Ezekiel 25-32

New American Bible (Revised Edition)

^2 [g]Son of man, because Tyre said of Jerusalem:
“Aha! The gateway of the peoples is smashed!
    It has been turned over to me;
    I will be enriched by its ruin!”^(J)
3     therefore thus says the Lord God:
See! I am coming against you, Tyre;
    I will churn up against you many nations,
    just as the sea churns up its waves.
⁴ They will destroy the walls of Tyre
    and tear down its towers;
I will scrape off its debris
    and leave it a bare rock.^[h]
5 It will become a place for drying nets
    in the midst of the sea.
For I have spoken—oracle of the Lord God:
    she will become plunder for the nations.
⁶ Her daughter cities^[i] on the mainland
    will be slaughtered by the sword;
    then they shall know that I am the Lord.
⁷ Indeed thus says the Lord God:
I am bringing up against Tyre
    from the north, Nebuchadnezzar,
King of Babylon, king of kings,
    with horses and chariots, with cavalry,
    and a mighty horde of troops.^(K)
8 Your daughter cities on the mainland
    he shall slay with the sword.
He shall build a siege wall around you,
    throw up a ramp against you,
    and raise his shields about you.
⁹ He shall pound your walls with battering-rams
    and break down your towers with his axes.
¹⁰ From the surging of his horses
    he will cover you with dust;
    from the noise of warhorses,
    wheels and chariots.
Your walls will shake
    when he enters your gates,
    even as one enters a city that is breached.
¹¹ With the hooves of his horses
    he will trample all your streets;
Your people he will slay by the sword;
    your mighty pillars will collapse.^(L)
12 They shall plunder your wealth
    and pillage your goods;
They will tear down your walls
    and demolish your splendid houses.
Your stones, timbers, and debris
    they will cast into the sea.
¹³ I will bring an end to the noise of your songs;
    the music of your lyres will be heard no more.
¹⁴ I will turn you into bare rock,
    you will become a place for drying nets.
You shall never be rebuilt,
    for I the Lord have spoken—
    oracle of the Lord God.
¹⁵ Thus says the Lord God to Tyre:
At the sound of your downfall,
    at the groaning of the wounded,
When victims are slain within you,
    will the islands not quake?
¹⁶ All the princes of the sea^[j]
    will step down from their thrones,
Lay aside their robes,
    and strip off their embroidered garments.
Clothed in mourning,
    they will sit on the ground
And tremble, horror-struck
    and appalled at you.^(M)
17 They will raise lament^[k] over you
    and say to you:
How you have perished,
    gone from the seas,
    Renowned City!
Once she was mighty on the sea,
    she and her inhabitants,
Those who spread their terror
    to all who dwelt nearby.^(N)
18 On this, the day of your fall,
    the islands quake!
The islands in the sea
    are terrified at your passing.
¹⁹ Indeed thus says the Lord God:
When I make you a ruined city
    like cities no longer inhabited,
When I churn up the deep
    and its mighty waters cover you,
²⁰ Then I will thrust you down
    with those who go down to the pit,^[l]
    to those of the bygone age;
I will make you dwell in the netherworld,
    in the everlasting ruins,
    with those who have gone down to the pit,
So you will never return
    or have a place in the land of the living.^(O)
21 I will make you a horror,
    and you shall be no more;
You shall be sought for,
    but never found again—
    oracle of the Lord God.

