New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Ezekiel 26
1
It was the first day of a month near the end of the 11th year since King Jehoiachin had been brought to Babylon as a prisoner. A message came to me from the Lord. He said,
Reference
References Lord
Ezekiel 20:1
2
"Son of man, Tyre laughed because of what happened to Jerusalem. The people of Tyre said, 'Jerusalem is the gateway to the nations. But the gate is broken. Its doors have swung open to us. Jerusalem has been destroyed. So now we will succeed.' "
Reference
3
The Lord and King says, "But I am against you, Tyre. I will bring many nations against you. They will come in like the waves of the sea.
Reference
4
They will destroy your walls. They will pull your towers down. I will clear away the stones of your broken-down buildings. I will turn you into nothing but a bare rock.
Reference
5
"Out in the Mediterranean Sea your island city will become a place to spread fishnets. I have spoken," announces the Lord and King. "The nations will take you and everything you have.
Reference
Parallel theme
Ezekiel 47:10
Ezekiel 27:32
References God
Ezekiel 29:19
Ezekiel 26:19
References Lord
Ezekiel 25:7
6
Your settlements on the coast will be destroyed by war. Then you will know that I am the Lord."
Reference
7
The Lord and King says, "From the north I am going to bring Nebuchadnezzar against Tyre. He is king of Babylonia. He is the greatest king of all. He will come with horses and chariots. Horsemen and a great army will be brought along with him.
Reference
Kingdom
Daniel 2:37
Ezra 7:12
Isaiah 10:8
Jeremiah 52:32
Jeremiah 25:9
Hosea 8:10
Daniel 2:47
Parallel theme
Ezekiel 23:24
8
"He will go to war against you. He will destroy your settlements on the coast. He will bring in war machines to attack you. A ramp will be built up to your walls. He will use his shields against you.
Reference
9
He will use huge logs to knock your walls down. He will destroy your towers with his weapons.
10
"He will have so many horses that they will cover you with dust. Your walls will shake because of the noise of his war horses, wagons and chariots. He will enter your gates, just as men enter a city whose walls have been broken through.
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11
The hoofs of his horses will pound in your streets. He will kill your people with swords. Your strong pillars will fall to the ground.
Reference
12
"His men will take away from you your wealth and anything else you have. They will pull your walls down. They will completely destroy your fine houses. They will throw the stones and lumber of your broken-down buildings into the sea.
Reference
13
"I will put an end to your noisy songs. No one will hear the music of your harps anymore.
Reference
14
I will turn you into nothing but a bare rock. You will become a place to spread fishnets. You will never be rebuilt. I have spoken. I am the Lord," announces the Lord and King.
Reference
Parallel theme
Job 12:14
References God
Deuteronomy 13:16
Numbers 23:19
References Lord
Malachi 1:4
Isaiah 14:27
15
The Lord and King speaks to Tyre. He says, "The lands along the coast will shake because of the sound of your fall. Wounded people will groan because so many are dying there.
Reference
16
"Then all of the princes along the coast will step down from their thrones. They will put their robes away. They will take off their beautiful clothes. They will sit on the ground. They will put on terror as if it were their clothes. They will tremble with fear all the time. They will be shocked because of what has happened to you.
Reference
17
"Then they will sing a song of sadness about you. They will say to you, " 'Famous city, you have been completely destroyed! You were filled with sea traders. You and your citizens were a mighty power on the seas. You terrified everyone who lived in you.
Reference
18
The lands along the coast trembled with fear when you fell. The islands in the sea were terrified when you were destroyed.' "
Reference
Parallel theme
Ezekiel 26:15
19
The Lord and King says to Tyre, "I will turn you into an empty city. You will be like cities where no one lives anymore. I will cause the ocean to sweep over you. Its mighty waters will cover you.
Reference
References God
Ezekiel 26:3
20
So I will bring you down together with those who go down into the grave. The people who are there lived long ago. You will have to live in the earth below. It will be like living in buildings that were destroyed many years ago. You will go down into the grave along with others. And you will never come back. You will not take your place in this world again.
