“They will plunder
Your riches.
They will loot
Your merchandise.
They will break down
Your walls.
They will destroy
Your fine houses.
They will cast
Into the water
Your stones,
Your timber,
Your soil.
I will silence
The music
Of your songs.
The sound
Of your lyres
Will be heard
No more.
I will make you
A bare rock.
You shall be a place
For spreading nets.
You shall never
Be rebuilt.
I!
Yahweh!
Have spoken!’
Says Yahweh God.”
Yahweh, via Ezekiel, said that he was going to have the Babylonians plunder their riches and loot the merchandise of the city of Tyre. These Babylonian invaders were going to break down their walls and destroy the fine houses of Tyre. These invaders were going to throw the local stones, timber, and soil of Tyre into the water. There would be no more music or songs. Yahweh would silence the sounds of the lyres or harps. Tyre would become a bare rock or a place for spreading fishing nets. It would never be rebuilt again. Yahweh, God, had spoken. Actually, the siege of Tyre lasted 12 years and then they settled things. Alexander the Great in 332 BCE also captured Tyre. This ancient Phoenician island city still exists in southern Lebanon today with about 100,000 people.