Tyre, you said, “I am a ship,
    perfect in beauty”;^(P)
4 In the heart of the sea was your territory;
    your builders perfected your beauty.^(Q)
5 With juniper wood from Senir^[m]
    they built all your decks;
A cedar from Lebanon they took
    to make you a mast.
⁶ With oaks of Bashan^[n]
    they fashioned your oars,
Your bridge, of ivory-inlaid cypress wood
    from the coasts of Kittim.
⁷ Fine embroidered linen from Egypt
    became your sail;
Your awnings were made of purple and scarlet
    from the coasts of Elishah.^[o](R)
8 Inhabitants of Sidon^[p] and Arvad
    were your oarsmen;
Your own sages, Tyre, were on board,
    serving as your sailors.^(S)
9 The elders and sages of Gebal
    were with you to caulk your seams.
Every ship and sailor on the sea
    came to you to carry on trade.^(T)
10 Persia and Lud and Put
    were warriors in your army;
Shield and helmet they hung on you
    to enhance your splendor.
¹¹ The men of Arvad and Helech^[q]
    were on your walls all around
And Gamadites on your towers;
    they hung their shields around your walls,
    they made your beauty perfect.
¹² Tarshish traded with you,
    so great was your wealth,
Exchanging for your wares
    silver, iron, tin, and lead.
¹³ Javan, Tubal, and Meshech
    also traded with you,
Exchanging slaves and bronze vessels
    for your merchandise.^(U)
14 Horses, steeds, and mules from Beth-togarmah
    were exchanged for your wares.
¹⁵ Men of Rhodes trafficked with you;
    many coastlands were your agents;
Ivory tusks and ebony wood
    they brought back as your payment.
¹⁶ Edom traded with you for your many wares:
    garnets, purple dye, embroidered cloth,
Fine linen, coral, and rubies
    they gave you as merchandise.
¹⁷ Judah and the land of Israel
    trafficked with you:
Minnith wheat, grain,^[r] honey, oil, and balm^(V)
    they gave you as merchandise.
¹⁸ Damascus traded with you for your many wares,
    so great was your wealth,
    exchanging Helbon wine and Zahar wool.
¹⁹ Javan exchanged wrought iron, cassia, and aromatic cane
    from Uzal for your wares.
²⁰ Dedan traded with you for riding gear.^(W)
21 Arabia and the sheikhs of Kedar were your agents,
    dealing in lambs, rams, and goats.^(X)
22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah also traded with you,
    exchanging for your wares the very best spices,
    all kinds of precious stones, and gold.
²³ Haran, Canneh, and Eden,
    the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad,
²⁴ Traded with you, marketing rich garments,
    purple cloth, embroidered fabric,
    varicolored carpets, and braided cords.
²⁵ The ships of Tarshish sailed for you with your goods;
You were full and heavily laden
    in the heart of the sea.
²⁶ Out into deep waters
    your oarsmen brought you;
The east wind shattered you
    in the heart of the sea.^(Y)
27 Your wealth, your goods, your wares,
    your sailors, your crew,
The caulkers of your seams,
    those who traded for your goods,
All the warriors with you,
    the whole crowd with you
Sank into the heart of the sea
    on the day of your downfall.^(Z)
28 At the sound of your sailors’ shouts
    the waves shudder,^(AA)
29 Down from their ships
    come all who ply the oars;
Sailors, all the seafaring crew,
    stand on the shore.
³⁰ They raise their voices over you
    and shout their bitter cries;
They pour dust on their heads
    and cover themselves with ashes.
³¹ For you they shave their heads bald
    and put on sackcloth;
For you they weep bitterly,
    in anguished lament.^(AB)
32 They raise a lament for you;
    they wail over you:
“Who was ever destroyed like Tyre
    in the midst of the sea?”^(AC)
33 By exporting your goods by sea
    you satisfied many peoples,
With your great wealth and merchandise
    you enriched the kings of the earth.^(AD)
34 Now you are wrecked in the sea,
    in the watery depths;
Your wares and all your crew
    have fallen down with you.
³⁵ All who dwell on the coastlands
    are aghast over you;
Their kings are terrified,
    their faces distorted.
³⁶ The traders among the peoples
    now hiss at you;
You have become a horror,
    you shall be no more.

Because you are haughty of heart,
    you say, “I am a god!
I sit on a god’s throne
    in the heart of the sea!”
But you are a man, not a god;
    yet you pretend
    you are a god at heart!
³ Oh yes, you are wiser than Daniel,^[t]
    nothing secret is too obscure for you!^(AE)
4 By your wisdom and intelligence
    you made yourself rich,
    filling your treasuries with gold and silver.
⁵ Through your great wisdom in trading
    you heaped up riches for yourself—
    your heart is haughty because of your riches.
⁶     Therefore thus says the Lord God:
Because you pretend you are a god at heart,
⁷ Therefore, I will bring against you
    strangers, the most bloodthirsty of nations.
They shall draw their swords
    against your splendid wisdom,
    and violate your radiance.^(AF)
8 They shall thrust you down into the pit:
    you shall die a violent death
    in the heart of the sea.
⁹ Then, face to face with your killers,
    will you still say, “I am a god”?
No, you are a man, not a god,
    handed over to those who slay you.
¹⁰ You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
    handed over to strangers,
    for I have spoken—oracle of the Lord God.^(AG)

