Psalm 38 - Ezekiel 25 - Ezekiel 26 - Ezekiel 27

Psalm 38

1> Yahweh, don't rebuke me in your wrath, Neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.

2For your arrows have pierced me, Your hand presses hard on me.

3There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation, Neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin.

4For my iniquities have gone over my head. As a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

5My wounds are loathsome and corrupt, Because of my foolishness.

6I am pained and bowed down greatly. I go mourning all day long.

7For my loins are filled with burning. There is no soundness in my flesh.

8I am faint and severely bruised. I have groaned by reason of the anguish of my heart.

9Lord, all my desire is before you. My groaning is not hidden from you.

10My heart throbs. My strength fails me. As for the light of my eyes, it has also left me.

11My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague. My kinsmen stand far away.

12They also who seek after my life lay snares. Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, And meditate deceits all day long.

13But I, as a deaf man, don't hear. I am as a mute man who doesn't open his mouth.

14Yes, I am as a man who doesn't hear, In whose mouth are no reproofs.

15For in you, Yahweh, do I hope. You will answer, Lord my God.

16For I said, "Don't let them gloat over me, Or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips."

17For I am ready to fall. My pain is continually before me.

18For I will declare my iniquity. I will be sorry for my sin.

19But my enemies are vigorous and many. Those who hate me without reason are numerous.

20They who also render evil for good are adversaries to me, Because I follow what is good.

21Don't forsake me, Yahweh. My God, don't be far from me.

22Hurry to help me, Lord, my salvation.

The Prophets of the Exile

Ezekiel 25

1The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2Son of man, set your face toward the children of Ammon, and prophesy against them: 3and tell the children of Ammon, Hear the word of the Lord Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Because you said, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was made desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity: 4therefore, behold, I will deliver you to the children of the east for a possession, and they shall set their encampments in you, and make their dwellings in you; they shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. 5I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the children of Ammon a couching-place for flocks: and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 6For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have clapped your hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the despite of your soul against the land of Israel; 7therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand on you, and will deliver you for a spoil to the nations; and I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to perish out of the countries: I will destroy you; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 8Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because Moab and Seir say, Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations; 9therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim, 10to the children of the east, [to go] against the children of Ammon; and I will give them for a possession, that the children of Ammon may not be remembered among the nations. 11and I will execute judgments on Moab; and they shall know that I am Yahweh. 12Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because Edom has dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended, and revenged himself on them; 13therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, I will stretch out my hand on Edom, and will cut off man and animal from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; even to Dedan shall they fall by the sword. 14I will lay my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath; and they shall know my vengeance, says the Lord Yahweh. 15Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with despite of soul to destroy with perpetual enmity; 16therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will stretch out my hand on the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast. 17I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall lay my vengeance on them.

Ezekiel 26

1It happened in the eleventh year, in the first [day] of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken: the gate of the peoples; she is turned to me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste: 3therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I am against you, Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up. 4They shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock. 5She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh; and she shall become a spoil to the nations. 6Her daughters who are in the field shall be slain with the sword: and they shall know that I am Yahweh. 7For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will bring on Tyre Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company, and much people. 8He shall kill with the sword your daughters in the field; and he shall make forts against you, and cast up a mound against you, and raise up the buckler against you. 9He shall set his battering engines against your walls, and with his axes he shall break down your towers. 10By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover you: your walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into your gates, as men enter into a city in which is made a breach. 11With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all your streets; he shall kill your people with the sword; and the pillars of your strength shall go down to the ground. 12They shall make a spoil of your riches, and make a prey of your merchandise; and they shall break down your walls, and destroy your pleasant houses; and they shall lay your stones and your timber and your dust in the midst of the waters. 13I will cause the noise of your songs to cease; and the sound of your harps shall be no more heard. 14I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a place for the spreading of nets; you shall be built no more: for I Yahweh have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh. 15Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Tyre: shall not the isles shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made in the midst of you? 16Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit on the ground, and shall tremble every moment, and be astonished at you. 17They shall take up a lamentation over you, and tell you, How are you destroyed, who were inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, who was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who caused their terror to be on all who lived there! 18Now shall the isles tremble in the day of your fall; yes, the isles that are in the sea shall be dismayed at your departure. 19For thus says the Lord Yahweh: When I shall make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep on you, and the great waters shall cover you; 20then will I bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you to dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with those who go down to the pit, that you be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living: 21I will make you a terror, and you shall no more have any being; though you are sought for, yet shall you never be found again, says the Lord Yahweh.

