EZEKIEL CHAPTER 23 - 28

EZEKIEL 23

1 The word of YHWH came to me saying
2 “Son of man, there were two gals playing,
The daughters of one mom gainsaying,
3 “And they committed whoredom in
Egypt, they committed them in
Their youth, and there were their breasts pressed
And there they bruised young nipples’ nest.
4 “The elder’s name was Aholah,
And Aholibah sister’s paw,
And they were mine and they had sons
And daughters. The names of those ones
Were Samaria Aholah,
Jerusalem Aholibah.
5 “Aholah played the harlot when
She was mine and doted on men,
On the Assyrians, neighbours then,
6 “Clothed with blue, captains, rulers, all
Of them desirable in stall,
Young men and horsemen riding tall
Upon their horses, clothed and all.
7 “She fornicated with them, all
The chosen Assyrian men, all
On whom she doted, and with all
Their idols she defiled her shawl.

The army always is made up of men
Who look handsome in uniform again
Even to the young girls of conquered lands
Who clap to see them riding in their bands.
An apt and timely metaphor, I trow,
Is this for foreign gods that gloat and bow
In silver and in gold braid to the eye
That ought to look to You alone or die.
Beloved, I never was a silly girl,
I never looked at soldiers with a curl,
But I have learned that men may also take
A false god and be seduced by mistake.
Keep me, Beloved, from every loathsome god
That splits the ripened bean and breaks the pod.

8 “She did not forsake whoredom brought
From Egypt, that in youth was taught
To her when they lay with her and
They squeezed her virgin breasts in hand
And poured their hot lust on her land.
9 “So I’ve delivered her into
The hand of her lovers in crew,
Into the hand of Assyrian
On whom she doted to a man.
10 “They uncovered her nakedness,
They took her sons and the address
Of her daughter, killed with the sword,
She was famous in women’s horde,
They judged her with such a reward.
11 “When her sister Aholibah
Saw, she was more corrupt in paw
And in her lawless doting than
She, and in her whoredoms to scan
Than was her sister in her span.
12 “She doted on the neighbour men
Assyrian captains, rulers then
Clothed gorgeously, and the horsemen
Riding on horses all of them
Desirable young men like gem.”
13 “Then I saw that she was defiled,
They took both the same way and wild.
14 “And she increased her wickedness,
For when she saw men’s painted dress
Upon the wall, Chaldean plot
Portrayed from vermilion paint-pot,
15 With leather belts about their waist,
Dyed and combed hair on their heads aced,
All of them high-class and in fashion,
After latest Babylon smashing,
In Chaldea their native land,
16 “Soon as she set eye on that band,
She swooned in lust and then she sent
Messengers to them and they went
Into the Chaldean’s bright tent.

To worship idols in both trinity,
Brought from Babylon or Egyptian fee,
Is to make traffic with the porno mob
That uses leather and whips and the bob
Of dildoes, it’s no new thing under sun,
But was the seduction that made them run
To heathen temples in the ancient past.
The pornographic pictures that were cast
Upon the walls are what brought people in
To stay to pray and revel in their sin.
The same is true to day, the sacred din
Of sex worship is heard in every church
Where swaying hip and leather to besmirch
Is de rigueur for those who rock and lurch.

17 “The Babylonians came to
Her in bed of lovers in crew,
And they defiled her with their lust
And she was polluted like dust
With them till she had left their trust.
18 “So she revealed her whoredom and
Uncovered her nakedness spanned,
Then My spirit left her alone
As I’d done with her sister grown.
19 “And still she multiplied her deeds
Of lewdness, and remembered seeds
Of the days of her youth and when
She’d lain with the Egyptian men.
20 “She doted on their paramours,
Whose flesh is like asses’ and pours
Out like the horses out of doors.
21 “So she remembered her lewd youth,
The squeezing of nipples in truth
By the Egyptians, teats uncouth.

The faith and liturgy that titillates
With nipples and bare legs is one that rates
The popularity of all the crew
Since ancient times until the very new.
There is no difference that I can see
Between the heathen potions of the free
In Judah and Samaria and those
That stage in New York and fail not to pose
In Dallas where the Bible Belt once rose.
There’s more singing and shouting of the sex
Than there is now of reading out the checks
Your Word would make on sinful acts to stop
The faithlessness of Christian rock and pop.
Beloved, it seems there’s hardly one that knows.

22 “Therefore, O Aholibah,” so
Says the Lord YHWH, “I’m on the go
To raise your lovers against you,
Because My spirit’s against you,
And I’ll bring them against you too
On every side you turn to view.
23 “The Babylonians and all
The Chaldeans, Pekod and call
Of Shoa and Koa and all
The Assyrians with them, all
Of them desirable young men,
Captains and rulers, great lords then
And famous, all on horses then.

The third time is a charm, and so I note
At last the name Muhammad that he wrote
Into this chapter to describe the youth
Of the Assyrian and say forsooth
The Babylonian as well to ride.
I take this little trinity aside
With a remonstrance that it bodes not well
For Palestinian nor Israel.
Beloved, young men of great desire may be
Walking about the earth, and so freely
Catch up the tale of hope and helplessness.
But I wait for the prophet’s true address.
Desire and red wine will distract the man
Before he sees unfolding of the fan.

