Ezekiel 27

A Lament for Doomed Tyre

1And the word of Yahweh ⌞came⌟
Literally “was”
to me, ⌞saying⌟,
Literally “to say”
2“And you, son of man,
Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
raise a lament against Tyre.
3And you must say to Tyre, the one who sits at the entrance of the sea as the merchant of the peoples to the many coastlands, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

Tyre, ⌞you yourself said⌟
Literally “you you said”

“I am perfect ⌞in beauty⌟!”
Literally “of beauty”

4In the heart of the seas are your boundaries;
your builders perfected your beauty.
5They built with pine trees from Senir
all of your boards for you;
they took cedars from Lebanon
to make a sailing mast ⌞for you⌟.
Literally “on you”

6They made your oars
with oaks from Bashan;
your deck they made with inlaid ivory,
with cypress trees from the coastlands of Cyprus.
According to the reading tradition (Qere)

7Your sail was fine linen with colorful weaving from Egypt
⌞to serve as a banner for you⌟;
Literally “to be for you as a banner”

blue and purple cloth from the coastlands of Cyprus
Or “Elishah”

was your awning.
8The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvan
were your rowers;
your ⌞skilled men⌟,
Literally “wise men”
O Tyre, were ⌞from your own people⌟,
Literally “in you”

and they were your seamen.
9The elders of Gebal and its ⌞skilled men⌟
Literally “wise men”
were ⌞among you⌟
Literally “in you”

as the repairers of the seam of your boat;
all of the ships of the sea and their mariners were ⌞among you⌟
Literally “in you”

to barter your wares.
10Persia and Lud and Put
were ⌞among your soldiers⌟;
Literally “in your army as the men of war your”

small shield and helmet hung ⌞among you⌟
Literally “in you”

and gave to you your adornment.
11The people
Or “children,” or “sons”
of Arvan and Helech
were on your walls all around,
and Gammadites
were in your towers.
They hung their quivers
Or “shields” (cf. NJPS; NIV)
on your walls all around;
they perfected your beauty.

12“ ‘Tarshish was your trader; from the abundance of all of their wealth, with silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your merchandise. 13Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your traders; ⌞in exchange for people⌟
Or “for a human person/soul”
and an object of bronze they gave you your wares.
14From Beth Togarmah they exchanged horses and war horses and mules for your wares. 15The people
Or “children”
of Dedan were trading with you, many coastlands composed the region of your ⌞influence⌟;
Literally “hand”
they brought back horns of ivory and ebony as your payment.
16Edom
Reading Edom for Aram
was trading with you because of the abundance of your products, trading with malachite, purple wool yarn and colorful weaving, and fine white fabric and black corals and rubies; all these they exchange for your merchandise.
17Judah and the land of Israel were trading with you with wheat from Minnith and millet and honey and olive oil and balm; all these they gave for your wares. 18Damascus was trading with you ⌞because of⌟
Literally “for”
the abundance of your products, because of the abundance of all of your wealth, trading with the wine of Helbon and white wool.
19Vedan and Javan from Uzal, they exchanged wrought iron, cinnamon,
Or “cassia”
and reed spice for your merchandise; all this was for your wares.
20Dedan was trading with you, with garments of woven material for riding. 21Arabia and all of the leaders of Kedar were ⌞your customers⌟;
Literally “traders of your hand”
with young rams and adult rams and goats they were trading with them with you.
22The traders of Sheba and Raamah were trading with you, with the finest of every spice and with every precious stone and gold; they exchanged all these for your merchandise. 23Haran and Canneh and Eden, the traders of Sheba, Assyria, and Kilmad were trading with you. 24They were trading with you in finery, in mantles of blue cloth and colorful embroidered work and with rugs of variegated cloth in twisted cords and knotted tightly; ⌞these were among your merchandise⌟.
Literally “in your trading/marketplace” (cf. NET)
25The ships of Tarshish were carrying for you your wares, and you were filled, and you became very heavy in the heart of the seas.

26“ ‘Into many waters
the rowers brought you;
but ⌞the east wind⌟
Literally “the wind of the east”
wrecked you
in the heart of the seas.
27Your wealth and your merchandise, your wares,
your mariners, and your seamen,
your shipwrights
Literally “the repairers/strengtheners of your seams”
and the barterers of your wares
and all of ⌞your soldiers⌟
Literally “the men of your war”
who are in you,
along
Hebrew “and”
with all of your crew who are in the midst of you,
they will fall in the heart of the seas on the day of your downfall.
28At the sound of the shout
Or “cry”
of your seamen,
the pasturelands will shake.
29And they will go down from their ships,
all of those holding an oar,
mariners, all of the seamen of the sea
will stand on the land,
30and they will lament
Hebrew “lamented”
over you with their voice,
and they will cry out
Hebrew “cried out”
bitterly,
and they will throw
Hebrew “threw”
dust on their heads,
and they will roll
Hebrew “rolled”
in the dust.
31⌞They will shave themselves bald for your sake⌟,
Literally “And they made bald for you with baldness”

and they will dress
Hebrew “dressed”
themselves in sackcloth,
and they will weep
Hebrew “wept”
over you with a bitterness of soul
Or “of their inner self”

and with bitter wailing.
32And they will raise
Hebrew “raised”
over you with their wailing a lament,
and they will chant
Hebrew “chanted”
a lament over you:
‘Who is like Tyre,
like this destruction in the midst of the sea?’
33When your merchandise went out from the seas,
you satisfied many peoples with the abundance of your wealth,
and by your wares
you made rich the kings of the world.
34Now you are broken by seas
in the depths of waters;
your wares and all of your crew
in the midst of you have sunk.
35All of the inhabitants of the coastlands
are appalled over you,
and their kings ⌞shudder⌟
Literally “they have bristling hair”
in horror;
⌞they distort their faces⌟!
Literally “they are distorted as to faces”

36The traders among the peoples hiss over you;
you have become a horror,
and ⌞you shall be no more forever⌟!’ ”
Literally “there is not you until eternity/endless ages” (cf. NRSV)

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