A Prophecy against Tyre
1 On the first day of the month, in the eleventh year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Ha! She is broken! She who was the gateway of the peoples has been turned over to me. I will be replenished now that she is laid waste,’ 3 therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I am against you, Tyre. I will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up. 4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers. I will also scrape the dust from her and make her a bare rock. 5 She will be a place for the spreading of nets in the middle of the sea, for I have spoken it,’ says the Lord GOD. ‘She will become plunder for the nations. 6 Her daughters who are in the field will be slain with the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’
7 For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will bring on Tyre, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, with horsemen in chariots, and with an army of many people. 8 He will kill your daughters in the field with the sword. He will make forts against you, cast up a mound against you, and raise up the buckler against you. 9 He will set his battering engines against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers. 10 From the abundance of his horses, their dust will cover you. Your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen, of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he enters into your gates, as men enter into a city which has been breached.
11 He will tread down all your streets with the hoofs of his horses. He will kill your people with the sword. The pillars of your strength will fall to the ground. 12 They will make a plunder of your riches and prey of your merchandise. They will break down your walls and destroy your beautiful houses. They will lay your stones, your timber, and your dust into the sea. 13 I will cause the sound of your songs to cease. The sound of your harps will no longer be heard. 14 I will make you a bare rock. You will be a place for the spreading of nets. You will be never be rebuilt, for I the LORD have spoken it, declares the Lord GOD.’
15 This is what the Lord GOD says to Tyre: ‘Will the islands not shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter takes place within you? 16 Then all the coastal rulers will come down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling. They will sit on the ground and will tremble every moment and be appalled at you. 17 They will sing a song of lament over you and tell you:
“How you are destroyed,
who were inhabited by seafaring men,
the renowned city by the sea,
who was strong,
she and her inhabitants,
who struck terror on everyone around her!
18 Now the islands tremble on the day of your downfall.
Yes, the islands in the sea will be shocked at your demise.’
19 For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘When I make you a desolate city like uninhabited cities, when I bring the depths of the sea over you and the great waters cover you, 20 then I will bring you down like those who have descended into the pit–the people from ancient times–and will make you dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in places old and desolate, with those who go down to the pit. You will be uninhabited when I set glory in the land of the living. 21 I will bring you to a terrifying end, and you will be no more. Though you are sought after, yet you will never be found again,’ declares the Lord GOD.”