Ezekiel 26:3-14

26:3 therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, ¹  I am against you, ²  O Tyre! I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. 26:4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers. I will scrape her soil ³  from her and make her a bare rock. 26:5 She will be a place where fishing nets are spread, surrounded by the sea. For I have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord. She will become plunder for the nations, 26:6 and her daughters ⁴  who are in the field will be slaughtered by the sword. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

26:7 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note that ⁵  I am about to bring King Nebuchadrezzar ⁶  of Babylon, king of kings, against Tyre from the north, with horses, chariots, and horsemen, an army and hordes of people. 26:8 He will kill your daughters in the field with the sword. He will build a siege wall against you, erect a siege ramp against you, and raise a great shield against you. 26:9 He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his weapons. ⁷  26:10 He will cover you with the dust kicked up by his many horses. ⁸  Your walls will shake from the noise of the horsemen, wheels, and chariots when he enters your gates like those who invade through a city’s broken walls. ⁹  26:11 With his horses’ hoofs he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will tumble down to the ground. 26:12 They will steal your wealth and loot your merchandise. They will tear down your walls and destroy your luxurious ¹⁰  homes. Your stones, your trees, and your soil he will throw ¹¹  into the water. ¹²  26:13 I will silence ¹³  the noise of your songs; the sound of your harps will be heard no more. 26:14 I will make you a bare rock; you will be a place where fishing nets are spread. You will never be built again, ¹⁴  for I, the Lord, have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord.

[26:3]  ¹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws attention to something and has been translated here as a verb.

[26:3]  ² tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8. The Hebrew text switches to a second feminine singular form here, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed (see vv. 5-6a). The address to Jerusalem continues through v. 15. In vv. 16-17 the second masculine plural is used, as the people are addressed.

[26:4]  ³ tn Or “debris.”

[26:6]  ⁴ sn That is, the towns located inland that were under Tyre’s rule.

[26:7]  ⁵ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws attention to something.

[26:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “Nebuchadrezzar” is a variant and more correct spelling of Nebuchadnezzar, as the Babylonian name Nabu-kudurri-usur has an an “r” rather than an “n.”

[26:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “swords.”

[26:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “From the abundance of his horses he will cover you (with) their dust.”

[26:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “like those who enter a breached city.”

[26:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “desirable.”

[26:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “set.”

[26:12]  ¹² tn Heb “into the midst of the water.”

[26:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “cause to end.”

[26:14]  ¹⁴ sn This prophecy was fulfilled by Alexander the Great in 332 b.c.