Ezekiel 27

1The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying, 2You, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre; 3and tell Tyre, you who dwell at the entry of the sea, who are the merchant of the peoples to many isles, thus says the Lord Yahweh: You, Tyre, have said, I am perfect in beauty. 4Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders have perfected your beauty. 5They have made all your planks of fir trees from Senir; they have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you. 6Of the oaks of Bashan have they made your oars; they have made your benches of ivory inlaid in boxwood, from the isles of Kittim. 7Of fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt was your sail, that it might be to you for an ensign; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was your awning. 8The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers: your wise men, Tyre, were in you, they were your pilots. 9The old men of Gebal and the wise men of it were in you your repairers of ship seams: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you to deal in your merchandise. 10Persia and Lud and Put were in your army, your men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in you; they set forth your comeliness. 11The men of Arvad with your army were on your walls round about, and valorous men were in your towers; they hanged their shields on your walls round about; they have perfected your beauty. 12Tarshish was your merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for your wares. 13Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were your traffickers; they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass for your merchandise. 14They of the house of Togarmah traded for your wares with horses and war-horses and mules. 15The men of Dedan were your traffickers; many isles were the market of your hand: they brought you in exchange horns of ivory and ebony. 16Syria was your merchant by reason of the multitude of your handiworks: they traded for your wares with emeralds, purple, and embroidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and rubies. 17Judah, and the land of Israel, they were your traffickers: they traded for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, and confections, and honey, and oil, and balm. 18Damascus was your merchant for the multitude of your handiworks, by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches, with the wine of Helbon, and white wool. 19Vedan and Javan traded with yarn for your wares: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were among your merchandise. 20Dedan was your trafficker in precious cloths for riding. 21Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they were the merchants of your hand; in lambs, and rams, and goats, in these were they your merchants. 22The traffickers of Sheba and Raamah, they were your traffickers; they traded for your wares with the chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold. 23Haran and Canneh and Eden, the traffickers of Sheba, Asshur [and] Chilmad, were your traffickers. 24These were your traffickers in choice wares, in wrappings of blue and embroidered work, and in chests of rich clothing, bound with cords and made of cedar, among your merchandise. 25The ships of Tarshish were your caravans for your merchandise: and you were replenished, and made very glorious in the heart of the seas. 26Your rowers have brought you into great waters: the east wind has broken you in the heart of the seas. 27Your riches, and your wares, your merchandise, your mariners, and your pilots, your repairers of ship seams, and the dealers in your merchandise, and all your men of war, who are in you, with all your company which is in the midst of you, shall fall into the heart of the seas in the day of your ruin. 28At the sound of the cry of your pilots the suburbs shall shake. 29All who handled the oar, the mariners, [and] all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships; they shall stand on the land, 30and shall cause their voice to be heard over you, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust on their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes: 31and they shall make themselves bald for you, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for you in bitterness of soul with bitter mourning. 32In their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for you, and lament over you, [saying], Who is there like Tyre, like her who is brought to silence in the midst of the sea? 33When your wares went forth out of the seas, you filled many peoples; you did enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of your riches and of your merchandise. 34In the time that you were broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, your merchandise and all your company did fall in the midst of you. 35All the inhabitants of the isles are astonished at you, and their kings are horribly afraid; they are troubled in their face. 36The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; you are become a terror, and you shall nevermore have any being.