Ezekiel 27 - International Standard Version (ISV)

A Message Condemning Tyre

27 This message came to me from the Lord: ² “Son of Man, compose a mourning song for Tyre. ³ Tell Tyre, who lives at the gateway to the Mediterranean^[a] Sea, who serves as the international merchant to many coastal districts: ‘This is what the Lord God says:

“Tyre, you’ve been claiming,
“I am beauty perfected.’
⁴ You’ve set your national boundary in international waters.
Your builders made you downright beautiful!”’”^[b]

Tyre’s Luxurious Sailing Vessels

⁵ ‘They brought in a ship
made with pine planking from Senir,
configured with a mast carved from a cedar from Lebanon,
⁶ equipped with oars
made from oaks from Bashan,
with ivory-inlaid cypress wood^[c] decking
imported from the coastlands of Cypress,
⁷ with sails made with embroidered Egyptian linen,
festooned with blue banners,
and with your sun shades made
with purple cloth from Cypress.
⁸ Your sailors were conscripted
from Sidon and Arvad,
and your officers served aboard
as pilots.
⁹ The wise men and elders from Gebal accompanied you,
serving as ship’s carpenters.
All the maritime navies and their seaman also accompanied you
to assist you in doing business internationally.”

Tyre’s International Makeup

¹⁰ “Soldiers from Persia,^[d] Lud,^[e] and Libya,^[f]
served in your army.
They were your mighty soldiers.
Their helmets and shields adorned your barracks walls,
and they won battle decorations for you.
¹¹ Mercenaries from Arvad and Helech
stood guard duty on your walls,
while brave men manned your towers.
They hung their shields all around your walls—
just the right touch to perfect your interior decorating!”^[g]

Tyre’s Trading Partners

¹² ‘Tarshish was your business partner because of your phenomenal wealth. They traded silver, iron, tin, and lead for your merchandise. ¹³ Greece, Tubal,^[h] and Meshech^[i] bartered with you, exchanging slaves and bronze vessels for your wares. ¹⁴ Beth-togarmah traded horses, war horses, and mules in exchange for what you had to sell. ¹⁵ Men from the low country south of Edom^[j] and many of the coastlands were your markets for ivory tusks and ebony that they brought to trade with you.

¹⁶ “Aram was one of your customers because you had so much merchandise. They paid by trading turquoise, purple yarn, embroidered goods, Egyptian linen,^[k] coral, and rubies. ¹⁷ The territories of Judah and Israel were your clients, too. They traded wheat from their distribution centers,^[l] baked goods, honey, oil, and ointments for your merchandise.

¹⁸ “Because you have so much to sell and are so rich, Damascus has been your trading partner, exchanging wine from Helbon, unbleached wool, ¹⁹ and casks of wine from Izal^[m] for your wrought iron, cassia wood, and aromatic reeds.

²⁰ “Dedan traded with you, exchanging riding blankets. ²¹ Arabia, including all the princes of Kedar, came to you, shopping for lambs, rams, and goats. ²² Traders from Sheba and Raamah paid for the best of what you had to offer with all types of spices, precious stones, and gold. ²³ Haran, Canneh, Eden,^[n] merchants from Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad did business with you, ²⁴ trading garments made into the finest blue and embroidered mantels, and also multi-colored carpets, ropes, and other merchandise. ²⁵ Ocean-going fleets^[o] carried your merchandise.”

Tyre’s Coming Storm

“How filled you were!
How glorious you were,
at home in the heart of the sea!
²⁶ But your rowers have brought you
into dangerous waters.
The east wind has broken you
in the heart of the ocean!
²⁷ Your wealth, your products, your merchandise
your sailors, your pilots,
your tailors, your salesmen,
all your mercenaries with you—
your entire company with you—
will fall into the midst of the sea
on the day when you’re overthrown!
²⁸ When your ships’ captains cry out,
the pasturelands along the coast will cry out!
²⁹ Everyone who handles an oar will abandon ship,
they’ll head straight for dry land,
³⁰ and they will cry so loud
you won’t be able to make yourself heard!
How bitterly they’ll cry!
They’ll throw dust on their heads
and wallow in ashes.
³¹ They’ll shave their heads bald because of you.
They’ll dress themselves in sackcloth
and weep for you with deep bitterness of heart,
with the most pitiful of mourning.
³² In the depth of their despair
they’ll compose a lament for you.
This is what they’ll say:

‘Who is like Tyre?
Who is so silent in the midst of the sea?’
³³ Your merchandise went out over the oceans
to satisfy many nations;
with the abundance of your wealth
you enriched the kings of the earth.
³⁴ “But now it’s your time to be wrecked
at the bottom of the sea!
Your products and your workers have sunk,
and so have you!
³⁵ Everyone who lives by the sea
is appalled at your destruction.
Their leaders are terrified—
their faces reflect their fears!
³⁶ Traders circulate among the people, hissing at you.
What a horror you’ve become!
Now you will cease to exist
forever and ever!”

Footnotes

1. Ezekiel 27:3 The Heb. lacks Mediterranean
2. Ezekiel 27:4 Or you perfectly beautiful
3. Ezekiel 27:6 Lit. daughter of Assyria
4. Ezekiel 27:10 I.e. modern Iran
5. Ezekiel 27:10 I.e., fourth son of Shem, progenitor of the Lydians. The Heb. name Lud means strife.
6. Ezekiel 27:10 Lit. Put; i.e. the third son of Ham (cf. Gen 10:6); the Heb. name means bow
7. Ezekiel 27:11 Lit. your beauty
8. Ezekiel 27:13 I.e. a son of Noah’s son Japheth; this people resided in what is now modern eastern Turkey
9. Ezekiel 27:13 I.e. a son of Noah’s son Japheth; this people resided in what is now modern Armenia
10. Ezekiel 27:15 Lit. The descendants of Dedan; i.e., a son of Cush (cf. Gen 10:7) or a grandson of Abraham through Keturah (Gen 25:3)
11. Ezekiel 27:16 Lit. byssus; i.e. a white cotton cloth
12. Ezekiel 27:17 Lit. from Minnith; perhaps a site in Ammon, east of the Jordan River
13. Ezekiel 27:19 Or Uzal, i.e., a city located in a wine growing region between Haran and the Tigris River
14. Ezekiel 27:23 These cities are thought to have been located in ancient Mesopotamia
15. Ezekiel 27:25 Lit. Ships of Tarshish; i.e., a class of vessel capable of travelling the oceans