say anything. 2 Your husbands will see the pure lives that you live with respect for God. 3 It is not fancy hair, gold jewelry, or fine clothes that should make you beautiful. 4 No, your beauty should come from inside you—the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. That beauty will never disappear. It is worth very much to God.
5 It was the same with the holy women who lived long ago and followed God. They made themselves beautiful in that same way. They were willing to serve their husbands. 6 I am talking about women like Sarah. She obeyed Abraham, her husband, and called him her master. And you women are true children of Sarah if you always do what is right and are not afraid.
7 In the same way, you husbands should live with your wives in an understanding way, since they are weaker than you. You should show them respect, because God gives them the same blessing he gives you—the grace of true life. Do this so that nothing will stop your prayers from being heard.
Suffering for Doing Right
8 So all of you should live together in peace. Try to understand each other. Love each other like brothers and sisters. Be kind and humble. 9 Don’t do wrong to anyone to pay them back for doing wrong to you. Or don’t insult anyone to pay them back for insulting you. But ask God to bless them. Do this because you yourselves were chosen to receive a blessing. 10 The Scriptures say,
“If you want to enjoy true life
and have only good days,
then avoid saying anything hurtful,
and never let a lie come out of your mouth.
11 Stop doing what is wrong, and do good.
Look for peace, and do all you can to help people live peacefully.
12 The Lord watches over those who do what is right,
and he listens to their prayers.
But he is against those who do evil.” (A)
13 If you are always trying to do good, no one can really harm you. 14 But you may suffer for doing right. If that happens, you have God’s blessing. “Don’t be afraid of the people who make you suffer; don’t be worried.”[a] 15 But keep the Lord Christ holy in your hearts. Always be ready to answer everyone who asks you to explain about the hope you have. 16 But answer them in a gentle way with respect. Keep your conscience clear. Then people will see the good way you live as followers of Christ, and those who say bad things about you will be ashamed of what they said.
17 It is better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong. Yes, it is better if that is what God wants.
18 Christ himself suffered when he died for you,
and with that one death he paid for your sins.
He was not guilty,
but he died for people who are guilty.
He did this to bring all of you to God.
In his physical form he was killed,
but he was made alive by the Spirit.[b]
19 And by the Spirit he went and preached to the spirits in prison. 20 Those were the spirits who refused to obey God long ago in the time of Noah. God was waiting patiently for people while Noah was building the big boat. And only a few—eight in all—were saved in the boat through the floodwater. 21 And that water is like baptism, which now saves you. Baptism is not the washing of dirt from the body. It is asking God for a clean conscience. It saves you because Jesus Christ was raised from death. 22 Now he has gone into heaven. He is at God’s right side and rules over angels, authorities, and powers.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International