Passage: Ezekiel 25, 26, 27, 28 (RSV)


Ezekiel 25


1The word of the LORD came to me:
2"Son of man, set your face toward the Ammonites, and prophesy against them.
3Say to the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Because you said, `Aha!' over my sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when it went into exile;
4therefore I am handing you over to the people of the East for a possession, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings in your midst; they shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk.
5I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and the cities of the Ammonites a fold for flocks. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
6For thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the malice within you against the land of Israel,
7therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand against you, and will hand you over as spoil to the nations; and I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries; I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
8"Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Moab said, Behold, the house of Judah is like all the other nations,
9therefore I will lay open the flank of Moab from the cities on its frontier, the glory of the country, Beth-jesh'imoth, Ba'al-me'on, and Kiriatha'im.
10I will give it along with the Ammonites to the people of the East as a possession, that it may be remembered no more among the nations,
11and I will execute judgments upon Moab. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
12"Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance upon them,
13therefore thus says the Lord GOD, I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and cut off from it man and beast; and I will make it desolate; from Teman even to Dedan they shall fall by the sword.
14And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath; and they shall know my vengeance, says the Lord GOD.
15"Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the Philistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of heart to destroy in never-ending enmity;
16therefore thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cher'ethites, and destroy the rest of the seacoast.
17I will execute great vengeance upon them with wrathful chastisements. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I lay my vengeance upon them."

Ezekiel 26


1In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
2"Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, `Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken, it has swung open to me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,'
3therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves.
4They shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers; and I will scrape her soil from her, and make her a bare rock.
5She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading of nets; for I have spoken, says the Lord GOD; and she shall become a spoil to the nations;
6and her daughters on the mainland shall be slain by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
7"For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a host of many soldiers.
8He will slay with the sword your daughters on the mainland; he will set up a siege wall against you, and throw up a mound against you, and raise a roof of shields against you.
9He will direct the shock of his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers.
10His horses will be so many that their dust will cover you; your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen and wagons and chariots, when he enters your gates as one enters a city which has been breached.
11With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets; he will slay your people with the sword; and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground.
12They will make a spoil of your riches and a prey of your merchandise; they will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses; your stones and timber and soil they will cast into the midst of the waters.
13And I will stop the music of your songs, and the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more.
14I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a place for the spreading of nets; you shall never be rebuilt; for I the LORD have spoken, says the Lord GOD.
15"Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre: Will not the coastlands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when slaughter is made in the midst of you?
16Then all the princes of the sea will step down from their thrones, and remove their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments; they will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit upon the ground and tremble every moment, and be appalled at you.
17And they will raise a lamentation over you, and say to you, `How you have vanished from the seas, O city renowned, that was mighty on the sea, you and your inhabitants, who imposed your terror on all the mainland!
18Now the isles tremble on the day of your fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea are dismayed at your passing.'
19"For thus says the Lord GOD: When I make you a city laid waste, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you, and the great waters cover you,
20then I will thrust you down with those who descend into the Pit, to the people of old, and I will make you to dwell in the nether world, among primeval ruins, with those who go down to the Pit, so that you will not be inhabited or have a place in the land of the living.
21I will bring you to a dreadful end, and you shall be no more; though you be sought for, you will never be found again, says the Lord GOD."