24 And they’ll come against you with such
As chariots, wagons, wheels and much
People set against you in armour
And shield and helmet round as harmer,
And I’ll set judgement before them
And they’ll judge you by stratagem.
25 “I’ll set My jealousy to you,
And they deal furiously with you,
They’ll take away your nose and ears,
What’s left of you will fail for fears
Of the sword, and will take your sons
And your daughters away by tons,
And what is left of you shall be
Devoured by the fire ragingly.
26 “They’ll also strip away your clothes,
And take your fair jewels from your nose.
27 “So I will make your lewdness cease
From you and your whoredom’s increase
From the land of Egypt, so that
You’ll raise your eyes from where you sat
To them and not remember more
Any of the Egyptian shore.”
28 For so says the Lord YHWH, “See here,
I’ll deliver you in the fear
Of those you hate, into the power
Of those you’ve set against an hour.
29 “And they’ll deal with you hatefully,
To take away all of the fee
Of your labours, and they’ll leave you
Naked and bare, and then in view
Will be nudity of your lust,
And your lewdness down in the dust.

All men and women too are born of dust,
And come out naked on the worldly trust
To turn upon the gallows for an hour
And breathe Your hope beneath the hand of power.
Beloved, I sing the dirge and I repent,
I follow the skirts of the famed and spent
And see Your judgement fall alike on all,
The humble and the whore both at the ball.
The forehead is striped with the painted mess,
The bangles broken tear the evening dress,
And all the way to darkness and the night
I hear the sighs and sobbings out of sight.
All men and women too lie down to sleep
With nothing but their troubled dreams to keep.

30 “I’ll do these things to you, because
You went whoring after the paws
Of the heathen and since you are
Polluted with their idols’ star.
31 “You’ve walked in the way of your sis,
That’s why I give her cup to kiss.”
32 So says the Lord YHWH, “You will drink
You sister’s cup deep from the brink,
You’ll be laughed to scorn and mocked too,
So much is in that cup for you.
33 “You’ll be filled with drunkenness too
And sorrow, and astonishment
A cup of desolation meant
With the cup of your sister sent
Out from the Samarian tent.
34 “You’ll even drink it and suck out
And break its shards and without doubt
Tear your own breasts, for I have spoken,”
Says the Lord YHWH in giving token.
35 And that’s why the Lord YHWH is saying
“Because you forgot Me dismaying,
And cast Me behind you, therefore
You suffer consequences’ store
Of your lewdness and whoredom’s score.”
36 Moreover YHWH said to me, “Son
Of man, will you judge when you’ve done
Aholah and Aholibah?
Indeed, declare to them faux-pas,
37 “That they’ve committed adultery,
And blood is on their hands to see,
And with their idols they commit
Adultery, and caused their fit
Sons they gave birth to for My glory
To pass through fire in idols’ story
To be consumed in rituals gory.
38 “Moreover this they’ve done to me,
They’ve defiled My sanctuary
In the same day, and they’ve profaned
My holy Sabbaths unrestrained.
39 When they finished the sacrifice
Of their children to idols’ slice,
They came the same day in My house
Of holiness to profane nous,
And see what they have done to share
In My house with their idols’ ware.

Beloved, how can You criticize the host
For sacrificing children on the coast
If You Yourself require a sacrifice
Of Your own son to make atonement’s vice
Great on the earth, great enough to suffice?
The Sabbath is defiled, the temple too
By all the sacrifices brought in crew:
The prayers made by the sight of crucifix
Pretending an atonement by the tricks
Of priest and liturgy and cloud of church.
All such things leave the simple soul in search,
At last in sinful cage and in the lurch.
If Your son’s slain, I come to weep awhile,
But trust in Your grace for salvation’s smile.

40 “And in addition you have sent
For men to come from afar bent,
Unto whom a messenger went,
And see, they came. For whom did you
Wash yourself, paint your eyes in view,
And deck yourself with ornament
41 “To sit upon a stately bed,
And before it a table spread,
With My incense and My oil fed?
43 “Music of careless multitude
With her, and with the common brood
Were brought Sabeans from the camp
Of desert with bracelets revamp
Their hand and fine crowns on their head.
44 “Still they went in to her as such
As go down to prostitute’s touch,
So they went in to Aholah,
Also in to Aholibah,
The lewd women with painted claw.
45 “Righteous men shall judge them by what
They did in adultery shut,
And what they did in shedding blood,
Because they’re whores, hands full of blood.”
46 For so says the Lord YHWH, “I’ll bring
Up a band on them, one to sting,
And I’ll remove them for spoiling.
47 “And the band will stone them with stones,
And dispatch them with swords in groans,
They’ll slay their sons and daughters too,
And burn their houses with fire, too.
48 “So I’ll put lewdness from the land,
So all women may learn first-hand
Not to do by your lewdness’ stand.
49 “And they’ll take vengeance for your sin
On you, and you’ll bear in your skin
The consequences of your idols,
And you will know, infanticidals,
That I the Lord YHWH will begin.”

