Ezekiel 28:20-26

A Prophecy Against Sidon

28:20 The word of the Lord came to me: 28:21 “Son of man, turn toward ¹  Sidon ²  and prophesy against it. 28:22 Say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘Look, I am against you, ³  Sidon,

and I will magnify myself in your midst.

Then they will know that I am the Lord

when I execute judgments on her

and reveal my sovereign power ⁴  in her.

28:23 I will send a plague into the city ⁵  and bloodshed into its streets;

the slain will fall within it, by the sword that attacks it ⁶  from every side.

Then they will know that I am the Lord.

28:24 “‘No longer will Israel suffer from the sharp briers ⁷  or painful thorns of all who surround and scorn them. ⁸  Then they will know that I am the sovereign Lord.

28:25 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: When I regather the house of Israel from the peoples where they are dispersed, I will reveal my sovereign power ⁹  over them in the sight of the nations, and they will live in their land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 28:26 They will live securely in it; they will build houses and plant vineyards. They will live securely ¹⁰  when I execute my judgments on all those who scorn them and surround them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.’”

[28:21]  ¹ tn Heb “set your face against.”

[28:21]  ² sn Sidon was located 25 miles north of Tyre.

[28:22]  ³ 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.

[28:22]  ⁴ tn Or “reveal my holiness.” God’s “holiness” is fundamentally his transcendence as sovereign ruler of the world. The revelation of his authority and power through judgment is in view in this context.

[28:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “into it”; the referent of the feminine pronoun has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “by a sword against it.”

[28:24]  ⁷ sn Similar language is used in reference to Israel’s adversaries in Num 33:55; Josh 23:13.

[28:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “and there will not be for the house of Israel a brier that pricks and a thorn that inflicts pain from all the ones who surround them, the ones who scorn them.”

[28:25]  ⁹ tn Or “reveal my holiness.” See verse 22.

[28:26]  ¹⁰ sn This promise was given in Lev 25:18-19.