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Judgment on the King of Tyre

28 The Lord God said:

Ezekiel, son of man, tell the king of Tyre[a] that I am saying:

You are so arrogant that you think you're a god and that the city of Tyre is your throne. You may claim to be a god, though you're nothing but a mere human. You think you're wiser than Daniel[b] and know everything.[c]

Your wisdom has certainly made you rich, because you have storehouses filled with gold and silver. You're a clever businessman and are extremely wealthy, but your wealth has led to arrogance!

You compared yourself to a god, so now I, the Lord God, will make you the victim of cruel enemies. They will destroy all the possessions you've worked so hard to get. Your enemies will brutally kill you, and the sea will be your only grave.

When you face your enemies, will you still claim to be a god? They will attack, and you will suffer like any other human. 10 Foreigners will kill you, and you will die the death of those who don't worship me. I, the Lord, have spoken.

A Funeral Song for the King of Tyre

11 The Lord said:

12 Ezekiel, son of man, sing a funeral song for the king of Tyre[d] and tell him I am saying:

At one time, you were perfect,[e] intelligent, and good-looking. 13 You lived in the garden of Eden and wore jewelry made of brightly colored gems and precious stones. They were all set in gold[f] and were ready for you on the day you were born. 14 I appointed a winged creature to guard your home[g] on my holy mountain, where you walked among gems that dazzled like fire.

15 You were truly good from the time of your birth, but later you started doing wicked things. 16 You traded with other nations and became more and more cruel and evil. So I forced you to leave my mountain, and the creature that had been your protector now chased you away from the jewels.

17 It was your good looks that made you arrogant, and you were so famous that you started acting like a fool. That's why I threw you to the ground and let other kings sneer at you. 18 You have cheated so many other merchants that your places of worship are corrupt. So I set your city on fire and burned it down. Now everyone sees only ashes where your city once stood, 19 and the people of other nations are shocked. Your punishment was horrible, and you are gone forever.

Judgment on Sidon and Peace for Israel

20 (A) The Lord said:

21 Ezekiel, son of man, condemn the city of Sidon[h] 22 and tell its people:

I, the Lord God, am your enemy! People will praise me when I punish you, and they will see that I am holy. 23 I will send deadly diseases to wipe you out, and I will send enemies to invade and surround you. Your people will be killed, and you will know that I am the Lord.

24 When that happens, the people of Israel will no longer have cruel neighbors that abuse them and make them feel as though they are in a field of thorns and briers. And the Israelites will know that I, the Lord God, have done these things.

A Blessing for Israel

25 The Lord God said:

Someday I will gather the people of Israel from the nations where they are now scattered, and every nation will see that I am holy. The Israelites will once again live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 They will be safe and will build houses and plant vineyards. They will no longer be in danger, because I will punish their hateful neighbors. Israel will know that I am the Lord their God.

Footnotes

  1. 28.2 Tyre: See the note at 26.2.
  2. 28.3 Daniel: See the note at 14.14.
  3. 28.3 and know everything: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  4. 28.12 Tyre: See the note at 26.2.
  5. 28.12 you were perfect: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  6. 28.13 They were all set in gold: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  7. 28.14 I appointed a winged creature to guard your home: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  8. 28.21 Sidon: See the note at 26.2.

A Prophecy Against the King of Tyre

28 The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man(A), say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘In the pride of your heart
    you say, “I am a god;
I sit on the throne(B) of a god
    in the heart of the seas.”(C)
But you are a mere mortal and not a god,
    though you think you are as wise as a god.(D)
Are you wiser than Daniel[a]?(E)
    Is no secret hidden from you?
By your wisdom and understanding
    you have gained wealth for yourself
and amassed gold and silver
    in your treasuries.(F)
By your great skill in trading(G)
    you have increased your wealth,(H)
and because of your wealth
    your heart has grown proud.(I)

“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘Because you think you are wise,
    as wise as a god,
I am going to bring foreigners against you,
    the most ruthless of nations;(J)
they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom(K)
    and pierce your shining splendor.(L)
They will bring you down to the pit,(M)
    and you will die a violent death(N)
    in the heart of the seas.(O)
Will you then say, “I am a god,”
    in the presence of those who kill you?
You will be but a mortal, not a god,(P)
    in the hands of those who slay you.(Q)
10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised(R)
    at the hands of foreigners.

I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

11 The word of the Lord came to me: 12 “Son of man, take up a lament(S) concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘You were the seal of perfection,
    full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.(T)
13 You were in Eden,(U)
    the garden of God;(V)
every precious stone(W) adorned you:
    carnelian, chrysolite and emerald,
    topaz, onyx and jasper,
    lapis lazuli, turquoise(X) and beryl.[b]
Your settings and mountings[c] were made of gold;
    on the day you were created they were prepared.(Y)
14 You were anointed(Z) as a guardian cherub,(AA)
    for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
    you walked among the fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your ways
    from the day you were created
    till wickedness was found in you.
16 Through your widespread trade
    you were filled with violence,(AB)
    and you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God,
    and I expelled you, guardian cherub,(AC)
    from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart became proud(AD)
    on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
    because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth;
    I made a spectacle of you before kings.(AE)
18 By your many sins and dishonest trade
    you have desecrated your sanctuaries.
So I made a fire(AF) come out from you,
    and it consumed you,
and I reduced you to ashes(AG) on the ground
    in the sight of all who were watching.(AH)
19 All the nations who knew you
    are appalled(AI) at you;
you have come to a horrible end
    and will be no more.(AJ)’”

A Prophecy Against Sidon

20 The word of the Lord came to me: 21 “Son of man, set your face against(AK) Sidon;(AL) prophesy against her 22 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘I am against you, Sidon,
    and among you I will display my glory.(AM)
You will know that I am the Lord,
    when I inflict punishment(AN) on you
    and within you am proved to be holy.(AO)
23 I will send a plague upon you
    and make blood flow in your streets.
The slain will fall within you,
    with the sword against you on every side.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.(AP)

24 “‘No longer will the people of Israel have malicious neighbors who are painful briers and sharp thorns.(AQ) Then they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.

25 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I gather(AR) the people of Israel from the nations where they have been scattered,(AS) I will be proved holy(AT) through them in the sight of the nations. Then they will live in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob.(AU) 26 They will live there in safety(AV) and will build houses and plant(AW) vineyards; they will live in safety when I inflict punishment(AX) on all their neighbors who maligned them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.(AY)’”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 28:3 Or Danel, a man of renown in ancient literature
  2. Ezekiel 28:13 The precise identification of some of these precious stones is uncertain.
  3. Ezekiel 28:13 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.

28 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,

Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:

With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:

By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:

Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;

Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.

They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.

Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.

10 Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.

11 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

20 Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

21 Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it,

22 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.

23 For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

24 And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord God.

25 Thus saith the Lord God; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.

26 And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God.