Ezekiel 28

Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 586 BC – 573 BC · Exile in Babylon · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·

26 verses · 741 words · ~4 min read · ~5 min listen

A Prophecy against the Ruler of Tyre

¹And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre that this is what the Lord God says:

Your heart is proud,

and you have said,

‘I am a god;

I sit in the seat of gods

in the heart of the sea.’

Yet you are a man and not a god,

though you have regarded your heart

as that of a god.

³Behold, you are wiser than Daniel;

no secret is hidden from you!

⁴By your wisdom and understanding

you have gained your wealth

and amassed gold and silver

for your treasuries.

⁵By your great skill in trading

you have increased your wealth,

but your heart has grown proud

because of it.

⁶Therefore this is what the Lord God says:

Because you regard your heart

as the heart of a god,

⁷behold, I will bring foreigners against you,

the most ruthless of nations.

They will draw their swords

against the beauty of your wisdom

and will defile your splendor.

⁸They will bring you down to the Pit,

and you will die a violent death

in the heart of the seas.

⁹Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’

in the presence of those who slay you?

You will be only a man, not a god,

in the hands of those who wound you.

¹⁰You will die the death of the uncircumcised

at the hands of foreigners.

For I have spoken,

declares the Lord God.”

A Lament for the King of Tyre

¹¹Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹²“Son of man, take up a lament for the king of Tyre and tell him that this is what the Lord God says:

‘You were the seal of perfection,

full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

¹³You were in Eden,

the garden of God.

Every kind of precious stone adorned you:

ruby, topaz, and diamond,

beryl, onyx, and jasper,

sapphire, turquoise, and emerald.

Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold,

prepared on the day of your creation.

¹⁴You were anointed as a guardian cherub,

for I had ordained you.

You were on the holy mountain of God;

you walked among the fiery stones.

¹⁵From the day you were created

you were blameless in your ways—

until wickedness was found in you.

¹⁶By the vastness of your trade,

you were filled with violence, and you sinned.

So I drove you in disgrace

from the mountain of God,

and I banished you, O guardian cherub,

from among the fiery stones.

¹⁷Your heart grew proud of your beauty;

you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor;

so I cast you to the earth;

I made you a spectacle before kings.

¹⁸By the multitude of your iniquities

and the dishonesty of your trading

you have profaned your sanctuaries.

So I made fire come from within you,

and it consumed you.

I reduced you to ashes on the ground

in the eyes of all who saw you.

¹⁹All the nations who know you

are appalled over you.

You have come to a horrible end

and will be no more.’”

A Prophecy against Sidon

²⁰Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²¹“Son of man, set your face against Sidon and prophesy against her. ²²And you are to declare that this is what the Lord God says:

‘Behold, I am against you, O Sidon,

and I will be glorified within you.

They will know that I am the Lord

when I execute judgments against her

and demonstrate My holiness through her.

²³I will send a plague against her

and shed blood in her streets;

the slain will fall within her,

while the sword is against her on every side.

Then they will know that I am the Lord.

²⁴For the people of Israel will no longer face a pricking brier or a painful thorn from all around them who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.’

The Restoration of Israel

Jeremiah 30:1–17

²⁵This is what the Lord God says: ‘When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they have been scattered, I will show Myself holy among them in the sight of the nations.

Then they will dwell in their own land, which I have given to My servant Jacob. ²⁶And there they will dwell securely, build houses, and plant vineyards. They will dwell securely when I execute judgments against all those around them who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.’”

Footnotes (2)

a v13 The precise identification of some of these gemstones is uncertain.
b v13 Or lapis lazuli

Study notes on this chapter · 2

Prophecy & fulfillmentDebated

The king of Tyre in Eden

Ezekiel's lament over the king of Tyre describes him as having been in Eden, the garden of God, a guardian cherub on the holy mountain, blameless until iniquity was found in him, and cast to the ground. The passage has been read as a description of a human king, of Adam, or of Satan.

When: Ezekiel, c. 586 BC.

Original passageEzekiel 28:11–19Ezekiel 28:1–10

Echoed inGenesis 3:24Luke 10:18

Ways people read this (4)

A poetic indictment of the king of Tyre, who has claimed to be a god, using Eden imagery (the plain historical reading).
A figure who also reflects Satan's fall, as early church writers and many later readers held.
A retelling of the Adam story, with the king as a failed Adam-figure.
Jewish tradition reads it as about a proud human king, with echoes of Adam.

Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.

Prophecy & fulfillmentDebated

The man of lawlessness

Paul tells the Thessalonians that the day of the Lord will not come until the rebellion occurs and the 'man of lawlessness' is revealed, who sets himself up in God's temple and claims to be God. Paul says something 'restrains' him now. Nearly every part of the passage has been interpreted in several ways.

When: 2 Thessalonians, c. AD 50–51.

Original passage2 Thessalonians 2:1–12

Echoed inDaniel 11:36–37Ezekiel 28:21 John 2:18

Ways people read this (5)

A future individual antichrist, with a temple that is rebuilt or symbolic (futurist).
A Roman emperor (Caligula, Nero) or a wider Roman-era opposition (preterist), and the restrainer is the Roman state.
An institution or system of apostasy, such as the papacy (historicist Protestant).
The restrainer has been identified as the Holy Spirit, the church, government and law, the archangel Michael, or Paul's own preaching.
The 'temple' is the church, or the Jerusalem temple before AD 70.

Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.

See all prophecy & fulfillment notes →

Ezekiel 28

A Prophecy against the Ruler of Tyreⓘ

A Lament for the King of Tyreⓘ

A Prophecy against Sidonⓘ

The Restoration of Israelⓘ