Tyre the Great Center of Trade on the Seas

27 The word of the Lord came to me again. He said, ²“Son of man,* sing this sad song about Tyre. ³Say these things about Tyre: “‘{Tyre,} you are the door to the seas. You are the merchant* for many nations. You travel to many countries along the coast.’ The Lord my Master says these things: “‘Tyre, you think that you are so beautiful. You think you are perfectly beautiful! ⁴The Mediterranean Sea is the border around your city. Your builders made you perfectly beautiful, {like the ships that sail from you.} ⁵Your builders used cypress trees from the Senir mountains to make your planks. They used cedar trees from Lebanon to make your mast. ⁶They used oak trees from Bashan to make your oars. They used pine trees from Cyprus to make the cabin on your deck.* They decorated that shelter with ivory. ⁷For your sail, they used colorful linen made in Egypt. That sail was your flag. The coverings over your cabin were blue and purple. They came from the coast of Cyprus.* ⁸Men from Sidon and Arvad rowed your boats for you. Tyre, your wise men were the pilots on your ships. ⁹The elders and wise men from Byblos* were on board to help put caulking* between the boards on your ship. All the ships of the sea and their sailors came to trade and do business with you.’ ¹⁰“Men from Persia, Lud, and Put were in your army. They were your men of war. They hung their shields and helmets on your walls. They brought honor and glory to your city. ¹¹Men from Arvad and Cilicia were guards standing on the wall around your city. Men from Gammad were in your towers. They hung their shields on the walls around your city. They made your beauty complete. ¹²“Tarshish* was one of your best customers. They traded silver, iron, tin, and lead for all the wonderful things you sold. ¹³People in Greece, Turkey, and the area around the Black Sea traded with you. They traded slaves and bronze for the things you sold. ¹⁴People from the nation* of Togarmah traded horses, war horses, and mules for the things you sold. ¹⁵The people of Rhodes* traded with you. You sold your things in many places. People brought ivory tusks and ebony wood to pay you. ¹⁶Aram traded with you because you had so many good things. They traded emeralds, purple cloth, fine needlework, fine linen, coral* and rubies for the things you sold. ¹⁷“The people in Judah and Israel traded with you. They paid for the things you sold with the wheat, olives, early figs, honey, oil, and balm.* ¹⁸Damascus was a good customer. They traded with you for the many wonderful things you had. They traded wine from Helbon and white wool for those things. ¹⁹Damascus traded wine from Uzal for the things you sold. They paid wrought iron, cassia* and sugar cane for those things. ²⁰Dedan provided good business. They traded with you for saddlecloths and for riding horses. ²¹Arabia and all the leaders of Kedar traded lambs, rams, and goats for your goods. ²²The merchants* of Sheba and Raamah traded with you. They traded all the best spices and every kind of precious stone and gold for your goods. ²³Haran, Canneh, Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur and Kilmad traded with you. ²⁴They paid with the best clothes, clothes from blue and fine needlework, carpets of many colors, tightly wound ropes and {things made from} cedar wood. These were the things they traded with you. ²⁵The ships of Tarshish carried the things you sold. “{Tyre, you are like one of those cargo ships.} You are on the sea, loaded with many riches. ²⁶Your oarsmen rowed you far out to sea. But a powerful east wind will destroy your ship at sea. ²⁷And all your wealth will spill into the sea. Your wealth—the things you buy and sell—will spill into the sea. Your whole crew—sailors, pilots, and the men who put caulking* between the boards on your ship—will spill into the sea. The merchants* and soldiers in your city, will all sink into the sea. That will happen on the day that you are destroyed! ²⁸“You send your businessmen to faraway places. Those places will shake with fear when they hear your pilot’s cry! ²⁹Your whole crew will jump ship. The sailors and pilots will jump ship and swim to the shore. ³⁰They will be very sad about you. They will cry, throw dust on their heads, and roll in ashes. ³¹They will shave their heads for you. They will put on clothes of sadness. They will cry for you like someone crying for a person that died. ³²“And in their heavy crying they will sing this sad song about you, and cry about you. “‘No one is like Tyre! Tyre is destroyed, in the middle of the sea! ³³Your businessmen sailed across the seas. You satisfied many people with your great wealth and the things you sold. You made the kings of the earth rich! ³⁴But now you are broken by the seas, and by the deep waters. All the things you sell and all your people have fallen! ³⁵All the people living on the coast are shocked about you. Their kings are terribly afraid. Their faces show their shock. ³⁶The merchants* in other nations whistle about you. The things that happened to you will scare people. Why? Because you are finished. You will be no more.’”

