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You, son of man, raise a lament over Tyre, 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”;(A)
In the heart of the sea was your territory;
    your builders perfected your beauty.(B)
With juniper wood from Senir[a]
    they built all your decks;
A cedar from Lebanon they took
    to make you a mast.
With oaks of Bashan[b]
    they fashioned your oars,
Your bridge, of ivory-inlaid cypress wood
    from the coasts of Kittim.
Fine embroidered linen from Egypt
    became your sail;
Your awnings were made of purple and scarlet
    from the coasts of Elishah.[c](C)
Inhabitants of Sidon[d] and Arvad
    were your oarsmen;
Your own sages, Tyre, were on board,
    serving as your sailors.(D)
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.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 27:5 Senir: another name for Mount Hermon; cf. Dt 3:9.
  2. 27:6 Bashan: an area in northern Transjordan, noted for its lush growth and great forests (cf. Is 2:13). Kittim: here, probably Cyprus.
  3. 27:7 Elishah: perhaps another term for Cyprus.
  4. 27:8–9 Sidon…Gebal: Phoenician cities in Tyre’s orbit of influence; Gebal is classical Byblos.