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And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
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“You, therefore, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre.
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And you shall say to Tyre, which lives at the entrance to the sea, which is the marketplace of the peoples for the many islands: Thus says the Lord God: O Tyre, you have said, ‘I am of perfect beauty,
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for I have been positioned at the heart of the sea!’ Your neighbors, who built you, have filled up your beauty.
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They constructed you with spruce from Senir, with all the planks of the sea. They have taken cedars from Lebanon, so that they might make a mast for you.(a)
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They have formed your oars from the oaks of Bashan. And they have made your crossbeams from Indian ivory, and the pilothouse is from the islands of Italy.
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Colorful fine linen from Egypt was woven for you as a sail to be placed upon the mast; hyacinth and purple from the islands of Elishah were made into your covering.
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The inhabitants of Sidon and of Arwad were your rowers. Your wise ones, O Tyre, were your navigators.
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The elders of Gebal and its experts were considered as sailors making use of your diverse equipment. All the ships of the sea and their sailors were your merchants among the people.
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The Persians, and the Lydians, and the Libyans were your men of war in your army. They suspended shield and helmet within you for your adornment.
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The sons of Arwad were with your army upon your walls all around. And even the Gammadim, who were in your towers, suspended their quivers on your walls on all sides; they completed your beauty.(b)
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The Carthaginians, your merchants, supplied your festivals with a multitude of diverse riches, with silver, iron, tin, and lead.
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Greece, Tubal, and Meshech, these were your peddlers; they traveled to your people with slaves and with brass vessels.
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From the house of Togarmah, they brought horses, and horsemen, and mules to your market.
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The sons of Dedan were your merchants. The many islands were the marketplace of your hand. They traded teeth of ivory and of ebony for your price.
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The Syrian was your merchant. Because of the multitude of your works, they offered jewels, and purple, and patterned cloth, and fine linen, and silk, and other valuables in your market.(c) (d)
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Judah and the land of Israel, these were your peddlers of the best grain; they offered balsam, and honey, and oil, and resins at your festivals.
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The Damascene was your trader in the multitude of your works, in greatly diverse wealth, in rich wine, in wool with the finest coloring.
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Dan, and Greece, and Mosel have offered works made of iron at your festivals. Storax ointment and sweet flag were in your marketplace.(e)
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The men of Dedan were your peddlers of tapestries used as seats.
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Arabia and all the leaders of Kedar, these were the merchants at your hand. Your merchants came to you with lambs, and rams, and young goats.
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The vendors of Sheba and Raamah, these were your merchants, with all the finest aromatics, and precious stones, and gold, which they offered in your marketplace.
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Haran, and Canneh, and Eden were your merchants. Sheba, Assur, and Chilmad were your sellers.
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These were your merchants in many places, with windings of hyacinth and of colorful weavings, and with precious treasures, which were wrapped and bound with cords. Also, they had works of cedar among your merchandise.
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The ships of the sea were important to your business dealings. For you were replenished and exceedingly glorified in the heart of the sea.
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Your rowers have brought you into many waters. The south wind has worn you down in the heart of the sea.
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Your riches, and your treasures, and your versatile equipment, your sailors and your navigators, who handle your goods and who were first among your people, likewise your men of war, who were among you, and your entire multitude that is in your midst: they will fall in the heart of the sea on the day of your ruin.
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Your fleets will be disturbed by the sound of an outcry from your navigators.
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And all who were handling the oar will descend from their ships; the sailors and all the navigators of the sea will stand upon the land.
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And they will howl over you with a great voice, and they will cry out with bitterness. And they will cast dust upon their heads, and they will be sprinkled with ashes.
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And they will shave their heads because of you, and they will be wrapped in haircloth. And they will weep for you with bitterness of soul, with a very bitter weeping.
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And they will take up a mournful verse over you, and they will lament you: ‘What city is like Tyre, which has become mute in the midst of the sea?’
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For by the going forth of your merchandise by sea, you supplied many peoples; by the multitude of your riches and of your people, you enriched the kings of the earth.
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Now you have been worn away by the sea, your opulence is in the depths of the waters, and your entire multitude that was in your midst has fallen.
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All the inhabitants of the islands have been stupefied over you; and all their kings, having been struck by the tempest, have changed their expression.
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The merchants of the peoples have hissed over you. You have been reduced to nothing, and you shall not be again, even forever.”
Footnotes