^[u] You were a seal of perfection,
    full of wisdom, perfect in beauty.^(AH)
13 In Eden, the garden of God, you lived;
    precious stones of every kind were your covering:
Carnelian, topaz, and beryl,
    chrysolite, onyx, and jasper,
    sapphire, garnet, and emerald.
Their mounts and settings
    were wrought in gold,
    fashioned for you the day you were created.^(AI)
14 With a cherub I placed you;
    I put you on the holy mountain of God,^[v]
    where you walked among fiery stones.
¹⁵ Blameless were you in your ways
    from the day you were created,
Until evil was found in you.
¹⁶     Your commerce was full of lawlessness, and you sinned.
Therefore I banished you from the mountain of God;
    the cherub drove you out
    from among the fiery stones.^(AJ)
17 Your heart had grown haughty
    because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom
    because of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground,
    I made you a spectacle
    in the sight of kings.^(AK)
18 Because of the enormity of your guilt,
    and the perversity of your trade,
    you defiled your sanctuary.
I brought fire out of you;
    it devoured you;
I made you ashes on the ground
    in the eyes of all who see you.^(AL)
19 All the nations who knew you
    are appalled on account of you;
You have become a horror,
    never to be again.^(AM)

Watch out! I am against you, Sidon;
    I will win glory for myself in your midst.
They shall know that I am the Lord,
    when I deliver judgment upon it
    and manifest my holiness in it.
²³ I will send disease into it;
    blood will fill its streets,
Within it shall fall
    those slain by the sword
    raised against it on every side.
Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
²⁴ No longer will there be a thorn that tears
    or a brier that scratches for the house of Israel
From the surrounding neighbors
    who despise them;
    thus they shall know that I am the Lord.^(AN)

Pay attention! I am against you,
    Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
Great dragon^[y] crouching
    in the midst of the Nile,
Who says, “The Nile belongs to me;
    I made it myself!”^(AR)
4 [z]I will put hooks in your jaws
    and make all the fish of your Nile
Cling to your scales;
    I will drag you up from your Nile,
With all the fish of your Nile
    clinging to your scales.^(AS)
5 I will hurl you into the wilderness,
    you and all the fish of your Nile.
You will fall into an open field,
    you will not be picked up or gathered together.
To the beasts of the earth
    and the birds of the sky
    I give you as food.^(AT)
6 (AU)Then all the inhabitants of Egypt
    will know that I am the Lord.
Because you were a staff of reeds^[aa]
    for the house of Israel:
⁷ When they took hold of you, you would splinter,
    throwing shoulders out of joint.
When they leaned on you, you would break,
    pitching them down headlong.
⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord God:
Look! I am bringing the sword against you
    to cut off from you people and animals.
⁹ The land of Egypt shall become a desolate waste;
    then they shall know that I am the Lord.
Because you said, “The Nile belongs to me;
    I made it!”
¹⁰ Beware! I am against you
    and against your Nile.
I will turn the land of Egypt into ruins,
    into a dry, desolate waste,
From Migdol to Syene,^[ab]
    up to the border of Ethiopia.^(AV)
11 No foot shall pass through it,
    no human being or beast cross it;
    it will remain uninhabited for forty years.
¹² I will make the land of Egypt the most desolate
    among desolate lands;
Its cities, the most deserted
    among deserted cities for forty years;
I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations
    and disperse them throughout other lands.^(AW)
13 But thus says the Lord God:
    At the end of forty years
I will gather the Egyptians
    from among the peoples
    where they are scattered;
¹⁴ I will restore Egypt’s fortunes,
    bringing them back to the land of Pathros,^[ac]
    the land of their origin.
But there it will be a lowly kingdom,
¹⁵     lower than any other kingdom,
    no longer able to set itself above the nations.
I will make them few in number,
    so they cannot rule other nations.
¹⁶ No longer shall they be security
    for the house of Israel,
But a reminder of its iniquity
    in turning away to follow them.
Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.^(AX)

