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Prophecy against the King of Tyre

¹ The Lord spoke to me. ² "Mortal man," he said, "tell the ruler of Tyre what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to him: Puffed up with pride, you claim to be a god. You say that like a god you sit on a throne, surrounded by the seas. You may pretend to be a god, but, no, you are mortal, not divine. ³ You think you are wiser than Danel,^[a] that no secret can be kept from you. ⁴ Your wisdom and skill made you rich with treasures of gold and silver. ⁵ You made clever business deals and kept on making profits. How proud you are of your wealth!

⁶ "Now then, this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: Because you think you are as wise as a god, ⁷ I will bring ruthless enemies to attack you. They will destroy all the beautiful things you have acquired by skill and wisdom. ⁸ They will kill you and send you to a watery grave. ⁹ When they come to kill you, will you still claim that you are a god? When you face your murderers, you will be mortal and not at all divine. ¹⁰ You will die like a dog at the hand of godless foreigners. I, the Sovereign Lord, have given the command."

The Fall of the King of Tyre

¹¹ The Lord spoke to me again. ¹² "Mortal man," he said, "grieve for the fate that is waiting for the king of Tyre. Tell him what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were once an example of perfection. How wise and handsome you were! ¹³ You lived in Eden, the garden of God, and wore gems of every kind: rubies and diamonds; topaz, beryl, carnelian, and jasper; sapphires, emeralds, and garnets. You had ornaments of gold. They were made for you^[b] on the day you were created. ¹⁴ I put a terrifying angel there to guard you.^[c] You lived on my holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems. ¹⁵ Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil. ¹⁶ You were busy buying and selling, and this led you to violence and sin. So I forced you to leave my holy mountain, and the angel who guarded you drove you away from the sparkling gems. ¹⁷ You were proud of being handsome, and your fame made you act like a fool. Because of this I hurled you to the ground and left you as a warning to other kings. ¹⁸ You did such evil in buying and selling that your places of worship were corrupted. So I set fire to the city and burned it to the ground. All who look at you now see you reduced to ashes. ¹⁹ You are gone, gone forever, and all the nations that had come to know you are terrified, afraid that they will share your fate."

Prophecy against Sidon

^20 (a)The Lord said to me, ²¹ "Mortal man, denounce the city of Sidon. ²² Tell the people there what I, the Sovereign Lord, say about them: I am your enemy, Sidon; people will praise me because of what I do to you. They will know that I am the Lord, when I show how holy I am by punishing those who live in you. ²³ I will send diseases on you and make blood flow in your streets. You will be attacked from every side, and your people will be killed. Then you will know that I am the Lord."

Israel Will Be Blessed

²⁴ The Lord said, "None of the surrounding nations that treated Israel with scorn will ever again be like thorns and briers to hurt Israel. And they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord."

²⁵ The Sovereign Lord said, "I will bring back the people of Israel from the nations where I scattered them, and all the nations will know that I am holy. The people of Israel will live in their own land, the land that I gave to my servant Jacob. ²⁶ They will live there in safety. They will build houses and plant vineyards. I will punish all their neighbors who treated them with scorn, and Israel will be secure. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God."