< Ezekiel 28 >

1 The LORD’s word came again to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 “Son of man, tell the prince of Tyre, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the middle of the seas;’ yet you are man, and no god, though you set your heart as the heart of a god—
Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre: Thus saith the Lord God: Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said: I am God, and I sit in the chair of God in the heart of the sea: whereas thou art a man, and not God: and hast set thy heart as if it were the heart of God.
3 behold, you are wiser than Daniel. There is no secret that is hidden from you.
Behold thou art wiser than Daniel: no secret is hid from thee.
4 By your wisdom and by your understanding you have gotten yourself riches, and have gotten gold and silver into your treasuries.
In thy wisdom and thy understanding thou hast made thyself strong: and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures.
5 By your great wisdom and by your trading you have increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches—”
By the greatness of thy wisdom, and by thy traffic thou hast increased thy strength: and thy heart is lifted up with thy strength.
6 “‘therefore the Lord GOD says: “Because you have set your heart as the heart of God,
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Because thy heart is lifted up as the heart of God:
7 therefore, behold, I will bring strangers on you, the terrible of the nations. They will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom. They will defile your brightness.
Therefore behold, I will bring upon thee strangers the strongest of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy beauty.
8 They will bring you down to the pit. You will die the death of those who are slain in the heart of the seas.
They shall kill thee, and bring thee down: and thou shalt die the death of them that are slain in the heart of the sea.
9 Will you yet say before him who kills you, ‘I am God’? But you are man, and not God, in the hand of him who wounds you.
Wilt thou yet say before them that slay thee: I am God; whereas thou art a man, and not God, in the hand of them that slay thee?
10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers; for I have spoken it,” says the Lord GOD.’”
Thou shalt die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.
11 Moreover the LORD’s word came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyre:
12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and tell him, ‘The Lord GOD says: “You were the seal of full measure, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
And say to him: Thus saith the Lord God: Thou wast the seal of resemblance, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and beryl. Gold work of tambourines and of pipes was in you. They were prepared in the day that you were created.
Thou wast in the pleasures of the paradise of God: every precious stone teas thy covering: the sardius, the topaz, and the jasper, the chrysolite, and the onyx, and the beryl, the sapphire, and the carbuncle, and the emerald: gold the work of thy beauty: and thy pipes were prepared in the day that thou wast created.
14 You were the anointed cherub who covers. Then I set you up on the holy mountain of God. You have walked up and down in the middle of the stones of fire.
Thou a cherub stretched out, and protecting, and I set thee in the holy mountain of God, thou hast walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you.
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day of thy creation, until iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the abundance of your commerce, your insides were filled with violence, and you have sinned. Therefore I have cast you as profane out of God’s mountain. I have destroyed you, covering cherub, from the middle of the stones of fire.
By the multitude of thy merchandise, thy inner parts were filled with iniquity, and thou hast sinned: and I cast thee out from the mountain of God, and destroyed thee, O covering cherub, out of the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I have cast you to the ground. I have laid you before kings, that they may see you.
And thy heart was lifted up with thy beauty: thou best lost thy wisdom in thy beauty, I have cast thee to the ground: I have set thee before the face of kings, that they might behold thee.
18 By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your commerce, you have profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought out a fire from the middle of you. It has devoured you. I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all those who see you.
Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thy iniquities, and by the iniquity of thy traffic: therefore I will bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, to devour thee, and I will make thee as ashes upon the earth in the sight of all that see thee.
19 All those who know you among the peoples will be astonished at you. You have become a terror, and you will exist no more.”’”
All that shall see thee among the nations, shall be astonished at thee: thou art brought to nothing, and thou shalt never be any more.
20 The LORD’s word came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
21 “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against it,
Son of man, set thy face against Sidon: and thou shalt prophesy of it,
22 and say, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Behold, I am against you, Sidon. I will be glorified among you. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have executed judgments in her, and am sanctified in her.
And shalt say: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I come against thee, Sidon, and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall execute judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
23 For I will send pestilence into her, and blood into her streets. The wounded will fall within her, with the sword on her on every side. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
And I will send into her pestilence, and blood in her streets: and they shall fall being slain by the sword on all sides in the midst thereof: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
24 “‘“There will no longer be a pricking brier to the house of Israel, nor a hurting thorn of any that are around them that scorned them. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.”
And the house of Israel shall have no more a stumblingblock of bitterness, nor a thorn causing pain on every side round about them, of them that are against them: and they shall know that I am the Lord God.
25 “‘The Lord GOD says: “When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am shown as holy among them in the sight of the nations, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to my servant Jacob.
Thus saith the Lord God: When I shall have gathered together the house of Israel out of the people among whom they are scattered: I will be sanctified in them before the Gentiles: and they shall dwell in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob.
26 They will dwell in it securely. Yes, they will build houses, plant vineyards, and will dwell securely when I have executed judgments on all those around them who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.”’”
And they shall dwell therein secure, and they shall build houses, and shall plant vineyards, and shall dwell with confidence, when I shall have executed judgments upon all that are their enemies round about: and they shall know that I am the Lord their God.

< Ezekiel 28 >