Son of man This was usually just a way of saying “a person,” or “a human being.” But here this is a title for the man, Ezekiel. merchant A person who buys and sells things for a living. deck The floor of a ship. Cyprus Literally, “Elishah.” This might be the area near Enkomi, Cyprus or it might be the Greek islands. Byblos Literally, “Gebal.” caulking Often a mixture of tar and rope that was put between the boards to make a ship watertight so it would not leak. Tarshish This is probably a city in Spain. nation Literally, “house.” This might mean the royal family of that country. Rhodes Or, “Dedan.” See verse 20. coral Sea animals that leave skeletons after they die. The skeletons are hard like rocks and are used for jewelry. balm An ointment from some kinds of trees and plants. It is used as medicine. cassia A spice or perfume. merchant(s) A person who buys and sells things for a living.

Tyre Thinks It Is Like a God

28 The word of the Lord came to me. He said, ²“Son of man,* say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘The Lord my Master says these things: “‘You are very proud! And you say, “I am a god! I sit on the seat of gods in the middle of the seas.” “‘But you are a man and not God! You only think you are a god. ³You think you are wiser than Daniel!* You think you can find out all secrets! ⁴Through your wisdom and understanding you have gotten riches for yourself. And you put gold and silver in your treasuries. ⁵Through your great wisdom and trade, you have made your riches grow. And now you are proud because of those riches. ⁶“‘So the Lord my Master says these things: Tyre, you thought you were like a god. ⁷I will bring strangers to fight against you. They are most terrible among the nations! They will pull out their swords and use them against the beautiful things that your wisdom brought you. They will ruin your glory. ⁸They will bring you down to the grave. You will be like a sailor that died at sea. ⁹That person will kill you. Will you still say, “I am a god”? No! He will have you in his power. You will see that you are a man, not God! ¹⁰Strangers will treat you like a foreigner* and kill you. {Those things will happen because} I gave the command!’” The Lord my Master said those things. ¹¹The word of the Lord came to me. He said, ¹²“Son of man,* sing this sad song about the king of Tyre. Say to him, ‘The Lord my Master says these things: “‘You were the ideal man. You were full of wisdom. You were perfectly handsome. ¹³You were in Eden, the Garden of God. You had every precious stone—rubies, topaz, and diamonds; beryls, onyx, and jasper; sapphires, turquoise, and emeralds. And each of these stones was set in gold. You were given this beauty on the day you were created. {God} made you strong. ¹⁴You were one of the chosen Cherubs.* {Your wings} spread over {my throne}. And I put you on the holy mountain of God. You walked among the jewels that sparkled like fire. ¹⁵You were good and honest when I created you. But then you became evil. ¹⁶Your business brought you {many riches}. But they also put cruelty inside you. And you sinned. So I treated you like you were some unclean thing—I threw you off the mountain of God. You were one of the special Cherub angels—{Your wings} spread over {my throne}. But I forced you to leave the jewels that sparkled like fire. ¹⁷Your beauty made you proud. Your glory ruined your wisdom. So I threw you down to the ground. And now other kings stare at you. ¹⁸You did many wrong things. You were a very crooked businessman. In this way, you made the holy places unclean. So I brought fire from inside you. It burned you! You burned to ashes on the ground. Now everyone can see your shame. ¹⁹All the people in other nations were shocked about what happened to you. What happened to you will make people very afraid. You are finished!’”

The Message Against Sidon

²⁰The word of the Lord came to me. He said, ²¹“Son of man,* look toward Sidon and speak for me against that place. ²²Say, ‘The Lord my Master says these things: “‘I am against you, Sidon! Your people will learn to respect me! I will punish Sidon. Then people will know that I am the Lord. Then they will learn that I am holy and they will treat me that way. ²³I will send disease and death to Sidon, and many people inside the city will die. The sword (enemy soldiers) outside the city will kill many people. Then they will know that I am the Lord!’”

The Nations Will Stop Laughing at Israel

²⁴“‘The countries around Israel hated her. {But bad things will happen to those countries.} Then there won’t be any sharp stickers or thorn bushes to hurt the family of Israel. And they will know that I am the Lord their Master.’” ²⁵The Lord my Master said these things, “I scattered the people of Israel among other nations. But I will gather the family of Israel together again. Then those nations will know that I am holy and they will treat me that way. At that time, the people of Israel will live in their land—I gave that land to my servant Jacob. ²⁶They will live safely in the land. They will build houses and plant vineyards. I will punish the nations around them that hated them. Then the people of Israel will live in safety. And they will know that I am the Lord their God.”

Son of man This was usually just a way of saying “a person,” or “a human being.” But here this is a title for the man, Ezekiel. Daniel An ancient wise man. foreigner Literally, “uncircumcised.” To have the foreskin cut off. This was done to every Jewish male to show he shared in the Agreement God made with Israel. See Gen. 17:9–14. Cherubs Angels that were often used like guards to be around the king (God) or to protect things (the Garden of Eden). The Cherub angels on the Box of the Agreement were like guards by the king’s throne.