26:1 In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month,1 the word of the Lord came to me: 26:2 “Son of man, Tyre2 has said about Jerusalem,3 ‘Ah, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I will become rich,4 now that she5 has been destroyed.’ 26:3 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against you, O Tyre! I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. 26:4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers. I will scrape her dust from her and make her a bare rock. 26:5 She will be a place where fishing nets are spread, surrounded by the sea. For I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. She will become plunder for the nations, 26:6 and her daughters6 who are in the field will be killed by the sword. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
26:7 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to bring King Nebuchadnezzar7 of Babylon, king of kings, against Tyre from the north, with horses, chariots, and horsemen, an army and hordes of people. 26:8 He will kill your daughters in the field with the sword. He will build a siege wall against you, erect a siege ramp against you, and raise a great shield against you. 26:9 He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his weapons.8 26:10 He will cover you with the dust his many horses kick up.9 Your walls will shake from the noise of the horsemen, wheels, and chariots when he enters your gates like those who invade through a city’s broken walls.10 26:11 With his horses’ hoofs he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will be thrown to the ground. 26:12 They will steal your wealth and loot your merchandise. They will tear down your walls and destroy your beautiful11 homes. Your stones, your trees, and your soil he will throw12 into the water.13 26:13 I will bring to an end your loud songs;14 the sound of your harps will be heard no more. 26:14 I will make you a bare rock; you will be a place where fishing nets are spread. You will never be built again,15 for I, the Lord, have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.
26:15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Tyre: Won’t the coastlands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, and when there is massive slaughter in your midst? 26:16 All the princes of the sea will vacate16 their thrones. They will remove their robes and strip off their embroidered clothes; they will clothe themselves with terror. They will sit on the ground; they will tremble continually and be shocked at what has happened to you.17 26:17 They will sing this lament over you:18
“‘How you have perished, you have vanished19 from the seas,
O renowned city, once mighty in the sea,
she and her inhabitants, who spread their terror!20
26:18 Now the coastlands will tremble
on the day of your fall;
the coastlands which are by the sea will be terrified by your passing.’21
26:19 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will make you desolate like the uninhabited cities; I will bring up the deep22 over you and the surging waters overwhelm you. 26:20 Then I will bring you down with those who descend to the pit, where the ancient people lie dead.23 I will make you live in the lower parts of the earth, among24 the primeval ruins, with those who descend to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited or stand25 in the land of the living. 26:21 I will bring terrors on you, and you will be no more! Though they will seek you, you will never be found again, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
A Lament for Tyre