Wail: “Alas the day!”
³ Yes, a day approaches,
    a day of the Lord approaches:
A day of dark cloud,
    a time appointed for the nations.^(BB)
4 A sword will come against Egypt,
    there will be anguish in Ethiopia,
When the slain fall in Egypt
    when its hordes are seized,
    its foundations razed.^(BC)
5 Ethiopia, Put, and Lud,
    all the mixed rabble^[ag] and Kub,
and the people of allied lands
    shall fall by the sword with them.
⁶ Thus says the Lord:
The pillars of Egypt shall fall,
    and its proud strength sink;
From Migdol to Syene,
    its people will fall by the sword—
    oracle of the Lord God.^(BD)
7 It shall be the most desolate
    among desolate lands,
Its cities the most ruined
    among ruined cities.
⁸ They shall know that I am the Lord,
    when I set fire to Egypt,
    and all its allies are shattered.^(BE)
9 On that day, messengers from me
    will go forth in ships
    to terrorize confident Ethiopia.
Anguish will be among them
    on Egypt’s day—it is certainly coming!^[ah]
10 Thus says the Lord God:
I will put an end to Egypt’s hordes
    by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon:
¹¹ He and his army with him,
    the most ruthless of nations,
    will be brought in to devastate the land.
They will draw their swords against Egypt
    and fill the land with the slain.
¹² Then I will dry up the streams of the Nile,
    and sell the land into evil hands;
By the hand of foreigners I will devastate
    the land and everything in it.
    I, the Lord, have spoken.^{(BF)
13 [ai]}Thus says the Lord God:
I will destroy idols,
    and put an end to images in Memphis.
There will never again be a prince
    over the land of Egypt.
Instead, I will spread fear
    throughout the land of Egypt.^(BG)
14 I will devastate Pathros,
    set fire to Zoan,
    and execute judgment against Thebes.^(BH)
15 I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,
    the fortress of Egypt,
    and cut off the troops of Thebes.
¹⁶ I will set fire to Egypt;
    Pelusium will writhe in anguish,
Thebes will be breached,
    and Memphis besieged in daylight.
¹⁷ The warriors of On and Pi-beseth
    will fall by the sword,
    the cities taken captive.
¹⁸ In Tahpanhes, the day will turn dark
    when I break the scepter of Egypt there
    and put an end to its proud strength.
Dark clouds will cover it,
    and its women will go into captivity.^(BI)
19 I will execute judgment against Egypt
    that they may know that I am the Lord.

³ Assyria! It is Assyria!^[am]
    A cedar of Lebanon—
Beautiful branches,
    thick shade,
Towering heights,
    its crown in the clouds!^(BL)
4 The waters made it grow,
    the deep made it tall,
Letting its currents flow
    around the place it was planted,
Then sending its channels
    to all the other trees of the field.^(BM)
5 Thereupon it towered in height
    above all the trees in the field;
Its branches were numerous
    and its boughs long,
Because of the many waters
    sent to its shoots.
⁶ In its branches nested
    all the birds of the sky;
Under its boughs all the wild animals
    gave birth,
And in its shade^[an] dwelt
    all the mighty nations.^(BN)
7 It was magnificent in size
    and in the length of its branches,
For its roots reached down
    to the many waters.
⁸ In the garden of God,
    no cedars could rival it,
No juniper could equal its branches,
    no plane tree match its boughs.
No tree in the garden of God
    could match its beauty.^(BO)
9 I made it beautiful
    with abundant foliage,
So that all the trees in Eden
    were envious of it.^[ao]
10 Therefore, thus says the Lord God:
Because it was arrogant about its height,
    lifting its crown among the clouds
    and exalting itself because of its size,^(BP)
11 I handed it over to a ruler of nations
    to deal with it according to its evil.
I have cast it off,
¹²     and foreigners have cut it down,
The most ruthless nations,
    have hurled it on the mountains.
Its boughs fell into every valley
    and its branches lay broken
    in every ravine in the land.
All the peoples of the earth
    departed from its shade
    when it was hurled down.^(BQ)
13 On its fallen trunk
    sit all the birds of the sky;
Beside its fallen branches,
    are found all the beasts of the field.
¹⁴ This has happened so no well-watered tree
    will gain such lofty height,
    or lift its crown to the clouds.
Not one of those fed by water
    will tower in height over the rest.
For all of them are destined for death,
    for the underworld, among mere mortals,
    with those who go down to the pit.
¹⁵ Thus says the Lord God:
On the day it went down to Sheol,
    I made the deep close up
    in mourning for it.
I restrained the currents of the deep,
    and held back the many waters.
I darkened Lebanon because of it,
    and all the trees of the field
    languished because of it.
¹⁶ At the sound of its fall,
    I made nations shudder,
When I cast it down to Sheol
    with those who go down to the pit.
In the underworld
    all the trees of Eden took comfort:
Lebanon’s choicest and best,
    all that were fed by the waters.^(BR)
17 They too will go down to Sheol,
    to those slain by the sword,
Its allies^[ap] who dwelt
    in its shade among the nations.
¹⁸ To whom among the trees of Eden
    do you compare in glory and greatness?
You will be brought down
    with the trees of Eden to the underworld,
And lie among the uncircumcised,
    with those slain by the sword.
Such is Pharaoh and all his hordes—
    oracle of the Lord God.

