The Skeptics Annotated Bible (646 page)

15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

(28.16-19) Once more Ezekiel repeats the false prophecy of the complete destruction of Tyrus and its perpetual desolation. (See 26.14, 21 and 27.36)

16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God:
and I will destroy thee
, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

(28.16)
“I will destroy thee
[Tyrus]
.”

17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will
I bring forth a fire
from the midst of thee,
it shall devour thee
, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

(28.18) “I bring forth a fire … it shall devour thee.”

19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee:
thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

(28.19) “Thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.”

20 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

21 Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it,

(28.22-23) Zidon will know that he is the Lord when he sends “pestilence and blood into her streets.”

22 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold,
I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her
, and shall be sanctified in her.

(28.22)
“I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her.”

23 For
I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the LORD
.

(28.23) “I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the LORD.”

24 And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

(28.25-26) Ezekiel prophesies that Israel will reside in its homeland safely and securely, never again to fight neighboring nations.

25 Thus saith the Lord GOD;
When I shall have gathered the house of Israel
from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen
, then shall they dwell in their land
that I have given to my servant Jacob.

(28.25)
“When I shall have gathered the house of Israel
…
then shall they dwell in their land.”

26
And they shall dwell safely therein
, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards;
yea, they shall dwell with confidence
, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.

(28.26)
“And they shall dwell safely therein … yea, they shall dwell with confidence.”

29
In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month
, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

(29.2-9) God tells Ezekiel to prophesy against the pharaoh and against all Egypt. He says he will feed the Egyptians to the birds and beasts.

2
Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt:

(29.2)
“Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt.”

3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.

4 But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.

5 And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered:
I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.

(29.5) “I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.”

6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand,
thou
didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and
madest all their loins to be at a stand.

8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold,
I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.

(29.7-8) “Thou … madest all their loins to be at a stand … I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.”

9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.

(29.9) “The land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.”

(29.10-11) Ezekiel makes another false prophecy: that Egypt would be uninhabited by humans or animals for forty years after being destroyed by Nebuchadrezzar. But there was never a time when Egypt was uninhabited. Humans and animals have lived there continuously since Ezekiel’s prophecy.