You make, Beloved, some things to hang together
That seem not to share so much in the weather.
Infanticide, the killing of the child
In flaming arms of idols screeching wild,
Adultery, the rite of love set out
To make the spring alive and not to doubt,
These seem to grow together in the late
Church of the trinity and the love great
That we experience in present state
Of social tolerance for fratricide.
I only wonder that the heathen pride
In trinity now’s taken other side
Condemning the abortion that once knew
The holiness of every heathen crew.

EZEKIEL 24

1 Once more in the ninth year, month ten,
On the tenth of the month, again
Came the word of YHWH to me saying
2 “Son of man, write down the date now,
This very same day for somehow
The king of Babylon set out
Against Jerusalem with clout
On this same day and with a shout.
3 “And tell a parable to hear
In the rebellious house and hear,
And say to them, ‘So says Lord YHWH,
“Set on a pot, set it in view,
And also pour water into.
4 “Gather the pieces of it up,
Every good piece, the thigh in cup,
The shoulder too, and fill it up
With the choicest of bones of tup.
5 “Take the best of the flock and burn
Also the bones in it to learn
To make it boil well and let them
Seethe the bones there by stratagem.”

The sweet dervish of Damascus came by
With Psalms in incantation to the sky,
The Hebrew syllables, whether or not
He knew their meaning, said over a pot
Of water could in spell make it go to
Another pot across the room in view.
Performance of the trick made many stew,
And none could explain the sign to the few
Who wonder still how the thing could be done.
The boiling, magic pot is something won
From very times of early prophets spun.
Beloved, I look into the pot to see
The present, future, and eternity,
And know Your knowledge at last sets me free.

6 ‘That’s why the Lord YHWH says to them,
“Woe to the bloody city and
To the pot whose scum is in hand,
And whose scum’s not gone out of it.
Bring it out piece by piece as fit,
And let no lot here fall on it.
7 “For her blood’s in the middle of
Her, she set it on rock above,
She did not pour it on the ground
To cover it with dust around,
8 “So it might raise wrath to come up
To take vengeance, I’ve set her cup
Of blood upon top of a rock,
Not to be covered but to shock.”
9 ‘That’s why the Lord YHWH is so saying
“Woe to the bloody city staying!
I’ll build up its great pyre for slaying.
10 “Heap on the wood, kindle the fire,
Consume the flesh, and spice with ire,
And let the bones be burned, admire!
11 “Then set it empty on the coals,
So its brass may get hot on soles,
And may burn that the filthiness
Of it may be melted to press
The scum out to be consumed cess.
12 “She’s tired herself with lies, her great
Scum went out of her from the grate,
Her scum shall be till fire abate.
13 “And in your filthiness is lust,
Because I’ve purged you in the dust
And you did not become clean, you
Will not be cleansed of filth in crew
Any more, till I’ve made my wrath
Rest upon you and on your path.
14 “I YHWH have spoken, it shall be,
And I will do it, you will see,
I will not change my mind, nor will
I spare you, nor repent the bill,
According to your ways and still
According to your doings’ fill
They will judge you,” says Lord YHWH still.’”

In California, in days long ago
I had the habit when I could to stow
My pack and take a hike and cross the hills
To find the great Sequoia trees on rills.
One pot I took to boil my meat and drink
And afterward to wash it on the brink
Of irises in azure and where sink
The liverworts in time to link and think.
Beloved, the dust of quartz and even gold
May serve to cleanse a pot for one not old
Who tramps the forest searching for Your song.
The years are many and the years are long
Since I washed out the pot with grit and sand
There where the holy redwoods came to stand.

15 Also the word of YHWH came to
Me saying, 16 “Son of man, be true,
See here, I take away from you
Your eyes’ desire and with a stroke,
But you will not mourn nor invoke
Crying nor tears run down to choke.
17 “Stop crying, stop morning for those
Who are dead, tie your turbaned clothes
Up on you, and put on your shoes
On your feet and cover the views
Of you lips and do not come choose
To eat the food of men in cloak.”
18 So I spoke to the folk at dawn,
And at evening my wife was gone,
And I did the next day as shown.
19 And the folk said to me, “Will you
Not tell us what means what you do?”

I hardly ever wear a turban now,
Despite my following Ed Elwall’s brow.
It’s not I fear the looks the neighbours give
To one who looks like Muslim on the sieve,
Nor do I fear expense of cloth in rate,
Or any other sort of evil fate.
I bear upon my soul the shift and coil
Of Your own image, my Beloved, and toil
Beneath the sun as conscious of my royal
And sovereign being, that no bit of cloth
Can add in honour or in meal for moth.
The clothing makes the man, but not the soul,
And the divine alone has been my goal
And comfort while I’m sitting on the dole.

20 Then I answered them, “Word of YHWH
Came to me saying what is true.
21 ‘Speak to the house of Israel,
“So says the Lord YHWH, ‘See, I spell
Profaneness on My sanctuary,
The excellence of your strength, merry,
The desire of your eyes, and that
Which your soul pities where you sat,
And your sons and daughters you’ve still
Got now will fall by the sword’s bill.
22 ‘And you will do as I have done,
You’ll not be comforted by bun,
And you’ll not eat the bread of men.
23 ‘You’ll not put on turbans again,
Nor your shoes on your feet, and you
Will not mourn nor weep, but in crew
You’ll pine away for all your sins,
And mourn for each other in bins.
24 ‘So Ezekiel for you’s a sign,
According to all his design
You will do also, when this comes,
You’ll know that I’m Lord YHWH for sums.’”
25 ‘And yet, you son of man, not in
The day I take their strength of sin,
The joy of their glory, desire
Of their eyes, and what in their ire
They set their minds on, their sons and
Their daughters staying in the land,
26 “The one who escapes on that day
Will come to you to tell the way
In your ears what happened at bay?
27 “In that day you’ll open your mouth
To the one who escapes the drouth,
And you will speak and not be dumb,
And you will be their sign of thumb,
And they will know that I am YHWH,
The one who has spoken by you.’”