Reference
Summary of Ezekiel 26
Ezekiel 26 begins a major series of prophecies against Tyre, a wealthy Phoenician maritime city located on the Mediterranean coast, because Tyre celebrated the destruction of Jerusalem and saw Judah's collapse as an opportunity to increase its own commercial advantage.
Tyre's attitude is particularly important because the city does not merely observe Jerusalem's defeat; it rejoices because Jerusalem's loss appears to create economic opportunities for Tyre.
The prophecy therefore exposes a deeper moral problem in which commercial ambition and self-interest have replaced compassion, allowing Tyre to view the suffering of another nation primarily as a business opportunity.
God responds by declaring, "I am against you, Tyre," and announces that many nations will come against the city like waves repeatedly striking the shoreline.
The image is especially appropriate because Tyre's strength came largely from its position on the Mediterranean and from its maritime commerce, yet the same sea that supported its wealth cannot protect it from God's judgment.
The prophecy first describes the coming attack of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who will bring an enormous army against Tyre.
The description includes horses, chariots, cavalry, siege works, shields, ramps, and military equipment, creating a detailed picture of the ancient siege that will threaten the city's defenses.
Tyre was famous for its fortified position and powerful commercial network, so the prophecy emphasizes the destruction of its walls, towers, streets, buildings, and monuments to demonstrate that even a wealthy and heavily defended city can be brought down.
The Babylonian forces will strip Tyre of its merchandise and wealth, taking away the very resources that had made the city famous throughout the region.
Its music and celebrations will cease, and the city that once represented prosperity, trade, luxury, and maritime influence will become associated with silence and desolation.
One of the chapter's most striking images is that Tyre will become like a bare rock where fishermen spread their nets.
This represents an extraordinary reversal because a city known for international commerce and political influence will be reduced to a place associated with ordinary fishing activity.
The prophecy also emphasizes that Tyre's destruction will affect more than the city itself.
The rulers of the surrounding coastal regions will tremble, remove their royal clothing, and mourn because Tyre's fall will demonstrate that the established economic and political order of the Mediterranean is no longer secure.
A funeral song is then raised over Tyre, remembering its former greatness while describing its fall into ruin.
The city that had enriched merchants and controlled important maritime trade routes will become an object of fear and mourning.
Historically, Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian forces besieged Tyre for many years, beginning in the early sixth century BC, although the historical outcome of that siege is more complex than a simple immediate destruction of the entire island city.
Tyre continued to exist and eventually regained significant importance, and centuries later Alexander the Great captured Tyre in 332 BC after an extensive siege.
Therefore, the chapter's prophecy is best understood within the larger history of Tyre's repeated defeats, political subjugation, and eventual decline rather than assuming that every detail describes one single military event.
The final verses use powerful language of descent into the pit and disappearance from former greatness, emphasizing that the ultimate subject of the prophecy is the collapse of Tyre's proud position.
The city believed its wealth, location, commerce, and influence gave it lasting security, but Ezekiel presents those advantages as temporary because prosperity cannot protect a nation that responds to another people's suffering with pride, exploitation, and malicious self-interest.
The central message is that Ezekiel 26 announces judgment against Tyre because the city rejoiced over Jerusalem's destruction and viewed the collapse of its neighbor as an opportunity to increase its own commercial power, while God declares that the wealthy maritime city will itself experience a dramatic reversal as Babylonian forces and eventually other nations bring military pressure against it, destroying its mainland settlements, weakening its defenses, taking away its merchandise, silencing its music, and reducing its proud commercial center to an image of desolation where fishermen spread their nets, with the prophecy emphasizing that Tyre's impressive wealth, fortified position, international trade network, and influence over the Mediterranean cannot guarantee permanent security, and that the rulers and coastal nations who depend upon Tyre's prosperity will tremble when they see its downfall, while the broader historical story shows that Tyre continued to exist after the Babylonian period but experienced repeated conquest and political decline, including its famous capture by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, making the chapter's larger message a powerful warning that economic success and political influence can disappear when pride, exploitation, and satisfaction over another people's suffering replace humility, justice, and concern for others.
