Ezekiel 26

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

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

19 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 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 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.”