Perhaps the remnant that claims now to be
Jewish is just the ones You had in fee
To speak out knowing that You are the One
Who penetrated history not for fun,
But that all might know that You are Lord YHWH
Above the track and trade and cry and hue.
I’ve heard the synagogue rise up to sing
That You alone are Israel’s God and king.
The prophecy says mouths shall open then,
And mouths are open in hearing of men
From synagogue to the gas chamber’s share,
Hear Israel, our God is YHWH and there
Is no other god upon the universe,
Creator, Dispenser of blessing’s curse.

EZEKIEL 25

1 Again the word of YHWH came to
Me saying 2 “Son of man, please do
Set you face to the Ammonites,
And prophesy against their rites.
3 “And say now to the Ammonites,
‘Hear the word of the Lord YHWH’s lights,
So says the Lord YHWH, “Because you
Said ‘I told you so!’ when the brew
Against My holy house in view
Was profaned, and when Israel’s land
Was made a desolation’s sand,
And when the house of Judah went
Into their captivity’s tent,
4 “Indeed that’s why I’ll set you up
A prey to oriental cup
And they shall build their palaces
In you and make their dwelling whiz
In you, and they will eat your fruit
And they will drink your milk to boot.
5 “And I will make Rabbah a stall
For camels and Ammonites’ hall
A pasture for the flocks of sheep,
And you will know I’m YHWH to reap.”
6 ‘For so says the Lord YHWH, “Since you
Have clapped your hands and stamped your shoe
And rejoiced in your heart with all
Your spite against Israel’s land’s fall,
7 “See, that’s why I wills stretch out My
Hand against you, and set your sty
To be a spoil of pagan lands,
I and I cut you off from bands
Of people and I’ll make you leave
The countries where you now receive
Enjoyment, I’ll destroy you and
You’ll know that I am YHWH and stand.”

The sin of Ammon’s always been I see
The very same yesterday and today.
The song of Ammon’s not of victory
But of rejoicing that Israel might stay
In any sort of damp difficulty.
The sin of Ammon is rejoicing when
The neighbour catches cold or flight of wen.
The sin of Ammon comes to every heart
That sees the neighbour’s troubles without part
To give a helping hand or even cart.
Let no envy of joy enter my breast,
Nor rejoicing when others suffer jest,
And I shall join Ammon to learn at last
To tremble at the blessings at my mast.

8 ‘So says the Lord YHWH, “Now because
Moab and Seir say in their paws,
‘Look! Judah’s like the nations’ claws,’
9 “That’s why, see, I’ll open the side
Of Moab from the cities’ pride,
From his cities on borderlands,
The glory of the country stands,
Bethjeshimoth, Baalmeon,
And Kirjiathaim all outdrawn.
10 “To the men of the east I will
Give it as a possession still
Together with the Ammonites,
Till they’re not mentioned in the sights
Among the nations for their rights.
11 “And I’ll send down My judgements on
Moab, and they will know at dawn
That I am YHWH and have withdrawn.
12 ‘So says the Lord YHWH, “Because of
What Edom did with hand in glove
Against the house of Judah’s love
By taking vengeance, and offended
Greatly and revenged on them tended,”
13 ‘That’s why the Lord YHWH says “I stretch
Our My hand on Edom to fetch
And cut off man and beast from it,
And I will make it desolate
From Teman, and those of Dedan
Shall fall by the sword of a man.
14 “And I shall lay My vengeance on
Edom by the hand of folk drawn
Of Israel, and they shall do
In Edom as My wrath accrue,
According to My fury’s view,
And they shall know My vengeance too,”
Is what He’s saying, the Lord YHWH.
15 ‘So says the Lord YHWH, “Now since that
The Philistines dealt vengeance at
A spiteful heart and to destroy
Because the old hatred would cloy,”
16 ‘That’s why the Lord YHWH says, “See now,
I shall stretch out My hand in vow
Upon the Philistines, and I
Shall cut off the Cherethim by
Destroying what’s left of the host
Sitting there by their own sea coast.
17 “I shall day down great vengeance on
Them with furious rebukes drawn,
And they shall know that I am YHWH,
When I lay vengeance on their crew.”’”

What do I learn from what You did one time
To Edom and Moab and on the dime
To Philistine settled along the sea?
It’s not to laugh at those who hurt their knee.
It is no good news that my enemy
Is dead and buried, unless come to me
That I have been spared from ignominy
Of death and tomb to live eternally.
But such news does not come, all men must die
Unless like Enoch they have learned to fly.
Beloved, I cover mouth and bear a sigh
For all the doom and such catastrophe
That plagues the people who live far from me.
Who knows when my turn comes in prose or rhyme?

