sound of thy harps shall be no more heard. And I will make thee like the top of a rock; thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord God (verses 1-14). The City of Tyrus (which means rock) was partly built upon an island off the mainland in the Mediterranean Sea. It was an ancient Phoenician city and is mentioned in Scripture for the first time in Joshua xix:29, where it is called "The strong city." It had a wonderful commerce, a description of which in its variety, we find in the twenty-seventh chapter. It was inhabited by seafaring men, and the prophet Isaiah describes this wealthy and influential city as "the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth" (Isaiah xxiii:8). We read in the next chapter how Syria, Persia, Egypt, Spain, Greece and every quarter of the ancient world laid their choicest and most precious things at the feet of Tyre, who sat enthroned on Ivory, covered with blue and purple from the isles of Elishah. Her beauty was perfect (Ez. xxvii:11). During the reign of David and Solomon, Tyre came into great prominence, playing an important role in the commercial, political and religious history of Israel. Hiram, King of Tyrus sent cedar trees to Jerusalem, as well as workmen, who built David a house (2 Sam. v:11). How Tyrus aided in the construction of the temple and the palace under Solomon's reign, may be learned by consulting the following passages: 1 Kings v:1-12; vii:13-14; 1 Chronicles xiv:1; 2 Chronicles ii:3, 11. When the ships of Solomon sailed away to Ophir, "Hiram sent in the navy his servants, ship-men that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon, and they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to King Solomon" (1 Kings ix:27-28). The Tyrians were great voyagers, the masters of the sea, and founded colonies, among them Carthage. Israel's close relations with Tyrus continued probably for centuries. The wicked wife of King Ahab, Jezebel, was the daughter of Ethbaal, King of Tyre. She fostered successfully the vile Phoenician idolatry among Israel. Tyre also sent messengers to King Zedekiah, probably to form an alliance against the approaching Babylonian conqueror (Jere. xxvii:3). She was a proud, luxurious and wicked city, which defied God. She sinned against Jerusalem and the people Israel. Joel and Amos speak of her sins (Joel iii:4-6; Amos i:9-10) and announced her judgment. So did the prophet Isaiah (chapter xxiii) and Jeremiah (xlvii:4). Ezekiel gives us the completest description of this city, her resources, her luxuries and far reaching influence, her King under Satanic control and also the details of her judgment.