The Arrogance of Nations and the Price of Pride
Ezekiel 25
1 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, set your face toward the children of Ammon, and prophesy against them:
3 and tell the children of Ammon, Hear the Lord Yahweh’s word: The Lord Yahweh says: Because you said, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was made desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity;
4 therefore, behold, I will deliver you to the children of the east for a possession, and they shall set their encampments in you, and make their dwellings in you; they shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk.
5 I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the children of Ammon a resting place for flocks: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
6 For the Lord Yahweh says: Because you have clapped your hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the despite of your soul against the land of Israel;
7 therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand on you, and will deliver you for a plunder to the nations; and I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to perish out of the countries: I will destroy you; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
8 The Lord Yahweh says: Because Moab and Seir say, Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations;
9 therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from its cities which are on its frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim,
10 to the children of the east, with the children of Ammon, and will give them for a possession, that the children of Ammon may not be remembered among the nations.
11 I will execute judgments on Moab; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
12 The Lord Yahweh says: Because Edom has dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended, and revenged himself on them;
13 therefore the Lord Yahweh says: I will stretch out my hand on Edom, and will cut off man and animal from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; even to Dedan shall they fall by the sword.
14 I will lay my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath; and they shall know my vengeance,” says the Lord Yahweh.
15 The Lord Yahweh says: “Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with despite of soul to destroy with perpetual hostility;
16 therefore the Lord Yahweh says: Behold, I will stretch out my hand on the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and destroy the remnant of the seacoast.
17 I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I lay my vengeance on them.”
Ezekiel 26
1 It happened in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken, who was the gate of the peoples; she is turned to me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste:
3 therefore the Lord Yahweh says: Behold, I am against you, Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up.
4 They shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock.
5 She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it,” says the Lord Yahweh; “and she shall become a plunder to the nations.
6 Her daughters who are in the field shall be slain with the sword: and they shall know that I am Yahweh.”
7 For the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I will bring on Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company, and many people.
8 He shall slay your daughters in the field with the sword: and he shall make forts against you, and cast up a mound against you, and lift up the buckler against you.
9 He shall set his battering engines against your walls, and with his axes he shall break down your towers.
10 By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover you: your walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he enters into your gates, as men enter into a city in which is made a breach.
11 With the hoofs of his horses he shall tread down all your streets; he shall slay your people with the sword; and the pillars of your strength shall go down to the ground.
12 They shall make a plunder of your riches, and make a prey of your merchandise; and they shall break down your walls, and destroy your pleasant houses; and they shall lay your stones and your timber and your dust in the midst of the waters.
13 I will cause the noise of your songs to cease; and the sound of your harps shall be no more heard.
14 I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a place for the spreading of nets; you shall be built no more: for I, Yahweh, have spoken it,” says the Lord Yahweh.
15 The Lord Yahweh says to Tyre: “Shall not the islands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made in the midst of you?
16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit on the ground, and shall tremble every moment, and be astonished at you.
17 They shall take up a lamentation over you, and tell you, How you have perished, that were inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, which was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who caused their terror to be on all who lived there!
18 Now the islands tremble in the day of your fall; yes, the islands that are in the sea are dismayed at your departure.”
19 For the Lord Yahweh says: “When I shall make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep on you, and the great waters shall cover you;
20 then I will bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with those who go down to the pit, that you be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living.
21 I will make you a terror, and you shall no more have any being: though you are sought for, yet you shall never be found again,” says the Lord Yahweh.
Ezekiel 27
1 Yahweh’s word came again to me, saying,
2 “You, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre;
3 and tell Tyre, you who dwell at the entrance of the sea, who are the merchant of the peoples to many islands, The Lord Yahweh says: You, Tyre, have said, I am perfect in beauty.
4 Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders have perfected your beauty.
5 They have made all your planks of fir trees from Senir; they have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
6 Of the oaks of Bashan have they made your oars; they have made your benches of ivory inlaid in boxwood, from the islands of Kittim.
7 Your sail was of fine embroidered linen from Egypt, that it might be to you for a banner; blue and purple from the islands of Elishah was your awning.
8 The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers: your wise men, Tyre, were in you, they were your pilots.
9 The elders of Gebal and its wise men were in you your repairers of seams: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you to deal in your merchandise.
10 Persia and Lud and Put were in your army, your men of war: they hung the shield and helmet in you; they showed your beauty.
11 The men of Arvad with your army were on your walls all around, and the Gammadim were in your towers: they hung their shields on your walls all around; they have perfected your beauty.
12 Tarshish was your merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for your wares.
13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were your traders; they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass for your merchandise.
14 They of the house of Togarmah traded for your wares with horses and war horses and mules.
15 The men of Dedan were your traders; many islands were the market of your hand: they brought you horns of ivory and ebony for a present.
16 Syria was your merchant by reason of the multitude of your handiworks: they traded for your wares with emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies.
17 Judah and the land of Israel, they were your traders: they traded for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, and pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm.
18 Damascus was your merchant for the multitude of your handiworks, by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches, with the wine of Helbon, and white wool.
19 Vedan and Javan traded with yarn for your wares: bright iron, cassia, and calamus were among your merchandise.
20 Dedan was your trader in precious cloths for riding.
21 Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they were the merchants of your hand: in lambs, and rams, and goats, in these were they your merchants.
22 The traders of Sheba and Raamah, they were your traders: they traded for your wares with the chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.
23 Haran and Canneh and Eden, the traders of Sheba, Asshur and Chilmad, were your traders.
24 These were your traders in choice wares, in wrappings of blue and embroidered work, and in chests of rich clothing, bound with cords and made of cedar, among your merchandise.
25 The ships of Tarshish were your caravans for your merchandise: and you were replenished, and made very glorious in the heart of the seas.
26 Your rowers have brought you into great waters: the east wind has broken you in the heart of the seas.
27 Your riches, and your wares, your merchandise, your mariners, and your pilots, your repairers of seams, and the dealers in your merchandise, and all your men of war who are in you, with all your company which is in the midst of you, shall fall into the heart of the seas in the day of your ruin.
28 At the sound of the cry of your pilots the suburbs shall shake.
29 All who handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships; they shall stand on the land,
30 and shall cause their voice to be heard over you, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust on their heads, they shall wallow themselves in ashes:
31 and they shall make themselves utterly bald for you, and clothe themselves with sackcloth, and they shall weep for you in bitterness of soul with bitter mourning.
32 In their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for you, and lament over you, saying, Who is there like Tyre, like her who is brought to silence in the midst of the sea?
33 When your wares went out of the seas, you satisfied many peoples; with the multitude of your riches and of your merchandise you enriched the kings of the earth.
34 In the time that you were broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, your merchandise and all your company in your midst fell.
35 All the inhabitants of the islands are astonished at you, and their kings are horribly afraid; they are troubled in their face.
36 The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; you have become a terror, and you shall never be any more.
Scripture: World English Bible Classic (WEB), a public-domain translation. Available for free copying and sharing at eBible.org.