EZEKIEL 26

1 It happened the eleventh year
The first day of the month, appear
The words of YHWH, saying in ear,
“Now son of man, since Tyre’s folk said
Against Jerusalem, ‘Well sped!
She’s broken down, and the folk’s gate,
It’s now my turn not to be late,
I’ll prosper, let her vegetate,’
3 “That’s why the Lord YHWH says again,
‘See here, I am against your men,
O Tyre, and I’ll make many folk
To come against you at a stroke,
And the sea rise in tidal wave
To cover you and make your grave.

A tidal wave is awful when it comes,
Although it can be avoided by sums
Who rush into the hills when they see how
The sea retreats as though awaiting plough.
The simian nature of a man is seen
In that he rushed to the vast latrine
When the tide’s out further than he has seen,
Not thinking that what goes out must come in.
Man’s curiosity is man’s worst sin,
Although when not applied to danger
It helps to find out more about the stranger
And even increase life in happy ranger.
Beloved, I watch Tyre rise in history
And then fall back into the silent sea.

4 ‘And they’ll destroy the walls of Tyre,
And break down her towers in a pyre,
I’ll also scrape her dust from her
And make her like smooth rock to shirr.
5 ‘And it shall be a place to spread
The fishing nets from the sea bred,
For I have spoken,’ says Lord YHWH,
‘And she’ll be prey to nations’ due.’
6 ‘Her daughters who are in the field
Will be killed by the sword in yield,
And they shall know I’m YHWH unsealed.’
7 “For so says the Lord YHWH, ‘See now,
I shall bring on Tyre’s town My vow,
Nebuchadrezzar who is king
Of Babylon, a king to sting,
From the north with horses and with
Chariots and with horsemen like myth,
And companies and crowds of folk.

Nebuchadnezzar is the flail in hand
Of retribution in every far land.
And yet as kings go and to reprimand,
He is no worse that others take a stand.
The ancient town of Tyre set out in stroke
Of purple and in cedar and of oak
Was place of pride sometimes indeed, and yet,
It was the seat of good Hiram to bet.
I have a longing for the kingdoms that
Once on the serviceable seaside sat:
Good Hiram fond of David and his son
Ought to have had a better sort of run.
But both fall before Babylon. I guess
The kingdoms of the earth have no address.

8 ‘He’ll kill with the sword at a stroke
Your daughters in the field and he
Will make a fort against you, he
Will cast up a mound against you,
And lift up his armours in view.
9 ‘He’ll set his war engines upon
Your walls and with his axes drawn
He’ll break down your towers at the dawn.
10 ‘Because of the abundance of
His horses their dust strung above
You will cover you, and your walls
Will shake at the noise of the calls
Of the horsemen and of the wheels,
And of the chariots in their peels,
When he will enter in your gates,
Through the gap in the city grates.
11 ‘With hooves of horses he will tread
Down all your streets, and in his dread
He’ll kill your people by the sword,
And your strong garrisons unscored
Will fall down to the ground instead.
12 ‘And they’ll make a prey of your wealth,
And of your merchandise in stealth,
And they’ll break down your walls, destroy
Your pleasant houses, and employ
To lay your stones and timber and
Your dust in water and not land.

Whether the rush of sea or kingdom come
From Babylon, the dangers overrun
First daughters in the field, as though they were
The guiltiest of guilty in their fur
It’s true the woman’s hand is often first
To glorify a golden image curst,
And often the queen behind the king’s throne
Is who encourages worship of stone.
And yet not every maid’s one to beset
For sins of fathers she might just forget.
Beloved, history is quite unfair to men,
But worse to women when they turn again.
I wonder that You do not speak aloud
Once more beneath a darkened flame and cloud.

13 ‘I’ll make the sound of your songs cease,
The sound of your harps to release.
14 ‘And I will make you like a rock
Smooth and flat, for a place in stock
To spread nets on, and you shall be
Never again built by the sea,
For I YHWH have spoken the word,’
Says the Lord YHWH and undeterred.

I doubt not that the ladies in the field
Were guilty of lewd song that idols yield.
I hear such ditties all about the round
Of every place I travel to resound.
Make cease, Beloved, the ghastly disarray
Of heathen music heard around today,
And let the birdsong of the heart and rill
Be filled upon both plain and every hill
As well as in the park and city gate.
Let all their songs cease that come to relate
Fertility cult and the need to share
Drugs with the weaker ones and with the fair.
Beloved, make cease the songs whose grate is cast
Before idolatry as here to last.

