A Prophecy against Tyre
In the eleventh year the word of the LORD comes against Tyre because she said 'Aha' over Jerusalem, thinking the broken gateway of the peoples would now enrich her. Therefore the Lord GOD is against Tyre and will bring many nations against her like the sea's waves. They will destroy her walls and towers, scrape away her soil, and make her a bare rock where nets are spread. Her mainland settlements will fall by the sword, and all will know that the LORD has spoken.
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.’
The LORD names Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon as the first great instrument of judgment against Tyre, coming from the north with horses, chariots, and a mighty army. He will kill her daughters, build siege works, batter walls, and trample her streets with horses. Her wealth and merchandise will be plundered, her stones and timbers cast into the waters, and her songs silenced. In the end Tyre will be made like a bare rock and become only a place for spreading nets, never rebuilt as before.
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.’
The sound of Tyre's collapse will make the coastlands tremble. Princes of the sea will step down from their thrones, strip off royal robes, and raise a lament over the once-mighty city whose inhabitants were strong in the sea. When God makes Tyre like one who goes down to the pit, she will dwell with the ancient dead in the lowest places. The chapter closes by declaring that Tyre will become a terror, vanish from her former place, and though sought, will not be found again.
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.”