Proclamation against Tyre

1In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2Mortal, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem,

‘Aha, broken is the gateway of the peoples;

it has swung open to me;

I shall be replenished,

now that it is wasted’,

3therefore, thus says the Lord GOD:

See, I am against you, O Tyre!

I will hurl many nations against you,

as the sea hurls its waves.

4They shall destroy the walls of Tyre

and break down its towers.

I will scrape its soil from it

and make it a bare rock.

5It shall become, in the midst of the sea,

a place for spreading nets.

I have spoken, says the Lord GOD.

It shall become plunder for the nations,

6and its daughter-towns in the country

shall be killed by the sword.

Then they shall know that I am the LORD.

7For thus says the Lord GOD: I will bring against Tyre from the north King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, king of kings, together with horses, chariots, cavalry, and a great and powerful army.

8Your daughter-towns in the country

he shall put to the sword.

He shall set up a siege wall against you,

cast up a ramp against you,

and raise a roof of shields against you.

9He shall direct the shock of his battering-rams against your walls

and break down your towers with his axes.

10His horses shall be so many

that their dust shall cover you.

At the noise of cavalry, wheels, and chariots

your very walls shall shake,

when he enters your gates

like those entering a breached city.

11With the hoofs of his horses

he shall trample all your streets.

He shall put your people to the sword,

and your strong pillars shall fall to the ground.

12They will plunder your riches

and loot your merchandise;

they shall break down your walls

and destroy your fine houses.

Your stones and timber and soil

they shall cast into the water.

13I will silence the music of your songs;

the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more.

14I will make you a bare rock;

you shall be a place for spreading nets.

You shall never again be rebuilt,

for I the LORD have spoken,

says the Lord GOD.

15Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre: Shall not the coastlands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when slaughter goes on within you? 16Then all the princes of the sea shall step down from their thrones; they shall remove their robes and strip off their embroidered garments. They shall clothe themselves with trembling, and shall sit on the ground; they shall tremble every moment, and be appalled at you. 17And they shall raise a lamentation over you, and say to you:

How you have vanished26.17 Gk OL Aquila: Heb have vanished, O inhabited one, from the seas,

O city renowned,

once mighty on the sea,

you and your inhabitants,26.17 Heb it and its inhabitants

who imposed your26.17 Heb their terror

on all the mainland!26.17 Cn: Heb its inhabitants

18Now the coastlands tremble

on the day of your fall;

the coastlands by the sea

are dismayed at your passing.

19For thus says the Lord GOD: When I make you a city laid waste, like cities that are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you, and the great waters cover you, 20then I will thrust you down with those who descend into the Pit, to the people of long ago, and I will make you live in the world below, among primeval ruins, with those who go down to the Pit, so that you will not be inhabited or have a place26.20 Gk: Heb I will give beauty in the land of the living. 21I will bring you to a dreadful end, and you shall be no more; though sought for, you will never be found again, says the Lord GOD.