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Ezekiel

Chapter 26

A Prophecy against Tyre

Ezekiel 26 opens the long Tyre cycle by announcing judgment on the coastal trading power because it rejoiced over Jerusalem's fall. Tyre interpreted Jerusalem's destruction as commercial opportunity, expecting to be enriched now that the 'gateway of the peoples' was broken. In response, the LORD declares that many nations will come against Tyre like the sea, beginning with Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and extending beyond him until the city's walls, towers, wealth, and very soil are stripped away. The chapter ends with a widening circle of shock: coastlands tremble, princes lament, and Tyre becomes a terror—sought but no longer found.

This chapter begins Ezekiel's extended judgment against Tyre by showing that international commerce and maritime prestige stand no safer before God than Jerusalem's temple-city did. Tyre's sin is not only pride but opportunistic delight in Zion's ruin, revealing a world order eager to profit from covenant judgment rather than tremble before it. The oracle also broadens Ezekiel's horizon from Judah and her immediate neighbors to the great economic powers of the region, reinforcing that the LORD governs not only Israel's fate but the rise and fall of global centers of trade and influence.

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Ezekiel 26

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vv. 1-21

A Prophecy against Tyre

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I1n the eleventh month of the twelfth year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gate to the nations is broken; it has swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will be filled,’ 3therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, O Tyre, I am against you, and I will raise up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. 4They will destroy the walls of Tyre and demolish her towers. I will scrape the soil from her and make her a bare rock. 5She will become a place to spread nets in the sea, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. She will become plunder for the nations, 6and the villages on her mainland will be slain by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’

7For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with cavalry and a great company of troops. 8He will slaughter the villages of your mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works against you, build a ramp to your walls, and raise his shields against you. 9He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his axes. 10His multitude of horses will cover you in their dust. 11When he enters your gates as an army entering a breached city, your walls will shake from the noise of cavalry, wagons, and chariots. The hooves of his horses will trample all your streets. He will slaughter your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground. 12They will plunder your wealth and pillage your merchandise. They will demolish your walls, tear down your beautiful homes, and throw your stones and timber and soil into the water. 13So I will silence the sound of your songs, and the music of your lyres will no longer be heard. 14I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread the fishing nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I, the LORD, have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.’

15This is what the Lord GOD says to Tyre: ‘Will not the coastlands quake at the sound of your downfall, when the wounded groan at the slaughter in your midst? 16All the princes of the sea will descend from their thrones, remove their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. Clothed with terror, they will sit on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled over you. 17Then they will lament for you, saying, 18Now the coastlands tremble 19For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘When I make you a desolate city like other deserted cities, and when I raise up the deep against you so that the mighty waters cover you, 20then I will bring you down with those who descend to the Pit, to the people of antiquity. I will make you dwell in the earth below like the ancient ruins, with those who descend to the Pit, so that you will no longer be inhabited or set in splendor in the land of the living. 21I will make you an object of horror, and you will be no more. You will be sought, but will never be found,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

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  1. 01vv. 1-21A Prophecy against TyreBecause Tyre celebrated Jerusalem's fall as an opportunity for gain, the LORD announces that many nations will rise against her like waves of the sea. Her walls and towers will be broken down, and she will become a bare rock for the spreading of nets. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon will come with military force, slay her daughters, breach her defenses, trample her streets, and plunder her wealth. Beyond that first assault, Tyre's debris will be cast into the waters and the city will be reduced to desolation. The surrounding coastlands and their princes will be horrified at her fall, and Tyre will become a terror, never restored to her former place.
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