15 “So says the Lord YHWH to Tyre now,
‘Will not the coasts shake anyhow
At the sound of your fall, when they
Who are wounded cry out and bray,
When slaughter falls on you one day?
16 ‘Then all the princes of the sea
Will come down from their thrones to see,
And lay aside their robes and put
Of their embroidered cloaks from foot,
And clothe themselves with trembling, they
Will sit upon the ground that day
And treble at each moment’s sway,
And be astonished at the way
That you have fallen from their pay.
17 ‘And they’ll take up a lamentation,
And tell you “How’s destroyed your nation
That was filled with seafaring men,
The famous city, once strong then
Beside the sea, she and the folk
Who lived in her, and make the stroke
Of their terror haunt it and soak.
18 “Now the coasts tremble in the day
Of your fall, indeed the coasts in the sway
Of the sea will in trouble stay
At your departure from the way.”’
19 “For so says the Lord YHWH, ‘When I
Shall make you desolation’s sty,
Like the cites that are now void,
When I shall bring the sea employed
And great waters cover your eye,
20 ‘When I shall bring you down with those
Who descend in the pit with throes,
With the people of ancient time,
And put you in the low earth’s slime,
In ancient places desolate,
With those going down in the pit,
So that you are empty of folk
And set glory where lands awoke,
21 ‘Then I’ll make you a terror and
You’ll not be found throughout the land
Though they search for you in a band,’
Says the Lord YHWH, He comes to stand.”

The fact is Tyre today is just a place
Where fishing nets are spread about to trace
The smooth rocks where in ancient times there sat
The greatest port along the eastern flat
Of the great sea. Beloved, I know the word
Of the prophet of old surely occurred
As You predicted. Yet I find the peace
That now settles upon the near release
Of that sea-coast a bounty and a blessing.
There is no noise of market nor the stressing
Of ships to set the sails to ports unknown.
It has become the footstool of Your throne.
Beloved, create in my the prophecy
Of peace and desolation by the sea.

EZEKIEL 27

1 The word of YHWH again came to
Me saying 2 “Now you, son of man,
Raise lamentation on the span
Of Tyre, 3 “Say to Tyre, ‘Indeed You,
You sit at entrance of the sea,
A merchant for the folk that be
On many coasts,’ so says Lord YHWH,
‘O Tyre, you have proclaimed “I am
Beauty’s perfection,” 5 “Every jamb
Of all your boards they’ve made to be
Of cedars and the cypress tree
From Lebanon, and wood to make
You masts of fir both tall and great.
6 “Your oars they’ve made of Bashan’s oaks,
Your deck they’ve made of larch with strokes
Of ivory from the Chittim’s yokes.
7 “Fine linen with embroidered work
From Egypt you’ve spread out to lurk
As sail, and blue and purple from
The islands of emporium
Of Elishah to cover you.
8 “Zidon’s and Arvad’s populace
Served as your seamen, and with grace
Your skilled men, O Tyre, living there
Became your pilots everywhere.

Though founded by Phoenicians going south
Tyre is a city with a louder mouth
In praise of its accomplishments and wealth.
But if these ancient words spoken in stealth
Were true when spoken, centuries to come
Saw them fulfilled beyond in gloried sum.
Port of Jerusalem before Crusades
Had time to destroy markets palisades,
The city was greater for Muslim care
Than it had been under Phoenician wear.
Beloved, it is no wonder that the pride
Of Tyre struck You and some beside,
Led You to criticize the weight of word
Above the weight of wealth in beast and bird.

8 “Gebal’s ancients and wise men too
Came to caulk with pitch in your due,
All the ships of the sea and all
Their seaman were in you to brawl
Enjoying your merchandise call.
10 “Of Persia and of Lud and Phut
Were in your army and the root
Of your men of war, hanging shield
And helmet in you, beauty’s yield.
11 “The men of Arvad with your army
Upon your wall about and swarmy,
And Gammadim were in your towers,
They hung their shields on walls like flowers,
Perfecting You in beauty’s hours.
12 “Tarshish too was your merchant in
Abundance of wealth in the bin
With silver, iron, and lead and tin
To trade upon your market squares.
13 “Javan, Tubal and Meshech’ shares
Were your salesmen of men and brass
In your market places for crass.
14 “They of the house of Togarmah
Traded in your fairs without flaw
In horses, horsemen and in mules.

Tyre was a middleman between the come
And go of Greece and Persia on the hum
To bring the sweet things from the east to west
And dress its matrons in the very best.
Tyre was a merchant set beside the sea,
An island safe from every company
That haled toward it. This prophet in hate
May hope that Babylon can crush the state,
But Nebuchadrezzar in siege took long,
And left the city to its right and wrong.
Beloved, I look from Cyprus toward the gate
Of Tyre, but cannot see so far a rate,
Nor can I find upon the shore a mate
Of purpled shell that once made wealthy state.

15 “The men of Dedan sold your tools,
And many coasts were merchandise
In your hands, they brought to your eyes
Gifts of horns of ivory and black
Ebony wood to fill your sack.
16 “And Syria was your merchant for
Abundance of wares in your store,
They traded in your fairs with gems
Of emeralds, purple in hems
And work embroidered, and in fine
Linen, coral, and agate line.
17 “Judah and land of Israel,
They were your merchants, truth to tell,
Trading in your market for wheat
Of Minnith and Pannag and sweet
Honey and oil and balm for treat.
18 “Damascus was your merchant in
Abundance of your wares in bin,
Abundance of wealth, in the wine
Of Helbon and white wool and fine.
19 “Dan also and Javan with care
To occupy your every fair:
Bright iron and cassia and as well
Calamus there in market spell.
20 “Dedan way your middleman in
Choice cattle for chariots’ din.
21 “Arabia and princes all
Of Kedar, they filled up your stall
With lambs and rams and goats, in these
They were your merchants come to please.

