< Ezekiel 26 >

1 On the first day of the month of the eleventh year, a message from the Lord came to me, saying,
And it came to pass in the eleventh year, on the first [day] of the month, [that] the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, because Tyre said about Jerusalem, ‘Oh good! The trade gateway to the nations has been broken—it's swung wide open for me. Now that Jerusalem has been destroyed, I will be rich!’
Son of man, because Sor has said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is crushed: the nations are destroyed: she is turned to me: she that was full is made desolate:
3 this is why the Lord God says: Watch out, Tyre! I'm condemning you, and I will have many nations come and attack you, just like the sea that sends its waves crashing against the shore.
therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against thee, O Sor, and I will bring up many nations against thee, as the sea comes up with its waves.
4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and tear down her towers. I will scrape off the soil that's on her and turn her into a bare rock.
And they shall cast down the walls of Sor, and shall cast down thy towers: and I will scrape her dust from off her, and make her a bare rock.
5 Out there in the sea she will be just a place for fishermen to spread their nets. I have spoken, declares the Lord God. Other nations will come and loot her,
She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for repairing nets: for I have spoken [it], saith the Lord: and it shall be a spoil for the nations.
6 and the people living in her villages on the mainland will die by the sword. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
And her daughters [which are] in the field shall be slain with the sword, and they shall know that I am the Lord.
7 For this is what the Lord God says: Watch as I bring Nebuchadnezzar, king of kings, to attack Tyre from the north. He will come with horses, chariots, cavalry, and a huge army.
For thus saith the Lord; Behold, I [will] bring up against thee, O Sor, Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon from the north: he is a king of kings, with horses, and chariots, and horsemen, and a concourse of very many nations.
8 He will kill the people living in your villages of the mainland with the sword. He will construct siege works to attack you. He will build a ramp against your walls, and his soldiers will hold their shields above them as they advance on you.
He shall slay thy daughters that are in the field with the sword, and shall set a watch against thee, and build forts around thee, and carry a rampart round against thee, and set up warlike works, and array his spears against thee.
9 He will have his battering rams smash your walls and use his tools to demolish your towers.
He shall cast down with his swords thy walls and thy towers.
10 He will have so many horses you will be covered by the dust they throw up. When he comes in through your gates it will sound like an army charging into a defeated city. Your walls will shake from all the noise made by the cavalry, wagons, and chariots.
By reason of thy multitude of his horses their dust shall cover thee, and by reason of the sound of his horsemen and the wheels of his chariots the walls shall be shaken, when he enters into thy gates, as one entering into a city from the plain.
11 His horses will race through your city streets. He will kill all your people with the sword. Your massive pillars will come tumbling to the ground.
With the hoofs of his horses they shall trample all thy streets: he shall slay thy people with the sword, and shall bring down to the ground the support of thy strength.
12 They will steal your wealth and loot your goods. They will knock down your walls, demolish the houses you love so much, and dump the debris and rubble into the sea.
And he shall prey upon thy power, and plunder thy substance, and shall cast down thy walls, and break down thy pleasant houses: and he shall cast thy stones and thy timber and thy dust into the midst of thy sea.
13 This is how I'm going to put a stop to your singing. The music of your harps won't be heard any longer.
And he shall destroy the multitude of thy musicians, and the sound of thy psalteries shall be heard no more.
14 I will turn you into a bare rock, and you will be just a place for fishermen to spread their nets. Tyre won't ever be rebuilt. I, the Lord, have spoken, declares the Lord God.
And I will make thee a bare rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the Lord have spoken [it], saith the Lord.
15 This is what the Lord God says to the inhabitants of Tyre: Aren't the people of the coastlands going to shake in terror when they hear your city collapse, when the wounded groan at the killing inside your city?
For thus saith the Lord God to Sor; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, while the wounded are groaning, while they have drawn a sword in the midst of thee?
16 All the rulers of the coastlands will come down from their thrones, remove their royal robes, and take off their embroidered clothes. Instead they will be clothed with terror and sit on the ground, trembling the whole time, shocked at what's happened to you.
And all the princes of the nations of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and shall take off their crowns from their heads, and shall take off their embroidered raiment: they shall be utterly amazed; they shall sit upon the ground, and fear their [own] destruction, and shall groan over thee.
17 Then they will sing a funeral song for you, saying, ‘You've been destroyed so completely, famous city! You once ruled the sea—you and your people terrified everyone else!
And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and shall say to thee, How art thou destroyed from out of the sea, the renowned city, that brought her terror upon all her inhabitants.
18 Now the people of the coastlands tremble at your defeat, while those in the islands of the sea are horrified at your downfall.’
And the isles shall be alarmed at the day of thy fall.
19 For this is what the Lord God says: I will turn you into a ruin just like other uninhabited cities. I will have the sea rise up to cover you with deep water.
For thus saith the Lord God; When I shall make the city desolate, as the cities that shall not be inhabited, when I have brought the deep up upon thee,
20 I will bring you down with those who are headed to the grave to join people from long ago. I will make you live under the earth like the ruins of the past together with those who have gone down into the grave, so that no one will live in you and you won't have any place in the land of the living.
and great waters shall cover thee; and I shall bring thee down to them that go down to the pit, to the people of old time, and shall cause thee to dwell in the depths of the earth, as in everlasting desolation, with them that go down to the pit, that thou mayest not be inhabited, nor stand upon the land of life;
21 I will turn you into something horrific, and you won't exist any longer. People will look for you, but won't ever find you, declares the Lord God.”
I will make thee a destruction, and thou shalt be no more for ever, saith the Lord God.

< Ezekiel 26 >