The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.
Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is a powerful and often unsettling prophetic work that confronts sin, explains judgment, and ultimately proclaims restoration. Written by Ezekiel, a priest turned prophet, the book speaks to the people of Israel during their exile in Babylon—a moment of national collapse, spiritual confusion, and shattered identity.
Ezekiel’s ministry begins with an overwhelming vision of God’s glory. Rather than being confined to Jerusalem, God reveals Himself in exile, riding upon a heavenly throne. This opening vision establishes a foundational truth of the book: God is not limited by geography, temple, or nation. Even in displacement and judgment, God remains sovereign and present.
Much of Ezekiel addresses the reason for Israel’s exile. Through vivid imagery, symbolic actions, and stark language, the prophet exposes idolatry, injustice, and covenant unfaithfulness. Ezekiel emphasizes personal responsibility, declaring that each individual is accountable before God. The repeated phrase “they shall know that I am the LORD” underscores that judgment serves a revelatory purpose—not merely punishment, but recognition of God’s holiness and authority.
The book also confronts false hope. Ezekiel warns against leaders and prophets who promise peace when none exists. Jerusalem’s fall is shown to be unavoidable, not because God is absent, but because rebellion has reached its full measure. Even the destruction of the temple is framed as a consequence of God’s glory departing due to persistent defilement.
Yet Ezekiel does not end in despair. A major turning point occurs when God promises restoration after judgment. Some of the Bible’s most hopeful images appear here: the valley of dry bones brought to life, the promise of a new heart and a new spirit, and the vision of a restored people renewed by God’s presence. Restoration is shown to be God’s initiative, not human achievement.
The final chapters present a detailed vision of a renewed temple and a reordered land. While complex and symbolic, the message is clear: God intends to dwell with His people again. The book closes with a name of hope—“The LORD is there.” What was lost through sin is ultimately restored through God’s faithfulness.
The Book of Ezekiel stands as a sobering yet hopeful witness. It reminds readers that God’s holiness demands accountability, but His mercy pursues restoration. Judgment is not the final word—renewal is.
Ezekiel 27:23
Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants.
Ezekiel 27:24
These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.
Ezekiel 27:25
The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.
Ezekiel 27:26
Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.
Ezekiel 27:27
Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy […]
Ezekiel 27:28
The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.
Ezekiel 27:29
And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land;
Ezekiel 27:3
And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.
Ezekiel 27:30
And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes:
Ezekiel 27:31
And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.
Ezekiel 27:32
And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?
Ezekiel 27:33
When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.
Ezekiel 27:34
In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall.
Ezekiel 27:35
All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance.
Ezekiel 27:36
The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more.
Ezekiel 27:4
Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.
Ezekiel 27:5
They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.
Ezekiel 27:6
Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim.
Ezekiel 27:7
Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.
Ezekiel 27:8
The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots.
Ezekiel 27:9
The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise.
Ezekiel 28:1
The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
Ezekiel 28:10
Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 28:11
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Ezekiel 28:12
Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
Ezekiel 28:13
Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou […]
Ezekiel 28:14
Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Ezekiel 28:15
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Ezekiel 28:16
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.