A Song of Sorrow for Tyre

27 The Word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “Son of man, sing a song of sorrow over Tyre. ³ Say to Tyre, whose people live at the gateway to the sea and trade with people from many lands, ‘The Lord God says, “O Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’ ⁴ Your home is on the sea. Your builders have made you perfect in beauty. ⁵ They made your pieces of wood from the fir trees from Senir. They made the wood that holds your sail out of a cedar from Lebanon. ⁶ They made your oars out of oak trees from Bashan. They made your floor of ivory and boxwood from the land of Cyprus. ⁷ Your sail was made of fine and beautiful linen from Egypt, to show all people who you are. Your covering was made of blue and purple cloth from the land of Elishah. ⁸ The people of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers. Your own wise and able men were your sailors. ⁹ The leaders and wise men of Gebal were with you, putting tar where it was needed to keep the water out. All the ships of the sea and their sailors were with you to trade for your good things.

¹⁰ “Soldiers from Persia and Lud and Put were in your army. They hung battle-coverings and head-coverings in you, and made you beautiful. ¹¹ The men of Arvad and Helech were on your walls all around. And men of Gammad were in your towers. They hung their battle-coverings all around your walls, and made you perfect in beauty.

¹² “Tarshish traded with you because of all your riches of every kind. They paid for your good things with silver, iron, tin, and lead. ¹³ Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you. They paid for your good things with servants and objects of brass. ¹⁴ Men of Beth-togarmah paid for your good things with horses, war horses, and mules. ¹⁵ The men of Dedan traded with you. Many lands beside the sea traded with you, paying you with ivory horns and beautiful dark wood. ¹⁶ Syria traded with you because of all your good things. They bought them with stones of great worth, purple cloth, cloth with beautiful sewing, fine linen, and coral. ¹⁷ Judah and the land of Israel traded with you. They paid for your good things with the grain of Minnith, cakes, honey, oil, and medicine. ¹⁸ Damascus traded with you because of all your good things and riches of all kinds. They paid for them with the wine of Helbon and white wool. ¹⁹ Vedan and Javan traded with you from Uzal. They paid you with pure iron and spices. ²⁰ Dedan paid you with horse coverings. ²¹ Arabia and all the leaders of Kedar traded with you. They paid you with lambs, rams, and goats. ²² Sheba and Raamah traded with you. They paid for your good things with the best of all kinds of spices, stones of great worth, and gold. ²³ Haran, Canneh, Eden, Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you. ²⁴ They paid you with the best clothing, clothes of blue cloth and beautiful sewing, floor coverings of many colors, and strong ropes. ²⁵ The ships of Tarshish carried your good things for you. You were filled and honored in the middle of the seas.

²⁶ “Your rowers have brought you into deep waters. The east wind has wrecked you far out in the sea. ²⁷ Your riches, your good things, the things you trade, your sailors, your pilots, your builders, your traders, all your soldiers, and all your people will fall into the sea on the day you are destroyed. ²⁸ The lands by the sea will shake at the sound of your sailors’ cry. ²⁹ All the rowers and sailors of the sea will leave their ships. They will stand on the land ³⁰ and cry in a loud voice of sorrow over you. They will throw dust on their heads and roll in ashes. ³¹ They will cut off their hair because of you, and dress themselves in cloth made from hair. They will cry over you with much sorrow in their soul. ³² In their crying they will sing a song of sorrow for you, saying, ‘Who is like Tyre, destroyed and quiet in the sea? ³³ When your good things went out on the sea, you pleased many nations. With all your riches and good things you made the kings of the earth rich. ³⁴ Now you are wrecked by the sea, in the deep waters. Your good things and all your people have gone down with you. ³⁵ All the people who live on the islands are full of fear and wonder because of you. Their kings are very afraid. Their faces are troubled. ³⁶ The traders among the nations make sounds of surprise at you. You have come to an end and you will be no more.’”