Study

Proclamation against the King of Tyre

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The word of the L ord came to me: ²Mortal, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord G od:

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 mortal, and no god,

though you compare your mind

with the mind of a god.

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You are indeed wiser than Daniel;

no secret is hidden from you;

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by your wisdom and your understanding

you have amassed wealth for yourself,

and have gathered gold and silver

into your treasuries.

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By your great wisdom in trade

you have increased your wealth,

and your heart has become proud in your wealth.

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Therefore thus says the Lord G od:

Because you compare your mind

with the mind of a god,

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therefore, I will bring strangers against you,

the most terrible of the nations;

they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom

and defile your splendor.

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They shall thrust you down to the Pit,

and you shall die a violent death

in the heart of the seas.

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Will you still say, “I am a god,”

in the presence of those who kill you,

though you are but a mortal, and no god,

in the hands of those who wound you?

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You shall die the death of the uncircumcised

by the hand of foreigners;

for I have spoken, says the Lord G od.

Lamentation over the King of Tyre

¹¹ Moreover the word of the L ord came to me: ¹²Mortal, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord G od:

You were the signet of perfection,

full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

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You were in Eden, the garden of God;

every precious stone was your covering,

carnelian, chrysolite, and moonstone,

beryl, onyx, and jasper,

sapphire, turquoise, and emerald;

and worked in gold were your settings

and your engravings.

On the day that you were created

they were prepared.

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With an anointed cherub as guardian I placed you;

you were on the holy mountain of God;

you walked among the stones of fire.

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You were blameless in your ways

from the day that you were created,

until iniquity was found in you.

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In 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 among the stones of fire.

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Your 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.

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By the multitude of your iniquities,

in the unrighteousness of your trade,

you profaned your sanctuaries.

So I brought out fire from within you;

it consumed you,

and I turned you to ashes on the earth

in the sight of all who saw you.

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All who know you among the peoples

are appalled at you;

you have come to a dreadful end

and shall be no more forever.

Proclamation against Sidon

²⁰ The word of the L ord came to me: ²¹Mortal, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against it, ²²and say, Thus says the Lord G od:

I am against you, O Sidon,

and I will gain glory in your midst.

They shall know that I am the L ord

when I execute judgments in it,

and manifest my holiness in it;

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for I will send pestilence into it,

and bloodshed into its streets;

and the dead shall fall in its midst,

by the sword that is against it on every side.

And they shall know that I am the L ord.

²⁴ The house of Israel shall no longer find a pricking brier or a piercing thorn among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. And they shall know that I am the Lord G od.

Future Blessing for Israel

²⁵ Thus says the Lord G od: 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 settle on their own soil that I gave to my servant Jacob. ²⁶They shall live in safety in it, and shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall live in safety, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. And they shall know that I am the L ord their God.