Ezekiel 28

1 Yahweh’s word came again to me, saying,

[Then] Yahweh gave me another message. [He said]:

2 “Son of man, tell the prince of Tyre, ‘The Lord Yahweh 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—

“You human, give to the king of Tyre this message from [me], Yahweh the Lord: ‘You have very proudly claimed, “I am a god! I sit on a throne of a god [in a city on an island] in the sea!” You boast that you are a god; but you are only a man, not a god.

3 behold, you are wiser than Daniel. There is no secret that is hidden from you.

[You think that] you are wiser than Daniel was, [and you think that] you can understand every secret.

4 By your wisdom and by your understanding you have gotten yourself riches, and have gotten gold and silver into your treasuries.

By being wise and understanding [a lot], you have become [very] rich; you have acquired much gold and silver for your treasuries.

5 By your great wisdom and by your trading you have increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches—”

[Yes, it is true that] by trading wisely, you have been enabled to become very rich, and because you are rich, you have become very proud.

6 “‘therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Because you have set your heart as the heart of God,

Therefore, this is what Yahweh the Lord says: “Because you think that you are as wise as a 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.

I will [now] bring a foreign [army] to attack your [country], an army that causes other nations to be terrified. They will pull out their swords to strike you, [you who think that] [IRO] you have marvelous/great wisdom, and they will destroy all your beautiful things.

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 will bring you down to your grave; you will die violently like [MET] those who died in 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.

Then you will certainly not [RHQ] say to those who are killing you, 'I am a god!' [because they will know that] you are not a god; you are only a man.

10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers; for I have spoken it,” says the Lord Yahweh.’”

You will die like other people who are unacceptable to me die, killed by foreigners.” [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, have said it.’”

11 Moreover Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,

Yahweh also gave me this message:

12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and tell him, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “You were the seal of full measure, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

“You human, sing a sad/funeral song about the king of Tyre. Say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: [“You thought that] [IRO] you were completely perfect, extremely wise and handsome.

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.

You [had a wonderful life, as though] you were in my [beautiful] garden in Eden. Your [clothes] were decorated with many [HYP] kinds of very valuable stones— ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, turquoise, and beryl [stones]. Those stones were set/placed in gold [mountings]. They were prepared for you on the day that you were born.

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.

I appointed [DOU] you to be like [MET] a strong angel to guard the people. [It was as though I put] you on my holy mountain, and you walked among fiery stones.

15 You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you.

You were completely good in all that you did, from the day that you were created/born, until you [started to] do wicked things.

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.

[Then] you became busy trading things, and you started to act violently, and you sinned. So I caused you to be disgraced; and the angel who was guarding you forced you to leave my holy mountain, forced you to leave your place among those fiery stones.

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.

You were extremely proud because you were very handsome. Because you loved beautiful things, you did things that wise people do not do. [So] I threw you to the ground, and allowed [other] kings who saw you to laugh at you.

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.

By committing many sins and by trading things dishonestly, you caused your places of worship to become unacceptable to me. So I caused a fire [to burn down your city]. [Your city] was burned completely; the people who were watching it saw that only ashes remained on the ground.

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 the people who knew what your [city was like previously] were appalled. Now [your city] has disappeared, and it will not exist any more.”’”

20 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,

[Then] Yahweh gave me another message. [He said],

21 “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against it,

“You human, turn toward Sidon [city], and declare the terrible things that will happen to it.

22 and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I am against you, Sidon. I will be glorified among you. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I have executed judgments in her, and am sanctified in her.

Give [the people of Sidon] this message from [me], Yahweh the Lord: ‘I am your enemy, [you people of] Sidon, and by what I do to you, I will reveal that I am very great/glorious. When I punish you and reveal that I am holy, everyone who is watching that will know that it is I, Yahweh, [who have the power to do what I say that I will do].

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 Yahweh.

I will send a plague upon you, and I will send [enemies to come and] kill [MTY] you in your streets. They will attack you from every direction, and your people will be slaughtered inside the walls of your city. Then everyone will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].'

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 Yahweh.”

No longer will those who live near you people of Israel [hurt you] like [MET] painful briers and sharp thorns [hurt people]. And then the Israeli people will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].”

25 “‘The Lord Yahweh 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.

And this is [also] what Yahweh the Lord says: “Some day the people of Israel will live in their own land [again], the land that I gave to Jacob, who [also] served me. I will gather them from [distant] countries where I have scattered them. And I will reveal to the nations that I am holy among my people.

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 Yahweh their God.”’”

My people will live safely in Israel; they will build houses and plant vineyards. And when I punish the nearby nations that despised them, they will know that it is I, Yahweh their God, [who has done it].”