Ezekiel 26

1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

On the first day of the month of the eleventh year, a message from the Lord came to me, saying,

2 Son of man, because Tyre hath said of Jerusalem: Aha, the gates of the people are broken, she is turned to me: I shall be filled, now she is laid waste.

“Son of man, because Tyre said about Jerusalem, ‘Oh good! The trade gateway to the nations has been broken—it's swung wide open for me. Now that Jerusalem has been destroyed, I will be rich!’

3 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold I come against thee, O Tyre, and I will cause many nations to come up to thee, as the waves of the sea rise up.

this is why the Lord God says: Watch out, Tyre! I'm condemning you, and I will have many nations come and attack you, just like the sea that sends its waves crashing against the shore.

4 And they shall break down the walls of Tyre, and destroy the towers thereof: and I will scrape her dust from her, and make her like a smooth rock.

They will destroy the walls of Tyre and tear down her towers. I will scrape off the soil that's on her and turn her into a bare rock.

5 She shall be a drying place for nets in the midst of the sea, because I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and she shall be a spoil to the nations.

Out there in the sea she will be just a place for fishermen to spread their nets. I have spoken, declares the Lord God. Other nations will come and loot her,

6 Her daughters also that are in the field, shall be slain by the sword: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

and the people living in her villages on the mainland will die by the sword. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

7 For thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will bring against Tyre Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, the king of kings, from the north, with horses, and chariots, and horsemen, and companies, and much people.

For this is what the Lord God says: Watch as I bring Nebuchadnezzar, king of kings, to attack Tyre from the north. He will come with horses, chariots, cavalry, and a huge army.

8 Thy daughters that are in the field, he shall kill with the sword: and he shall compass thee with forts, and shall cast up a mount round about: and he shall lift up the buckler against thee.

He will kill the people living in your villages of the mainland with the sword. He will construct siege works to attack you. He will build a ramp against your walls, and his soldiers will hold their shields above them as they advance on you.

9 And he shall set engines of mar and battering rams against thy walls, and shall destroy thy towers with his arms.

He will have his battering rams smash your walls and use his tools to demolish your towers.

10 By reason of the multitude of his horses, their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and wheels, and chariots, when they shall go in at thy gates, as by the entrance of a city that is destroyed.

He will have so many horses you will be covered by the dust they throw up. When he comes in through your gates it will sound like an army charging into a defeated city. Your walls will shake from all the noise made by the cavalry, wagons, and chariots.

11 With the hoofs of his horses he shall tread down all thy streets: thy people he shall kill with the sword, and thy famous statues shall fall to the ground.

His horses will race through your city streets. He will kill all your people with the sword. Your massive pillars will come tumbling to the ground.

12 They shall waste thy riches, they shall make a spoil of thy merchandise: and they shall destroy thy walls, and pull down thy fine houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber, and thy dust in the midst of the waters.

They will steal your wealth and loot your goods. They will knock down your walls, demolish the houses you love so much, and dump the debris and rubble into the sea.

13 And I will make the multitude of thy songs to cease, and the sound of thy harps shall be heard no more.

This is how I'm going to put a stop to your singing. The music of your harps won't be heard any longer.

14 And I will make thee like a naked rock, then shalt be a drying place for nets, neither shalt thou be built any more: for I have spoken it, saith. the Lord God.

I will turn you into a bare rock, and you will be just a place for fishermen to spread their nets. Tyre won't ever be rebuilt. I, the Lord, have spoken, declares the Lord God.

15 Thus saith the Lord God to Tyre: Shall not the islands shake at the sound of thy fall, and the groans of thy slain when they shall be killed in the midst of thee?

This is what the Lord God says to the inhabitants of Tyre: Aren't the people of the coastlands going to shake in terror when they hear your city collapse, when the wounded groan at the killing inside your city?

16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones: and take off their robes, and cast away their broidered garments, and be clothed with astonishment: they shall sit on the ground, and with amazement shall wonder at thy sudden fall.

All the rulers of the coastlands will come down from their thrones, remove their royal robes, and take off their embroidered clothes. Instead they will be clothed with terror and sit on the ground, trembling the whole time, shocked at what's happened to you.

17 And taking up a lamentation over thee, they shall sag to thee: How art thou fallen, that dwellest in the sea, renowned city that wast strong in the sea, with thy inhabitants whom all did dread?

Then they will sing a funeral song for you, saying, ‘You've been destroyed so completely, famous city! You once ruled the sea—you and your people terrified everyone else!

18 Now shall the ships be astonished in the day of thy terror: and the islands in the sea shall be troubled because no one cometh out of thee.

Now the people of the coastlands tremble at your defeat, while those in the islands of the sea are horrified at your downfall.’

19 For thus saith the Lord God: When I shall make thee a desolate city like the cities that are not inhabited: and shall bring the deep upon thee, and many waters shall cover thee:

For this is what the Lord God says: I will turn you into a ruin just like other uninhabited cities. I will have the sea rise up to cover you with deep water.

20 And when I shall bring thee down with those that descend into the pit to the everlasting people, and shall set thee in the lowest parts of the earth, as places desolate of old, with them that are brought down into the pit, that thou be not inhabited: and when I shall give glory in the land of the living,

I will bring you down with those who are headed to the grave to join people from long ago. I will make you live under the earth like the ruins of the past together with those who have gone down into the grave, so that no one will live in you and you won't have any place in the land of the living.

21 I will bring thee to nothing, and thou shalt not be, and if thou be sought for, thou shalt not be found any more for ever, saith the Lord God.

I will turn you into something horrific, and you won't exist any longer. People will look for you, but won't ever find you, declares the Lord God.”