Kedar is one to bring in lambs to sell,
And rams and goats and all the cattle’s spell
Because they did not deal so much in gold,
In iron or jewels or the things that hold
The sights of civilized and lordly cold.
Kedar is sweet and homely, though he’s bold,
A son of Ishmael, and just like his dad
With bright eyes flashing black and never sad.
Beloved, among the many come to buy
And sell in Tyre under a prospered sky
My choice is Kedar for his wayward ways,
His faithfulness to You and to Your praise,
The centuries of desert patience brewed
Beneath the skies of inner hope unrued.

22 “The merchants of Sheba and Raamah,
They were your merchant come to claim her,
Occupied in your fairs and with
Chief of all spices, also with
All precious stones as well as gold.
23 “Haran and Canneh and Eden,
The merchants of Sheba like men,
Assur and Chilmad, merchants then.
24 “There were your merchants in all sorts,
In blue clothing broidered for courts,
In chests of rich apparel bound
With cords and made of cedar round
Among your merchandise is found.
25 “The ships of Tarshish say of you
In your market, and to renew
You were made famous in the seas.
26 “Your rowsmen brought you into ease
In high waters, the east wind broke
You in the ocean on a stroke.
27 “Your wealth, your fairs, your merchandise,
Your seamen, pilots and to splice
Your caulkers and the keepers of
Your merchandise as well as of
All your soldiers that are in you,
And in all your band that’s in view,
Will fall into the raging sea
On the day of your ruin’s glee.
28 “When you cry out in fear then shake
Your pilots for your voice’s sake.

Tyre was besieged by Babylon but not
Sacked with the evil of this prophet’s plot.
She paid her tribute to the Persian fane
But did not suffer except in her gain.
The prophecy of hopeless rending must
Refer to Alexander from the dust
Who made a causeway to turn isle into
Peninsula and road for army crew.
He swept the city clean into the sea,
It’s true, but that was long after the spree
Of Your vain prophet who spoke too soon here
Of what should not appear for many a year.
Perhaps as home of Jezebel the queen
He thought he had a right to be obscene.

29 “The oarsmen, seaman, pilots all
On the sea will come down at call
From their ships and stand on the land,
30 “And raise their voice against you loud,
And cry in bitterness, and crowd
Dust on their heads, and wallow fanned
In ashes poured out on the band.
31 “They’ll make themselves completely bald
In sorrow for you, and enthralled
In gunny-sacks they’ll come and weep
For you with bitterness and keep
A bitter heart wailing like sheep.
32 “And in their wailing they will take
Up a lament and for your sake
Cry over you to say “What town
Is like Tyre’s town, now fallen down
Into the sea?” 32 “When your wares went
Out on the seas, you filled the vent
Of many people, you enriched
The kings of the earth with the pitched
Multitude of your wealth and wares.
34 “When you are broken by the sea
In water depths your wares will be,
Fallen all of your company.
35 “Inhabitants of every coast
Will be astonished at your host,
And their kings will be most afraid,
Their face with worry then betrayed.
36 “The merchants of the folk will hiss
At you, you’ll be terror to miss.’”

The merchants never hissed so far as I
Know, unless Nebuchadrezzar’s fast try
Blocked trade for five months or unless the field
That Alexander made reduced their yield.
Two hissing moments in two thousand years
Is not too bad for this dark world of tears.
Jerusalem has seen more times to cry
Than Tyre, I think, and fewer hopes for sky.
Beloved, the sum of Tyre’s fate is not sad,
Except for those two events on the pad.
The prophecy of wealth was easy made,
The prophecy of stealth any well-paid
Might guess, but in the book of history’s fame
Tyre still can lift a head and make a claim.

EZEKIEL 28

1 The word of YHWH came once again
To me saying 2 “Son of man then
Say to the prince of Tyre’s town, ‘So
Says the Lord YHWH, “because your low
Heart’s lifted up and you have said
‘I am a god, I sit for dread
In the high seat upon the seas,’
Still you’re a man, not God to please,
Even if you set up your heart
As God’s heart and to play your part.

But truth is, my Beloved, there is no I
In human breast but that You plant with sigh.
The only I is You, set in the sky,
Set on the earth in sovereign care’s reply.
If any prince or ploughboy say allowed,
“I’m God”, the fact is truth is in the crowd
Of words he speaks so lightly and so proud.
And that’s the bit. The pride of fair distils
The truth and bucks the harvest of the bills
With try in ointment. No I but You stand
In heaven, on sea, or on the weary land,
And yet the heart that’s lifted above band
Of humankind to say divine command
Is darkened quickly by the truthly hand.

3 “See, you’re wiser than Daniel, there
Is no secret you cannot share,
4 “With your wisdom and understanding
You’ve become wealthy on your landing
God and silver in your treasures.
5 “By your great wisdom and your measures
Of selling you’ve increased you riches,
And your heart’s lifted up for riches.”
6 “That’s why the Lord YHWH says “Because
You’ve set your heart as above laws
Of Ælohim, 7 “See, I’ll bring claws
Of strangers on you, nations grim,
And they’ll draw their swords on the rim
Of your wisdom’s beauty, and they
Will tarnish your brightness that day.
8 “They’ll bring you down into the pit,
And you’ll die the death of who sit
Destroyed in the sea. 9 “Yet you’ll say
To the one who will come to slay,
‘I am God.’ But you will be
A man and no God in the free
Hand of the one who kills you, see.
10 “You’ll die the uncircumcised death
By hands of strangers, by My breath
I’ve spoken it,” says the Lord YHWH.”’”

