Ezekiel 26

Against Tyre

1In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, Tyre said about Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gateway of the peoples is broken! It has turned toward me. Now that she is ruined, I will be filled.’ 3Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I am against you, Tyre. I will bring many nations up against you, as the sea brings up its waves. 4They will destroy Tyre’s walls and tear down her towers. I will scrape away her soil and make her a bare rock. 5She will be a place for spreading nets out in the sea, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. She will become plunder for the nations. 6Her daughter towns on the mainland will be killed by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

The siege

7“For this is what the Lord GOD says: I am bringing Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon against Tyre from the north, a king of kings, with horses, chariots, cavalry, and a great mass of troops. 8He will kill your daughter towns on the mainland by the sword. He will build siegeworks against you, heap up a ramp, and raise a shield against you. 9He will direct the blows of his battering ram against your walls and tear down your towers with his weapons. 10His many horses will cover you with dust. Your walls will shake at the sound of cavalry, wheels, and chariots as he enters your gates, as men enter a breached city. 11His horses’ hooves will trample all your streets. He will kill your people by the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground. 12They will plunder your wealth and loot your goods. They will tear down your walls and demolish your fine houses, throwing your stones, timber, and soil into the water. 13I will silence the sound of your songs; the music of your lyres will be heard no more. 14I will make you a bare rock, a place for spreading nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I, the LORD, have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.

The coastlands tremble

15“This is what the Lord GOD says to Tyre: Will the coastlands not shake at the sound of your fall, as the wounded groan and slaughter takes place within you? 16All the princes of the sea will step down from their thrones, remove their robes, and strip off their embroidered clothes. Clothed in trembling, they will sit on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled at you. 17They will take up a lament over you and say:
‘How you have perished,
you who were settled from the seas,
the celebrated city,
mighty on the sea—
you and your inhabitants,
who spread terror to all who lived there!’ 18‘Now the coastlands tremble
on the day you fall;
the islands in the sea
are dismayed at your passing.’ 19“For this is what the Lord GOD says: When I make you a ruined city, like cities no one inhabits, when I bring the deep up over you and the great waters cover you, 20I will bring you down with those who descend to the pit, to the people of long ago. I will settle you in the world below, among ancient ruins, with those who descend to the pit, so you will not be inhabited. But I will set splendor in the land of the living. 21I will make you a terror, and you will be no more. People will search for you, but you will never again be found, declares the Lord GOD.”