Ezekiel 28

₁The Lord talked to me and He said: ₂‘Son of man, you must talk to the king of the city of Tyre and tell him: “The Lord God says: You were very proud. You said: “‘I am a god. I live in the middle of the sea where the gods live.”’

You think you are a god, but you are a human, not a god. ₃You think you are wiser than Daniel, and you think you know the answers to all problems. ₄You have used your wisdom and understanding to make you rich. You have filled your store rooms with gold and silver. ₅You have used your wisdom to buy and sell things and you have become even more rich. But then you became proud because you were rich.” ’

₆The Lord God says: ‘You pretended to be a god, ₇and that is why I will bring strangers to attack you. They will be cruel people and they will kill you with their swords. Yes, they will kill the beautiful and wise king. They will destroy everything that you have. ₈They will send you down to your grave, and you will die in the middle of the sea like a soldier who dies in war. ₉Will you then still say that you are a god? Will you say it in front of the people who want to kill you? Will you say it when they do what they want to do to you? No, you won't. You are human, and you are not a god. ₁₀You will die like someone who is impure. No one will respect you. People who are strangers will kill you because I have spoken.’ This is what the Lord God said.

₁₁The Lord talked to me and He said: ₁₂‘Son of man, you must start to sing a funeral song for the king of the city of Tyre. You must tell him: “The Lord God says: You were a very good man. You had a lot of wisdom and you were perfect. ₁₃You had a wonderful life like someone who was living in Eden, the garden of God, and your clothes were covered in every kind valuable gemstones: ruby, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, opal, jasper, emerald and turquoise. I set each one of them in gold. That was how I made you. ₁₄You looked like a cherub-angel. Your wings were open and you had to protect the garden. I put you on the mountain of God and you walked among the gemstones that shone like fire.

₁₅You were good and lived in the right way from the day that I made you. But then you started doing what is wrong. ₁₆You bought and sold a lot of things, but then you became bad and cruel to your people. You have sinned and that is why I have taken you away from the mountain of God. You were the cherub-angel who had to protect the garden, but I had to take you away from the gemstones that shone like fire. ₁₇You became proud because you were so beautiful, and you lost your wisdom because you thought you were important. I threw you down on the ground for kings to see you and to learn not to do the same. ₁₈You cheated a lot of merchants and did many things that were wrong. That is how you made the places of worship impure. That is why I sent a fire to your city and it burnt you down to the ground. Now everyone can see your shame. ₁₉All the nations who knew you became afraid when they saw what happened to you. Your punishment was very bad and cruel. You are dead and gone forever.” ’

₂₀The Lord talked to me and He said: ₂₁‘Son of man, you must look towards the city of Sidon and prophesy_against them. ₂₂You must say: “The Lord God says: Sidon, I have become your enemy. I will show the people in you that I am the King. I will punish them and I will show them that I am the holy God, and then they will know that I am the Lord. ₂₃I will send diseases to Sidon, blood will flow in the streets, enemies will attack the city and dead people will be lying on all the streets. The people of the city will know that I am the Lord. ₂₄The nations around Israel have been cruel to them and they have oppressed the Israelites before, but they will not do it anymore. I will punish those nations and it will never happen again.” ’

₂₅The Lord God says: ‘The Israelites will again live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob. I will bring the Israelites together from among all the nations where they had to go and live and I will show them that I am the holy God. ₂₆The Israelites will live safely in this land. They will build houses and plant vineyards and they will live safely. This will happen when I punish all the nations around them, the people who hated the Israelites. The people of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God.’