A Prophecy against the Ruler of Tyre

¹And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²“Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre that this is what the Lord GOD says:Your heart is proud,and you have said,‘I am a god;I sit in the seat of godsin the heart of the sea.’Yet you are a man and not a god,though you have regarded your heartas that of a god.

³Behold, you are wiser than Daniel;no secret is hidden from you!

⁴By your wisdom and understandingyou have gained your wealthand amassed gold and silverfor your treasuries.

⁵By your great skill in tradingyou have increased your wealth,but your heart has grown proudbecause of it.

⁶Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says:Because you regard your heartas the heart of a god,

⁷behold, I will bring foreigners against you,the most ruthless of nations.They will draw their swordsagainst the beauty of your wisdomand will defile your splendor.

⁸They will bring you down to the Pit,and you will die a violent deathin the heart of the seas.

⁹Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’in the presence of those who slay you?You will be only a man, not a god,in the hands of those who wound you.

¹⁰You will die the death of the uncircumcisedat the hands of foreigners.For I have spoken,declares the Lord GOD.”

A Lament for the King of Tyre

¹¹Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹²“Son of man, take up a lament for the king of Tyre and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says:‘You were the seal of perfection,full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

¹³You were in Eden,the garden of God.Every kind of precious stone adorned you:ruby, topaz, and diamond,beryl, onyx, and jasper,sapphire,turquoise, and emerald.Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold,prepared on the day of your creation.

¹⁴You were anointed as a guardian cherub,for I had ordained you.You were on the holy mountain of God;you walked among the fiery stones.

¹⁵From the day you were createdyou were blameless in your ways—until wickedness was found in you.

¹⁶By the vastness of your trade,you were filled with violence, and you sinned.So I drove you in disgracefrom the mountain of God,and I banished you, O guardian cherub,from among the fiery stones.

¹⁷Your heart grew proud of your beauty;you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor;so I cast you to the earth;I made you a spectacle before kings.

¹⁸By the multitude of your iniquitiesand the dishonesty of your tradingyou have profaned your sanctuaries.So I made fire come from within you,and it consumed you.I reduced you to ashes on the groundin the eyes of all who saw you.

¹⁹All the nations who know youare appalled over you.You have come to a horrible endand will be no more.’”

A Prophecy against Sidon

²⁰Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²¹“Son of man, set your face against Sidon and prophesy against her.

²²And you are to declare that this is what the Lord GOD says:‘Behold, I am against you, O Sidon,and I will be glorified within you.They will know that I am the LORDwhen I execute judgments against herand demonstrate My holiness through her.

²³I will send a plague against herand shed blood in her streets;the slain will fall within her,while the sword is against her on every side.Then they will know that I am the LORD.

²⁴For the people of Israel will no longer face a pricking brier or a painful thorn from all around them who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.’

The Restoration of Israel

²⁵This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they have been scattered, I will show Myself holy among them in the sight of the nations.Then they will dwell in their own land, which I have given to My servant Jacob.

²⁶And there they will dwell securely, build houses, and plant vineyards. They will dwell securely when I execute judgments against all those around them who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.’”

God’s Sword of Judgment

¹And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²“Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel

³and tell her that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.

⁴Because I will cut off both the righteous and the wicked, My sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north.

⁵Then all flesh will know that I, the LORD, have taken My sword from its sheath, not to return it again.’

⁶But you, son of man, groan! Groan before their eyes with a broken heart and bitter grief.

⁷And when they ask, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you are to say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will go limp. Every spirit will faint, and every knee will turn to water.’ Yes, it is coming and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD.”

⁸Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

⁹“Son of man, prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord says:‘A sword, a sword,sharpened and polished—

¹⁰it is sharpened for the slaughter,polished to flash like lightning!Should we rejoice in the scepter of My son?The sword despises every such stick.

¹¹The sword is appointed to be polished,to be grasped in the hand.It is sharpened and polished,to be placed in the hand of the slayer.

¹²Cry out and wail,O son of man,for the sword is wielded against My people;it is against all the princes of Israel!They are tossed to the sword with My people;therefore strike your thigh.

¹³Surely testing will come!And what if even the scepter,which the sword despises,does not continue?’declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁴‘So then, son of man,prophesy and strike your hands together.Let the sword strike two times,even three.It is a sword that slays,a sword of great slaughterclosing in on every side!

¹⁵So that their hearts may meltand many may stumble,I have appointed at all their gatesa sword for slaughter.Yes, it is ready to flash like lightning;it is drawn for slaughter.

¹⁶Slash to the right;set your blade to the left—wherever your blade is directed.

¹⁷I too will strike My hands together,and I will satisfy My wrath.’I, the LORD, have spoken.”

¹⁸Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹⁹“Now you, son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same land. And make a signpost where the road branches off to each city.

²⁰Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem.

²¹For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the liver.

²²In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect a siege wall.

²³It will seem like a false omen to the eyes of those who have sworn allegiance to him, but it will draw attention to their guilt and take them captive.