Ezekiel 27


1The word of the LORD came to me:
2"Now you, son of man, raise a lamentation over Tyre,
3and say to Tyre, who dwells at the entrance to the sea, merchant of the peoples on many coastlands, thus says the Lord GOD: "O Tyre, you have said, `I am perfect in beauty.'
4Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders made perfect your beauty.
5They made all your planks of fir trees from Senir; they took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
6Of oaks of Bashan they made your oars; they made your deck of pines from the coasts of Cyprus, inlaid with ivory.
7Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail, serving as your ensign; blue and purple from the coasts of Eli'shah was your awning.
8The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers; skilled men of Zemer were in you, they were your pilots.
9The elders of Gebal and her skilled men were in you, caulking your seams; all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you, to barter for your wares.
10"Persia and Lud and Put were in your army as your men of war; they hung the shield and helmet in you; they gave you splendor.
11The men of Arvad and Helech were upon your walls round about, and men of Gamad were in your towers; they hung their shields upon your walls round about; they made perfect your beauty.
12"Tarshish trafficked with you because of your great wealth of every kind; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your wares.
13Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you; they exchanged the persons of men and vessels of bronze for your merchandise.
14Beth-togar'mah exchanged for your wares horses, war horses, and mules.
15The men of Rhodes traded with you; many coastlands were your own special markets, they brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony.
16Edom trafficked with you because of your abundant goods; they exchanged for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and agate.
17Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise wheat, olives and early figs, honey, oil, and balm.
18Damascus trafficked with you for your abundant goods, because of your great wealth of every kind; wine of Helbon, and white wool,
19and wine from Uzal they exchanged for your wares; wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were bartered for your merchandise.
20Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding.
21Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your favored dealers in lambs, rams, and goats; in these they trafficked with you.
22The traders of Sheba and Ra'amah traded with you; they exchanged for your wares the best of all kinds of spices, and all precious stones, and gold.
23Haran, Canneh, Eden, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you.
24These traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue and embroidered work, and in carpets of colored stuff, bound with cords and made secure; in these they traded with you.
25The ships of Tarshish traveled for you with your merchandise. "So you were filled and heavily laden in the heart of the seas.
26Your rowers have brought you out into the high seas. The east wind has wrecked you in the heart of the seas.
27Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, your mariners and your pilots, your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise, and all your men of war who are in you, with all your company that is in your midst, sink into the heart of the seas on the day of your ruin.
28At the sound of the cry of your pilots the countryside shakes,
29and down from their ships come all that handle the oar. The mariners and all the pilots of the sea stand on the shore
30and wail aloud over you, and cry bitterly. They cast dust on their heads and wallow in ashes;
31they make themselves bald for you, and gird themselves with sackcloth, and they weep over you in bitterness of soul, with bitter mourning.
32In their wailing they raise a lamentation for you, and lament over you: `Who was ever destroyed like Tyre in the midst of the sea?
33When your wares came from the seas, you satisfied many peoples; with your abundant wealth and merchandise you enriched the kings of the earth.
34Now you are wrecked by the seas, in the depths of the waters; your merchandise and all your crew have sunk with you.
35All the inhabitants of the coastlands are appalled at you; and their kings are horribly afraid, their faces are convulsed.
36The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more for ever.'"

Ezekiel 28


1The word of the LORD came to me:
2"Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because your heart is proud, and you have said, `I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,' yet you are but a man, and no god, though you consider yourself as wise as a god --
3you are indeed wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you;
4by your wisdom and your understanding you have gotten wealth for yourself, and have gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;
5by your great wisdom in trade you have increased your wealth, and your heart has become proud in your wealth --
6therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Because you consider yourself as wise as a god,
7therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you, the most terrible of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendor.
8They shall thrust you down into the Pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas.
9Will you still say, `I am a god,' in the presence of those who slay you, though you are but a man, and no god, in the hands of those who wound you?
10You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners; for I have spoken, says the Lord GOD."
11Moreover the word of the LORD came to me:
12"Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: "You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, carnelian, topaz, and jasper, chrysolite, beryl, and onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald; and wrought in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared.
14With an anointed guardian cherub I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
15You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.
16In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and the guardian cherub drove you out from the midst of the stones of fire.
17Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you.
18By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought forth fire from the midst of you; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you.
19All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more for ever."
20The word of the LORD came to me:
21"Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her
22and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against you, O Sidon, and I will manifest my glory in the midst of you. And they shall know that I am the LORD when I execute judgments in her, and manifest my holiness in her;
23for I will send pestilence into her, and blood into her streets; and the slain shall fall in the midst of her, by the sword that is against her on every side. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
24"And for the house of Israel there shall be no more a brier to prick or a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.
25"Thus says the Lord GOD: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their own land which I gave to my servant Jacob.
26And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God."



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