Ezekiel 27; Ezekiel 28; Ezekiel 29; 1 Peter 3

Ezekiel 27

1 The word of the Lord came to me:

2 "Now, son of man, lament for Tyre.

3 Say to Tyre, who is located at the entrance of the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coasts and islands: This is what the Lord God says: Tyre, you declared: I am perfect in beauty.

4 Your realm was in the heart of the sea; your builders perfected your beauty.

5 They constructed all your planking with pine trees from Senir. They took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.

6 They made your oars of oaks from Bashan. They made your deck of cypress wood from the coasts of Cyprus, [inlaid] with ivory.

7 Your sail was [made of] fine embroidered linen from Egypt, and served as your banner. Your awning was of blue and purple fabric from the coasts of Elishah.

8 The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers. Your wise men were within you, Tyre; they were your helmsmen.

9 The elders of Gebal and its wise men were within you, repairing your leaks. All the ships of the sea and their sailors came to you to barter for your goods.

10 [Men of] Persia, Lud, and Put were in your army, [serving] as your warriors. They hung shields and helmets in you; they gave you splendor.

11 Men of Arvad and Helech were [stationed] on your walls all around, and Gamadites were in your towers. They hung their shields all around your walls; they perfected your beauty.

12 "Tarshish was your trading partner because of [your] great wealth of every kind. They exchanged silver, iron, tin, and lead for your merchandise.

13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your merchants. They exchanged slaves and bronze utensils for your goods.

14 Those from Beth-togarmah exchanged horses, war horses, and mules for your merchandise.

15 Men of Dedanwere also your merchants; many coasts and islands were your regular markets. They brought back ivory tusks and ebony as your payment.

16 Aramwas your trading partner because of your numerous products. They exchanged turquoise, purple and embroidered cloth, fine linen, coral, and rubies for your merchandise.

17 Judah and the land of Israel were your merchants. They exchanged wheat from Minnith, meal, honey, oil, and balm for your goods.

18 Damascus was also your trading partner because of your numerous products and your great wealth of every kind, [trading] in wine from Helbon and white wool.

19 Vedan and Javan from Uzaldealt in your merchandise; wrought iron, cassia, and aromatic cane were [exchanged] for your goods.

20 Dedan was your merchant in saddlecloths for riding.

21 Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your business partners, trading with you in lambs, rams, and goats.

22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you. They exchanged gold, the best of all spices, and all kinds of precious stones for your merchandise.

23 Haran, Canneh, Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you.

24 They were your merchants in choice garments, cloaks of blue and embroidered materials, and multicolored carpets, which were bound and secured with cords in your marketplace.

25 Ships of Tarshish were the carriers for your goods. So you became full and heavily loaded in the heart of the sea.

26 Your rowers have brought you onto the high seas, but the east wind has shattered you in the heart of the sea.

27 Your wealth, merchandise, and goods, your sailors and helmsmen, those who repair your leaks, those who barter for your goods, and all the warriors within you, with all the other people on board, sink into the heart of the sea on the day of your downfall.

28 The countryside shakes at the sound of your sailors' cries.

29 All those who handle an oar disembark from their ships. The sailors and all the helmsmen of the sea stand on the shore.

30 They raise their voices over you and cry out bitterly. They throw dust on their heads; they roll in ashes.

31 They shave their heads because of you and wrap themselves in sackcloth. They weep over you with deep anguish and bitter mourning.

32 In their wailing they lament for you, mourning over you: Who was like Tyre, silenced in the middle of the sea?

33 When your merchandise was unloaded from the seas, you satisfied many peoples. You enriched the kings of the earth with your abundant wealth and goods.

34 Now you are shattered by the sea in the depths of the waters; your goods and the people within you have gone down.

35 All the inhabitants of the coasts and islands are appalled at you. Their kings shudder with fear; [their] faces are contorted.

36 Those who trade among the peoples hiss at you; you have become an object of horror and will never exist again."

Ezekiel 28

1 The word of the Lord came to me:

2 "Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre: 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.

3 Yes, you are wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you!

4 By your wisdom and understanding you have acquired wealth for yourself. You have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries.

5 By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, but your heart has become proud because of your wealth."

6 Therefore this is what the Lord God says: Because you regard your heart as that of a god,

7 I am about to bring strangers against you, ruthless men from the nations. They will draw their swords against your magnificent wisdom and will defile your splendor.

8 They will bring you down to the Pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the sea.

9 Will you still say: I am a god, in the presence of those who kill you? Yet you will be [shown to be] a man, not a god, in the hands of those who kill you.

10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of strangers. For I have spoken. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the declaration of the Lord God .

11 The word of the Lord came to me:

12 "Son of man, lament for the king of Tyre and say to him: This is what the Lord God says: You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

13 You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone covered you: carnelian, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold; they were prepared on the day you were created.

