Ezekiel 26-27
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 26
Against the City of Tyre. 1 [a]On the first day of the eleventh month of the eleventh year, the word of the Lord came to me:
2 [b]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!”(A)
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.[c]
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[d] 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.(B)
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.(C)
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[e]
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.(D)
17 They will raise lament[f] 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.(E)
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,[g]
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.(F)
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.
Chapter 27
The Ship Tyre. 1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 You, son of man, raise a lament over Tyre, 3 and say to Tyre, who sits at the entrance to the sea, trader to peoples on many coastlands, Thus says the Lord God:
Tyre, you said, “I am a ship,
perfect in beauty”;(G)
4 In the heart of the sea was your territory;
your builders perfected your beauty.(H)
5 With juniper wood from Senir[h]
they built all your decks;
A cedar from Lebanon they took
to make you a mast.
6 With oaks of Bashan[i]
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.[j](I)
8 Inhabitants of Sidon[k] and Arvad
were your oarsmen;
Your own sages, Tyre, were on board,
serving as your sailors.(J)
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.(K)
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[l]
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.(L)
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,[m] honey, oil, and balm(M)
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.(N)
21 Arabia and the sheikhs of Kedar were your agents,
dealing in lambs, rams, and goats.(O)
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.(P)
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.(Q)
28 At the sound of your sailors’ shouts
the waves shudder,(R)
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.(S)
32 They raise a lament for you;
they wail over you:
“Who was ever destroyed like Tyre
in the midst of the sea?”(T)
33 By exporting your goods by sea
you satisfied many peoples,
With your great wealth and merchandise
you enriched the kings of the earth.(U)
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.
Footnotes
- 26:1 The Hebrew text does not give a number with the month. This translation assumes a scribal error, the omission of the second occurrence of the number eleven.
- 26:2 Tyre is pictured rejoicing over Jerusalem’s fall to Babylon because now the wealth from caravans and other trade will go to Tyrian merchants.
- 26:4–5 A bare rock: the Tyre of Ezekiel’s time was situated on a rocky island just off the Phoenician coast. During the time of Alexander the Great a causeway was built to connect it to the mainland.
- 26:6 Daughter cities: tributary towns and villages on the mainland.
- 26:16 The princes of the sea: the rulers of the islands and coastal cities leagued commercially with Tyre.
- 26:17 Lament: the princes sing a funeral dirge at the burial of the personified Tyre; cf. the similar lamentation over Egypt in 32:3–8.
- 26:20 Those who go down to the pit: the dead, pictured as dwelling in Sheol, a place or cave of darkness. Cf. 32:17–32; Is 14:4–21 for other examples.
- 27:5 Senir: another name for Mount Hermon; cf. Dt 3:9.
- 27:6 Bashan: an area in northern Transjordan, noted for its lush growth and great forests (cf. Is 2:13). Kittim: here, probably Cyprus.
- 27:7 Elishah: perhaps another term for Cyprus.
- 27:8–9 Sidon…Gebal: Phoenician cities in Tyre’s orbit of influence; Gebal is classical Byblos.
- 27:11 Helech: perhaps in Asia Minor; otherwise unknown.
- 27:17 Grain: most commentators have read “figs,” but Hebrew panag more properly describes milled grains or prepared meal.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.