²⁴Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have drawn attention to your guilt, exposing your transgressions, so that your sins are revealed in all your deeds—because you have come to remembrance—you shall be taken in hand.

²⁵And you, O profane and wicked prince of Israel,the day has come for your final punishment.’

²⁶This is what the Lord GOD says:‘Remove the turban,and take off the crown.Things will not remain as they are:Exalt the lowlyand bring low the exalted.

²⁷A ruin, a ruin,I will make it a ruin!And it will not be restoreduntil the arrival of Him to whom it belongs,to whom I have assigned the right of judgment.’

²⁸Now prophesy, son of man, and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says concerning the Ammonites and their contempt:‘A sword! A swordis drawn for slaughter,polished to consume,to flash like lightning—

²⁹while they offer false visions for youand lying divinations about you—to be placed on the necksof the wicked who are slain,whose day has come,the time of their final punishment.

³⁰Return the sword to its sheath!In the place where you were created,in the land of your origin,I will judge you.

³¹I will pour out My anger upon you;I will breathe the fire of My fury against you;I will hand you over to brutal men,skilled in destruction.

³²You will be fuel for the fire.Your blood will stain your own land.You will not be remembered,for I, the LORD, have spoken.’”

Idolatrous Elders Condemned

¹Then some of the elders of Israel came and sat down before me.

²And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

³“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I consult with them in any way?

⁴Therefore speak to them and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him according to his great idolatry,

⁵so that I may take hold of the hearts of the people of Israel. For because of their idols, they are all estranged from Me.’

⁶Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Repent and turn away from your idols; turn your faces away from all your abominations.

⁷For when any Israelite or any foreigner dwelling in Israel separates himself from Me, sets up idols in his heart, and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me, I the LORD will answer him Myself.

⁸I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb; I will cut him off from among My people. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

⁹But if the prophet is enticed to speak a message, then it was I the LORD who enticed him, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.

¹⁰They will bear their punishment—the punishment of the inquirer will be the same as that of the prophet—

¹¹in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions. Then they will be My people and I will be their God, declares the Lord GOD.’”

Four Dire Judgments

¹²And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹³“Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting unfaithfully, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supplyof food, to send famine upon it, and to cut off from it both man and beast,

¹⁴then even if these three men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—were in it, their righteousness could deliver only themselves, declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁵Or if I send wild beasts through the land to leave it childless and desolate, with no man passing through it for fear of the beasts,

¹⁶then as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, even if these three men were in it, they could not deliver their own sons or daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.

¹⁷Or if I bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through it,’ so that I cut off from it both man and beast,

¹⁸then as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, even if these three men were in it, they could not deliver their own sons or daughters. They alone would be delivered.

¹⁹Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath upon it through bloodshed, cutting off from it both man and beast,

²⁰then as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they could not deliver their own sons or daughters. Their righteousness could deliver only themselves.

²¹For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it both man and beast?

²²Yet, behold, some survivors will be left in it—sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their conduct and actions, you will be comforted regarding the disaster I have brought upon Jerusalem—all that I have brought upon it.

²³They will bring you consolation when you see their conduct and actions, and you will know that it was not without cause that I have done all these things within it,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

A Father’s Instruction

¹Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction;pay attention and gain understanding.

²For I give you sound teaching;do not abandon my directive.

³When I was a son to my father,tender and the only child of my mother,

⁴he taught me and said,“Let your heart lay hold of my words;keep my commands and you will live.

⁵Get wisdom, get understanding;do not forget my words or turn from them.

⁶Do not forsake wisdom, and she will preserve you;love her, and she will guard you.

⁷Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom.And whatever you may acquire,gain understanding.

⁸Prize her, and she will exalt you;if you embrace her, she will honor you.

⁹She will set a garland of grace on your head;she will present you with a crown of beauty.”

¹⁰Listen, my son, and receive my words,and the years of your life will be many.

¹¹I will guide you in the way of wisdom;I will lead you on straight paths.

¹²When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;when you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Hold on to instruction; do not let go.Guard it, for it is your life.

¹⁴Do not set foot on the path of the wickedor walk in the way of evildoers.

¹⁵Avoid it; do not travel on it.Turn from it and pass on by.

¹⁶For they cannot sleepunless they do evil;they are deprived of slumberuntil they make someone fall.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickednessand drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,shining brighter and brighter until midday.

¹⁹But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom;they do not know what makes them stumble.

²⁰My son, pay attention to my words;incline your ear to my sayings.

²¹Do not lose sight of them;keep them within your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them,and health to the whole body.

²³Guard your heart with all diligence,for from it flow springs of life.

²⁴Put away deception from your mouth;keep your lips from perverse speech.

²⁵Let your eyes look forward;fix your gaze straight ahead.

²⁶Make a level path for your feet,and all your ways will be sure.

²⁷Do not swerve to the right or to the left;turn your feet away from evil.