Ezekiel 28

1 A message from the Lord came to me, saying,

The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

2 “Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre this is what the Lord God says: You are so proud of yourself, saying, ‘I'm a god! I sit on my throne like a god in the middle of the sea.’ But you're only a man. You're not a god, even though you think you are one.

Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus says the Lord GOD; Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet you are a man, and not God, though you set your heart as the heart of God:

3 You even think you're wiser than Daniel and there's no secret that's hidden from you!

Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from you:

4 Yes, you have used your wisdom and cleverness to make yourself rich, collecting plenty of gold and silver for your treasury.

With your wisdom and with your understanding you have got you riches, and have got gold and silver into your treasures:

5 You became wealthy through your superb trading skills, but your wealth only made you proud.

By your great wisdom and by your trade have you increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches:

6 So this is what the Lord God says: Because you think that you're a god,

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; Because you have set your heart as the heart of God;

7 watch as I bring foreigners to attack you. They are more cruel than any other nation. They will use their swords to destroy you and your wonderful wisdom; they will humble your proud glory.

Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon you, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, and they shall defile your brightness.

8 They will drag you down into the grave. You will die horribly out there in the sea.

They shall bring you down to the pit, and you shall die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.

9 Are you still going to claim, ‘I'm a god,’ to those who are killing you? You'll just be another human victim, not a god, in the eyes of your attackers.

Will you yet say before him that slays you, I am God? but you shall be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slays you.

10 You will be killed like some vile person by these foreigners. I myself have spoken, declares the Lord God.”

You shall die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, says the Lord GOD.

11 Another message from the Lord came to me, saying,

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

12 “Son of man, sing a funeral song for the king of Tyre and tell him this is what the Lord God says: Once you were complete and perfect, full of wisdom and flawless in beauty.

Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus says the Lord GOD; You seal up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

13 You were there in Eden, God's garden. You wore all kinds of precious stones: carnelian, topaz, and amethyst; beryl, onyx, and jasper; lapis lazuli, turquoise, and emerald. They were placed in gold mountings and settings using skilled craftsmanship, and were made on the day when you were created.

You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the ruby, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of your timbrels and of your pipes was prepared in you in the day that you were created.

14 I gave you the position of guardian cherub, and I anointed you. You lived on God's holy mountain and you walked among the stones of fire.

You are the anointed cherub that covers; and I have set you so: you were upon the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

15 You were innocent in everything you did from the day you were created until you were found to be doing evil.

You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, till iniquity was found in you.

16 You were so busy with all your trading schemes that they destroyed you inside, leading you to sin and filling you with violence. So I sent you away in disgrace from God's mountain, and I removed you from your position as guardian cherub from your place among the stones of fire.

By the multitude of your merchandise they have filled the midst of you with violence, and you have sinned: therefore I will cast you as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

17 You became proud because of your beauty, you ruined your wisdom because you thought you were so wonderful. So I threw you down to the ground and I made sure kings saw what happened to you.

your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness: I will cast you to the ground, I will lay you before kings, that they may behold you.

18 By all your sins and your dishonest trading you have made your sanctuaries unclean. So I had fire come from inside you, and it burned you up. I turned you into ashes on the ground as everybody there watched.

You have defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trade; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of you, it shall devour you, and I will bring you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold you.

19 All who know you among the nations are horrified at what happened to you. Disaster has brought you down and you're finished forever.”

All they that know you among the people shall be astonished at you: you shall be a terror, and never shall you be any more.

20 A message from the Lord came to me, saying,

Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

21 “Son of man, face towards Sidon and prophesy against her.

Son of man, set your face against Zidon, and prophesy against it,

22 Tell them this is what the Lord God says: Watch out, Sidon, for I'm condemning you, and I will be vindicated by what happens to you. People will know that I am the Lord when I punish her and show my holy character through her experience.

And say, Thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against you, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of you: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.

23 I'm going to send a disease to plague her, and have people killed in her streets. Those who are killed will fall inside the city as the enemy attacks with swords from every side. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

24 The people of Israel will no longer have to put up with these people who are thorns in their side, painful brambles and sharp thorns who treat Israel with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.

And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

25 This is what the Lord God says: When I bring back the people of Israel from the nations where they've been scattered. I will show my holy character through them as everyone watches. Then they will live in their own country, which I gave to my servant Jacob.

Thus says the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.

26 They will live there in safety, building houses and planting vineyards. They will live there in safety when I punish all those around them who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.”

And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.