Add parallel Print Page Options

Israel and Judah are not the only nations infuriating God with their conduct. The surrounding countries—Ammon in the northeast, Moab in the east, Edom in the southeast, Philistia in the west, and Tyre in the northwest—have often been at odds with Israel and Judah. So when Judah falls, they celebrate in the streets and begin to figure how they might maneuver around these political and economic changes. Judah’s fall might be a windfall for them. As the Judean exiles are forcibly marched out of their land, their neighbors mercilessly mock them for their crushing defeat. But God takes all of this very personally. He will not tolerate their disrespect of His people, which amounts to disrespect of Him too. So God takes His own revenge and punishes those who delight in Israel’s and Judah’s tragedies.

26 During the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Eternal came to me regarding Tyre.

Eternal One: Son of man, Tyre has delighted in the news of Jerusalem, saying,

        Hurray! The gateway to the nations is broken,
    And now it is open for me to receive all of her commerce.
        My markets will be full now that she is in ruins.

Therefore I, the Eternal Lord, am telling you that I am your enemy, Tyre, and I will gather many nations and march them against you, just as the sea marches its waves against the unsuspecting shore. The waves of the nations will demolish the city walls of Tyre and crumble her towers. After the city is pummeled, I will sweep away all of her rubble and leave nothing but a bare rock. In the loneliness of the ocean, she will become a desolate island, used only for drying out fishnets. She will become prisoner and slave to all the nations, and her villages on the mainland will be massacred in battle. Then they will know that I am the Eternal One.

I am going to bring the great Babylonian king, the king of kings named Nebuchadnezzar, against Tyre. He will charge down from the north with strapping horses and indestructible chariots, master horsemen, and an enormous army. He will dispatch his soldiers to destroy your villages on the mainland and then lay siege against you with ramps against your walls and shields raised to deflect your opposition. He will demolish your walls with his siege machines and dismantle your towers with axes. 10 You will be covered with dust from the galloping of his war horses. Your walls will shake from the tumult of the horses, wagons, and chariots when he breaches your walls and comes storming into the city. 11 His rampaging horses will trample all your streets. He will slaughter everyone in the battle and topple every strong pillar to the ground. 12 They will loot your wealth and claim your goods! They will tear down your walls and fine houses, and they’ll toss the wood and stone and rubble into the sea. 13 I will use My avenger to silence your lutes and harps and put an end to your songs. 14 I will leave you a bare rock in the lonely ocean, a desolate island used only for drying out fishnets. I promise you will never be rebuilt. Never. I, the Eternal Lord, declare this.

15 (continuing to Tyre) Don’t you think the coastlands will shake at the sound of your fall, at the groans of the injured, at the great massacre that takes place inside your walls? 16 Then the princes from the other coastal cities will step down from their thrones, give up their royal robes, and remove their embroidered garments. They will clothe their nakedness with sheer terror and sit on the ground, constantly shaking with horror at what happened to you. 17 Then they will sing a dirge over you:

    How you are destroyed, O famous city!
        City of sea people!
    You and your kind were a great force on the seas;
        you terrorized all who lived around you.
18     Now, the coastlands will quake on the day when you fall,
        and the cities along the shore will be terrified by your passing.

19 When I destroy you and empty your streets, when I drown you and bury you within the ocean depths, 20 I will sink you down into the pit where those people from long ago sleep in death. I will make you stay there, in the lower parts of the earth among the ancient ruins with those who dwell in the pit of the dead, and you will never be inhabited again. You will never resurface in the land of the living where I rest My glory. 21 I will terrify you, and you will meet your end. You will be sought, but you will never be found again.

This is what the Eternal Lord declares.

A Prophecy Against Tyre

26 In the eleventh month of the twelfth[a] year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:(A) “Son of man, because Tyre(B) has said of Jerusalem, ‘Aha!(C) The gate to the nations is broken, and its doors have swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will prosper,’ therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea(D) casting up its waves. They will destroy(E) the walls of Tyre(F) and pull down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock. Out in the sea(G) she will become a place to spread fishnets,(H) for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. She will become plunder(I) for the nations,(J) and her settlements on the mainland will be ravaged by the sword. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: From the north I am going to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar[b](K) king of Babylon, king of kings,(L) with horses and chariots,(M) with horsemen and a great army. He will ravage your settlements on the mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works(N) against you, build a ramp(O) up to your walls and raise his shields against you. He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and demolish your towers with his weapons.(P) 10 His horses will be so many that they will cover you with dust. Your walls will tremble at the noise of the warhorses, wagons and chariots(Q) when he enters your gates as men enter a city whose walls have been broken through. 11 The hooves(R) of his horses will trample all your streets; he will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars(S) will fall to the ground.(T) 12 They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea.(U) 13 I will put an end(V) to your noisy songs,(W) and the music of your harps(X) will be heard no more.(Y) 14 I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread fishnets. You will never be rebuilt,(Z) for I the Lord have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.

15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Tyre: Will not the coastlands(AA) tremble(AB) at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan(AC) and the slaughter takes place in you? 16 Then all the princes of the coast will step down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and take off their embroidered(AD) garments. Clothed(AE) with terror, they will sit on the ground,(AF) trembling(AG) every moment, appalled(AH) at you. 17 Then they will take up a lament(AI) concerning you and say to you:

“‘How you are destroyed, city of renown,
    peopled by men of the sea!
You were a power on the seas,
    you and your citizens;
you put your terror
    on all who lived there.(AJ)
18 Now the coastlands tremble(AK)
    on the day of your fall;
the islands in the sea
    are terrified at your collapse.’(AL)

19 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I make you a desolate city, like cities no longer inhabited, and when I bring the ocean depths(AM) over you and its vast waters cover you,(AN) 20 then I will bring you down with those who go down to the pit,(AO) to the people of long ago. I will make you dwell in the earth below, as in ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, and you will not return or take your place[c] in the land of the living.(AP) 21 I will bring you to a horrible end and you will be no more.(AQ) You will be sought, but you will never again be found, declares the Sovereign Lord.”(AR)

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 26:1 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text does not have month of the twelfth.
  2. Ezekiel 26:7 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, of which Nebuchadnezzar is a variant; here and often in Ezekiel and Jeremiah
  3. Ezekiel 26:20 Septuagint; Hebrew return, and I will give glory