The wisdom of the prophet Daniel takes
The reader and the listener of his cakes
In straight and firm steps through the corridors
Of history down to the end of its shores.
But Daniel was not wise enough to find
A source of wealth to ease his captive mind.
So prince of Tyre’s still wiser than the man
You saw the future clearly in his scan.
Beloved, the prince that held the wealth of ships
Caught up in fleets beyond the ocean’s dips,
Was right that his heart like all hearts of men
Contained the divine word spelled out again,
But lifting heart above Your spoken law
Brought the divine into destruction’s claw.

11 Moreover then the word of YHWH
Came to me saying “Son of man,
Take up a lamentation ban
Upon the king of Tyre’s town, and
Say to him, ‘So says the Lord YHWH,
“You seal up the sum full of planned
Wisdom and perfect beauty scanned.
13 “You’ve been in Eden, garden of
Ælohim, every precious stone
Was you covering, carnelian’s love,
Topaz and diamond not alone,
The beryl, onyx, jasper stone,
The sapphire, turquoise, emerald and
Gold, workmanship of skilful hand
In tabrets and pipes there prepared
In the day your existence bared.
14 “Anointed covering cherub there,
And I have set you up with care,
You were on Ælohim’s hill of
Holiness, you have walked in glove
Among the stones of fire found there.

The Jewish commentator said to me
With erudition Messiah’s degree
Is defined by the oil of anointing
In its particular fine recipe.
Anyone who may claim the divine thing
As a Messiah, must have oil upon
Him since that is the definition drawn.
The word simply cannot mean God’s appointed,
But must be dampened with the oil anointed.
This text appears to me in evidence
The messianic appointment makes sense
Without the literal in oil poured out,
Unless the cherub, with a winning shout
And flick of tail is also oiled to pout.

15 “And you were perfect in your ways
From the day you rose up in rays,
Until iniquity was found
In you. 16 “And so as do abound
Your merchandise, so they have filled
Among you with violence killed,
And you have sinned, that’s why I’ll throw
You as profane out of the show
Of Ælohim’s holy hill’s glow,
And I’ll destroy you, cherub drawn
From the stones of fire on the dawn.
17 “Your heart was lifted up because
Of your beauty, you have with claws
Torn our your wisdom by the glow,
I’ll throw you to the ground and show
You in front of kings, they will know.
18 “You have defiled your sacred room
By abundance of sin to doom,
By the iniquity of your
Dishonest business, now therefore
I’ll bring a fire out from you to
Devour you and I shall bring you
To ashes on the earth in sight
Of all of those who see your plight.
19 “All those who know you of the folk
Will be astonished at your stroke,
You’ll be a terror never more
To rise and stand beside the door.”’”

The sweet Christian finds in these awful words
A figure of the devil with his birds
Of hellish prey perched out to wait for turds.
There is no wonder that so is the case,
Since the prince of Tyre in his humbler race
Hardly fits in the spell and comely trace.
Perhaps because the family brought forth one
Queen Jezebel to reign beneath the sun
Commends the family all to hear the shame
Of having risen up against Your claim.
Beloved, the words fit every devil here:
We all believe that we are gods to fear,
We all compete with other idols too
In the annihilation of their crew.

20 Again the word of YHWH came to
Me saying 21 “Son of man, set your
Face against Zidon and outpour
Prophecy against Zidon’s score.
22 “And say ‘So says the Lord YHWH, “See,
I’m against you, O Zidon wee,
And I’ll be glorified where you
Are, and they’ll know I am YHWH
When I’ll have pronounced sentence there,
And I’ll be holy of her share.
23 “I’ll send on her a pestilence
And blood in her streets from her tents,
So judgement will fall on the hurt
In her by the sword to assert
On every side, and they will know
That I am YHWH and I’m not slow.
24 “And there’ll be no more pricking brier
To Israel’s house, nor grief’s desire
Of thorn all round them who despise,
And they’ll know I’m Lord YHWH and wise.”
25 “So says the Lord YHWH, “When I’ve gathered
The house of Israel from the weathered
Folk among whom they have been scattered,
And I’m holy among them shattered
Before the heathen, then they’ll live,
My servant Jacob’s land I give.
26 “And they will live in safety there,
And build houses, vineyards to bear,
And live safely when I have set
Judgements upon all those I’ve met
Who despise them around about,
And they will know I’m YHWH to shout.”’”

The word against the town of Zidon shows
The same in store for her as for the rows
Of her daughter, the queen of ships that goes
Down to the sea to sit on island fair
And bask in Tyre and smell of the sea air.
Before the setting sun, both look to see
The shadows on the waves, the mystery
Of this one filling of the basin there
That holds the history of human share.
Like two eyes turned to find the secret wish
Of human destiny in a prune dish,
The mother and the daughter towns repair
Their nets for centuries beneath the gold
And crimson of the failing sun and cold.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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