Tyre's attitude is particularly important because the city does not merely observe Jerusalem's defeat; it rejoices because Jerusalem's loss appears to create economic opportunities for Tyre.
The prophecy therefore exposes a deeper moral problem in which commercial ambition and self-interest have replaced compassion, allowing Tyre to view the suffering of another nation primarily as a business opportunity.
God responds by declaring, "I am against you, Tyre," and announces that many nations will come against the city like waves repeatedly striking the shoreline.
The image is especially appropriate because Tyre's strength came largely from its position on the Mediterranean and from its maritime commerce, yet the same sea that supported its wealth cannot protect it from God's judgment.
The prophecy first describes the coming attack of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who will bring an enormous army against Tyre.
The description includes horses, chariots, cavalry, siege works, shields, ramps, and military equipment, creating a detailed picture of the ancient siege that will threaten the city's defenses.
Tyre was famous for its fortified position and powerful commercial network, so the prophecy emphasizes the destruction of its walls, towers, streets, buildings, and monuments to demonstrate that even a wealthy and heavily defended city can be brought down.
The Babylonian forces will strip Tyre of its merchandise and wealth, taking away the very resources that had made the city famous throughout the region.
Its music and celebrations will cease, and the city that once represented prosperity, trade, luxury, and maritime influence will become associated with silence and desolation.
One of the chapter's most striking images is that Tyre will become like a bare rock where fishermen spread their nets.
This represents an extraordinary reversal because a city known for international commerce and political influence will be reduced to a place associated with ordinary fishing activity.
The prophecy also emphasizes that Tyre's destruction will affect more than the city itself.
The rulers of the surrounding coastal regions will tremble, remove their royal clothing, and mourn because Tyre's fall will demonstrate that the established economic and political order of the Mediterranean is no longer secure.
A funeral song is then raised over Tyre, remembering its former greatness while describing its fall into ruin.
The city that had enriched merchants and controlled important maritime trade routes will become an object of fear and mourning.
Historically, Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian forces besieged Tyre for many years, beginning in the early sixth century BC, although the historical outcome of that siege is more complex than a simple immediate destruction of the entire island city.
Tyre continued to exist and eventually regained significant importance, and centuries later Alexander the Great captured Tyre in 332 BC after an extensive siege.
Therefore, the chapter's prophecy is best understood within the larger history of Tyre's repeated defeats, political subjugation, and eventual decline rather than assuming that every detail describes one single military event.
The final verses use powerful language of descent into the pit and disappearance from former greatness, emphasizing that the ultimate subject of the prophecy is the collapse of Tyre's proud position.
The city believed its wealth, location, commerce, and influence gave it lasting security, but Ezekiel presents those advantages as temporary because prosperity cannot protect a nation that responds to another people's suffering with pride, exploitation, and malicious self-interest.
The central message is that Ezekiel 26 announces judgment against Tyre because the city rejoiced over Jerusalem's destruction and viewed the collapse of its neighbor as an opportunity to increase its own commercial power, while God declares that the wealthy maritime city will itself experience a dramatic reversal as Babylonian forces and eventually other nations bring military pressure against it, destroying its mainland settlements, weakening its defenses, taking away its merchandise, silencing its music, and reducing its proud commercial center to an image of desolation where fishermen spread their nets, with the prophecy emphasizing that Tyre's impressive wealth, fortified position, international trade network, and influence over the Mediterranean cannot guarantee permanent security, and that the rulers and coastal nations who depend upon Tyre's prosperity will tremble when they see its downfall, while the broader historical story shows that Tyre continued to exist after the Babylonian period but experienced repeated conquest and political decline, including its famous capture by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, making the chapter's larger message a powerful warning that economic success and political influence can disappear when pride, exploitation, and satisfaction over another people's suffering replace humility, justice, and concern for others.