Hesekiel 28 | New International Reader’s Version

A prophecy against the king of Tyre

1 A message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said, 2 ‘Son of man, speak to Ethbaal. He is the ruler of Tyre. Tell him, “The LORD and King says, ‘ “ ‘In your proud heart you say, “I am a god. I sit on the throne of a god in the Mediterranean Sea.” But you are only a human being. You are not a god. In spite of that, you think you are as wise as a god. 3 Are you wiser than Daniel? Isn’t even one secret hidden from you? 4 You are wise and understanding. So you have become very wealthy. You have piled up gold and silver among your treasures. 5 You have used your great skill in trading to increase your wealth. You are very rich. So your heart has become proud.’ ” ’ 6 The LORD and King says, ‘You think you are wise. In fact, you claim to be as wise as a god. 7 So I am going to bring outsiders against you. They will not show you any pity at all. They will use their swords against your beauty and wisdom. They will strike down your shining glory. 8 They will bring you down to the grave. You will die a horrible death in the middle of the sea. 9 Then will you say, “I am a god”? Will you say that to those who kill you? You will be only a human being to those who kill you. You will not be a god to them. 10 You will die just like those who have not been circumcised. Outsiders will kill you. I have spoken,’ announces the LORD and King. 11 A message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said, 12 ‘Son of man, sing a song of sadness about the king of Tyre. Tell him, “The LORD and King says, ‘ “ ‘You were the model of perfection. You were full of wisdom. You were perfect and beautiful. 13 You were in Eden. It was my garden. All kinds of jewels decorated you. Here is a list of them: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made out of gold. On the day you were created, they were prepared. 14 I appointed you to be like a guardian angel. I anointed you for that purpose. You were on my holy mountain. You walked among the gleaming jewels. 15 Your conduct was without blame from the day you were created. But soon you began to sin. 16 You traded with many nations. You harmed people everywhere. And you sinned. So I sent you away from my mountain in shame. Guardian angel, I drove you away from among the gleaming jewels. 17 You thought you were so handsome that it made your heart proud. You thought you were so glorious that it spoiled your wisdom. So I threw you down to the earth. I made an example out of you in front of kings. 18 Your many sins and dishonest trade made your holy places impure. So I made you go up in flames. I turned you into nothing but ashes on the ground. I let everyone see it. 19 All the nations that knew you are shocked because of what happened to you. You have come to a horrible end. And you will be gone for ever.’ ” ’

A prophecy against Sidon

20 A message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said, 21 ‘Son of man, turn your attention to the city of Sidon. Prophesy against it. 22 Say, “The LORD and King says, ‘ “ ‘Sidon, I am against your people. Among you I will display my glory. I will punish your people. Among you I will prove that I am holy. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 23 I will send a plague on you. I will make blood flow in your streets. Those who are killed will fall inside you. Swords will strike your people on every side. Then they will know that I am the LORD. 24 ‘ “ ‘The people of Israel will no longer have neighbours who hate them. Those neighbours will not be like sharp and painful thorns anymore. Then Israel will know that I am the LORD and King.’ ” ’ 25 The LORD and King says, ‘I will gather the people of Israel together from the nations where they have been scattered. That will prove that I am holy. I will let the nations see it. Then Israel will live in their own land. I gave it to my servant Jacob. 26 My people will live there in safety. They will build houses. They will plant vineyards. They will live in safety. I will punish all their neighbours who told lies about them. Then Israel will know that I am the LORD their God.’

English Standard Version

Prophecy Against the Prince of Tyre

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God: “Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,’ yet you are but a man, and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god— 3 you are indeed wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you; 4 by your wisdom and your understanding you have made wealth for yourself, and have gathered gold and silver into your treasuries; 5 by your great wisdom in your trade you have increased your wealth, and your heart has become proud in your wealth— 6 therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you make your heart like the heart of a god, 7 therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you, the most ruthless of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendor. 8 They shall thrust you down into the pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas. 9 Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who kill you, though you are but a man, and no god, in the hands of those who slay you? 10 You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners; for I have spoken, declares the Lord God.”

A Lament over the King of Tyre

11 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me: 12 “Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God: “You were the signet of perfection,* full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire,* emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings.* On the day that you were created they were prepared. 14 You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you;* you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. 16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you,* O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. 18 By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you. 19 All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.”

Prophecy Against Sidon

20 The word of the Lord came to me: 21 “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her 22 and say, Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Sidon, and I will manifest my glory in your midst. And they shall know that I am the Lord when I execute judgments in her and manifest my holiness in her; 23 for I will send pestilence into her, and blood into her streets; and the slain shall fall in her midst, by the sword that is against her on every side. Then they will know that I am the Lord. 24 “And for the house of Israel there shall be no more a brier to prick or a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.

Israel Gathered in Security

25 “Thus says the Lord God: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.”

Hesekiel 28 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version