A Lament for Tyre

Ezekiel 27:1–36

ca. 1200–332 BCE

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²Now you, O mortal, intone a dirge over Tyre. ³Say to Tyre:

O you who dwell at the gateway of the sea,

Who trade with the peoples on many coastlands:

Thus said the Lord God:

O Tyre, you boasted,

I am perfect in beauty.

⁴Your frontiers were on the high seas,

Your builders perfected your beauty.

⁵From cypress trees of Senir

They fashioned your planks;

They took a cedar from Lebanon

To make a mast for you.

⁶From oak trees of Bashan

They made your oars;

Of boxwood from the isles of Kittim,

Inlaid with ivory,

They made your decks.

⁷Embroidered linen from Egypt

Was the cloth

That served you for sails;

Of blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah

Were your awnings.

⁸The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad

Were your rowers;

Your skilled men, O Tyre, were within you,

They were your pilots.

⁹Gebal’s elders and craftsmen were within you,

Making your repairs.

All the ships of the sea, with their crews,

Were in your harbor

To traffic in your wares.

¹⁰Men of Paras, Lud, and Put

Were in your army,

Your fighting men;

They hung shields and helmets in your midst,

They lent splendor to you.

¹¹Men of Arvad and Helech

Manned your walls all around,

And men of Gammad were stationed in your towers;

They hung their quivers all about your walls;

They perfected your beauty.

¹²Tarshish traded with you because of your wealth of all kinds of goods; they bartered silver, iron, tin, and lead for your wares. ¹³Javan, Tubal, and Meshech—they were your merchants; they trafficked with you in human beings and copper utensils. ¹⁴From Beth-togarmah they bartered horses, horsemen, and mules for your wares. ¹⁵The people of Dedan were your merchants; many coastlands traded under your rule and rendered you tribute in ivory tusks and ebony. ¹⁶Aram traded with you because of your wealth of merchandise, dealing with you in turquoise, purple stuff, embroidery, fine linen, coral, and agate.^a ¹⁷Judah and the land of Israel were your merchants; they trafficked with you in wheat of Minnith and Pannag, honey, oil, and balm. ¹⁸Because of your wealth of merchandise, because of your great wealth, Damascus traded with you in Helbon wine and white wool. ¹⁹Vedan and Javan from Uzal traded for your wares; they trafficked with you in polished iron, cassia, and calamus. ²⁰Dedan was your merchant in saddlecloths for riding. ²¹Arabia and all Kedar’s chiefs were traders under your rule; they traded with you in lambs, rams, and goats. ²²The merchants of Sheba and Raamah were your merchants; they bartered for your wares all the finest spices, all kinds of precious stones, and gold. ²³Haran, Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Assyria, and Chilmad traded with you. ²⁴These were your merchants in choice fabrics, embroidered cloaks of blue, and many-colored carpets tied up with cords and preserved with cedar—among your wares. ²⁵The ships of Tarshish were in the service of your trade.

^bSo you were full and richly laden

On the high seas.

²⁶Your oarsmen brought you out

Into the mighty waters;

The tempest wrecked you

On the high seas.

²⁷Your wealth, your wares, your merchandise,

Your sailors and your pilots,

The men who made your repairs,

Those who carried on your traffic,

And all the fighting men within you—

All the multitude within you—

Shall go down into the depths of the sea

On the day of your downfall.

²⁸At the outcry of your pilots

The billows shall heave;

²⁹And all the oarsmen and mariners,

All the pilots of the sea,

Shall come down from their ships

And stand on the ground.

³⁰They shall raise their voices over you

And cry out bitterly;

They shall cast dust on their heads

And strew ashes on themselves.

³¹On your account, they shall make

Bald patches on their heads,

And shall gird themselves with sackcloth.

They shall weep over you, brokenhearted,

With bitter lamenting;

³²They shall intone a dirge over you as they wail,

And lament for you thus:

Who was like Tyre when she was silenced

In the midst of the sea?

³³When your wares were unloaded from the seas,

You satisfied many peoples;

With your great wealth and merchandise

You enriched the kings of the earth.

³⁴But when you were wrecked on the seas,

In the deep waters sank your merchandise

And all the crew aboard you.

³⁵All the inhabitants of the coastlands

Are appalled over you;

Their kings are aghast,

Their faces contorted.

³⁶The merchants among the peoples hissed^c at you;

You have become a horror,

And have ceased to be forever.

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Notes

The exact identity of these stones is uncertain.

Resuming the description of Tyre as a ship, as in vv. 3b–9a.

I.e., to ward off the calamity from the viewer.

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Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 1.

A Lament for Tyre

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