You liken yourself to a lion among nations,
    but you are like the monster in the sea!
Thrashing about in your streams,
    churning the water with your feet,
    polluting the streams.^(BS)
3 Thus says the Lord God:
I will cast my net over you
    by assembling many armies,
    and I will hoist you up in my mesh.
⁴ I will hurl you onto the land,
    cast you into an open field.
I will make all the birds of the sky
    roost upon you,
The beasts of the whole earth
    gorge themselves on you.
⁵ I will strew your flesh on the mountains,
    and fill the valleys with your corpse.^(BT)
6 I will drench the land,
    pouring out your blood on the mountain;
    filling up the ravines with you.
⁷ When I extinguish you,
    I will cover the heavens
    and darken all its stars.
The sun I will cover with clouds;
    the moon will not give light.^(BU)
8 All the shining lights in the heavens
    I will darken over you;
I will spread darkness over your land—
    oracle of the Lord God.
⁹ I will trouble the hearts
    of many peoples,
When I bring you captive
    among the nations,
    to lands you do not know.
¹⁰ I will fill many nations with horror;
    their kings will shudder at you,
    when I brandish my sword in their faces.
They will tremble violently
    fearing for their lives on the day of your fall.^(BV)
11 For thus says the Lord God:
The sword of the king of Babylon
    will come against you.
¹² I will cut down your hordes
    with the swords of warriors,
    all of them, ruthless nations;
They will lay waste the glory of Egypt,
    and all its hordes will be destroyed.^(BW)
13 I will wipe out all the livestock
    from the banks of its many waters;
No human foot will disturb them again,
    no animal hoof stir them up.
¹⁴ Then I will make their waters clear
    and their streams flow like oil—
    oracle of the Lord God.
¹⁵ When I make Egypt a wasteland
    and the land destitute of everything,
When I strike down all its inhabitants
    they shall know that I am the Lord.
¹⁶ This is the lamentation
    women of all nations will chant;
They will raise it over Egypt;
    over all its hordes they will chant it—
    oracle of the Lord God.

¹⁸ Son of man, wail over the hordes of Egypt—
    you and the women of mighty nations—
Send them down to the underworld,
    with those who go down into the pit.
¹⁹ Whom do you excel in beauty? Go down!
    Be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!
²⁰ Among those slain by the sword they will fall,
    for the sword has been appointed!
Seize Egypt and all its hordes.^(BX)
21 Out of Sheol the mighty warriors
    will speak to him and his allies:
Let them descend and lie down among the uncircumcised,
    those slain by the sword!^(BY)
22 There is Assyria and all its company,
    around it are its graves,
    all of them slain, fallen by the sword.
²³ The graves are set
    in the recesses of the pit;
Its company is assembled
    around its grave,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword,
    those who spread terror in the land of the living.^(BZ)
24 There is Elam and all its horde
    around its grave,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword;
    they descended uncircumcised
    into the underworld,
Those who spread their terror
    in the land of the living.
They bear their disgrace
    with those who go down into the pit.
²⁵ Among the slain is set its bed,
    with all its horde around its grave;
All of them uncircumcised,
    slain by the sword
Because of the terror they spread
    in the land of the living.
They bear their disgrace
    with those who go down into the pit.
    Among the slain it is set!
²⁶ There is Meshech and Tubal^[as] and all the hordes
    surrounding it with their graves.
All of them uncircumcised,
    slain by the sword
Because they spread their terror
    in the land of the living.^(CA)
27 They do not rest with the warriors
    who fell in ancient times,
    who went down to Sheol fully armed.
Their swords were placed under their heads
    and their shields laid over their bones;
For there was terror of these warriors
    in the land of the living.
²⁸ But as for you, among the uncircumcised
    you will be broken and laid to rest
    with those slain by the sword.
²⁹ There is Edom, all its kings and princes,
    who, despite their might,
    are put with those slain by the sword.
They lie among the uncircumcised,
    with those who go down into the pit.^(CB)
30 There are the generals of the north
    and all the Sidonians
Who have gone down with the slain,
    because of the terror their might inspired.
They lie uncircumcised
    with those slain by the sword,
And bear their shame with those
    who have gone down into the pit.^(CC)
31 When Pharaoh sees them,
    he will be consoled on behalf of all his hordes,
    slain by the sword—
Pharaoh and all his army—
    oracle of the Lord God.
³² I spread terror of him
    in the land of the living;
Now he is laid among the uncircumcised,
    with those slain by the sword—
Pharaoh and all his horde—
    oracle of the Lord God.