14 You were an anointed guardian cherub, for I had appointed you. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the fiery stones.

15 From the day you were created you were blameless in your ways until wickedness was found in you.

16 Through the abundance of your trade, you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I expelled you in disgrace from the mountain of God, and banished you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.

17 Your heart became proud because of your beauty; For the sake of your splendor you corrupted your wisdom. So I threw you down to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.

18 You profaned your sanctuaries by the magnitude of your iniquities in your dishonest trade. So I sent out fire from within you, and it consumed you. I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of everyone watching you.

19 All those who know you among the nations are appalled at you. You have become an object of horror and will never exist again."

20 The word of the Lord came to me:

21 "Son of man, turn your face toward Sidon and prophesy against it.

22 You are to say: This is what the Lord God says: Look! I am against you, Sidon, and I will display My glory within you. They will know that I am the Lord when I execute judgments against her and demonstrate My holiness through her.

23 I will send a plague against her and bloodshed 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.

24 "The house of Israel will no longer be hurt by prickling briers or painful thorns from all their neighbors who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God .

25 "This is what the Lord God says: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples where they are scattered and demonstrate My holiness through them in the sight of the nations, then they will live in their own land, which I gave to My servant Jacob.

26 They will live there securely, build houses, and plant vineyards. They will live securely when I execute judgments against all their neighbors who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God."

Ezekiel 29

1 In the tenth year, in the tenth [month] on the twelfth [day] of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:

2 "Son of man, turn your face toward Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all of Egypt.

3 Speak [to him] and say: This is what the Lord God says: Look, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monsterlying in the middle of his Nile, who says: My Nile is my own; I made [it] for myself.

4 I will put hooks in your jaws and make the fish of your streams cling to your scales. I will haul you up from the middle of your Nile, and all the fish of your streams will cling to your scales.

5 I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open ground and will not be taken away or gathered [for burial]. I have given you to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the sky as food.

6 Then all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am the Lord, for they have been a staff [made] of reed to the house of Israel.

7 When Israel grasped you by the hand, you splintered, tearing all their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you shattered and made all their hips unsteady.

8 "Therefore this is what the Lord God says: I am going to bring a sword against you and wipe out man and animal from you.

9 The land of Egypt will be a desolate ruin. Then they will know that I am the Lord. Because you said: The Nile is my own; I made [it],

10 therefore, I am against you and your Nile. I will turn the land of Egypt into ruins, a desolate waste from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush.

11 No human foot will pass through it, and no animal foot will pass through it. It will be uninhabited for 40 years.

12 I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among desolate lands, and its cities will be a desolation among ruined cities for 40 years. I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them across the countries.

13 "For this is what the Lord God says: At the end of 40 years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations where they were dispersed.

14 I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom.

15 Egypt will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself over the nations. I will make them so small they cannot rule over the nations.

16 It will never again be an object of trust for the house of Israel, drawing attention to their sin of turning to the Egyptians. Then they will know that I am the Lord God ."

17 In the twenty-seventh year in the first [month], on the first [day] of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:

18 "Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder chafed, but he and his army received no compensation from Tyre for the labor he expended against it.

19 Therefore this is what the Lord God says: I am going to give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will carry off its wealth, seizing its spoil and taking its plunder. This will be his army's compensation.

20 I have given him the land of Egypt as the pay he labored for, since they worked for Me." [This is] the declaration of the Lord God .

21 "In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will enable you to speak out among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

1 Peter 3

1 Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, even if some disobey the [Christian] message, they may be won over without a message by the way their wives live,

2 when they observe your pure, reverent lives.

3 Your beauty should not consist of outward things [like] elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold ornaments or fine clothes;

4 instead, [it should consist of] the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very valuable in God's eyes.

5 For in the past, the holy women who hoped in God also beautified themselves in this way, submitting to their own husbands,

6 just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You have become her children when you do good and aren't frightened by anything alarming.

7 Husbands, in the same way, live with your wives with understanding of their weaker nature yet showing them honor as co-heirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

8 Now finally, all of you should be like-minded and sympathetic, should love believers, and be compassionate and humble,

9 not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you can inherit a blessing.

10 For the one who wants to love life and to see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit,

11 and he must turn away from evil and do good. He must seek peace and pursue it,

12 because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are open to their request. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

13 And who will harm you if you are passionate for what is good?

14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear or be disturbed,

15 but set apart the Messiah as Lord in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

16 However, do this with gentleness and respect, keeping your conscience clear, so that when you are accused, those who denounce your Christian life will be put to shame.

17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God, after being put to death in the fleshly realm but made alive in the spiritual realm.

19 In that state He also went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison

20 who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while an ark was being prepared; in it, a few-that is, eight people-were saved through water.

21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

22 Now that He has gone into heaven, He is at God's right hand, with angels, authorities, and powers subjected to Him.