< Isaiah 23 >

1 The word about Tyre. Let a cry of sorrow go up, O ships of Tarshish, because your strong place is made waste; on the way back from the land of Kittim the news is given to them.
The oracle on Tyre, —Howl! ye ships of Tarshish, For it is laid too waste to be a haven to enter, From the land of Cyprus, hath it been unveiled to them.
2 Send out a cry of grief, you men of the sea-land, traders of Zidon, who go over the sea, whose representatives are on great waters;
Be dumb, ye inhabitants of the Coast, —Whom the merchants of Zidon, passing over the sea, once replenished;
3 Who get in the seed of Shihor, whose wealth is the trade of the nations.
Yea on mighty waters, was the grain of Shihor, The harvest of the Nile, was her increase, —And so she became a mart of nations.
4 Be shamed, O Zidon: for the sea, the strong place of the sea has said, I have not been with child, or given birth; I have not taken care of young men, or kept watch over the growth of virgins.
Turn thou pale, O Zidon, For spoken hath the sea, the fortress of the sea saying, —I have neither been in pangs nor given birth I have neither brought up young men nor promoted virgins.
5 When the news comes to Egypt they will be bitterly pained at the fate of Tyre.
Like the report of Egypt, They shall be in pangs at the like report of Tyre.
6 Go over to Tarshish; give cries of sorrow, O men of the sea-land.
Pass ye over to Tarshish, —Howl ye inhabitants of the Coast:
7 Is this the town which was full of joy, whose start goes back to times long past, whose wanderings took her into far-off countries?
Is this to you an exultation? Though from ancient days, is her antiquity, Yet shall her own feet carry her away, far off to dwell.
8 By whom was this purposed against Tyre, the crowning town, whose traders are chiefs, whose business men are honoured in the land?
Who hath purposed this, against Tyre, The bestower of crowns, —Whose merchants are princes, Her traders the honourable of the earth?
9 It was the purpose of the Lord of armies to put pride to shame, to make sport of the glory of those who are honoured in the earth.
Yahweh of hosts, hath purposed it, —To humble the pride of all beauty, To make of little esteem all the honourable of the earth.
10 Let your land be worked with the plough, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer any harbour.
Pass through thy land as the Nile, —O daughter of Tarshish, there is no restraint any longer!
11 His hand is stretched out over the sea, the kingdoms are shaking: the Lord has given orders about Canaan, to make waste its strong places.
His hand, hath he stretched out over the sea, He hath shaken kingdoms, —Yahweh, hath given command against the Phoenician coast, To destroy her fortresses.
12 And he said, There is no more joy for you, O crushed virgin daughter of Zidon: up! go over to Kittim; even there you will have no rest.
Therefore hath he said, —No more, again, do thou exult, Thou violated virgin daughter of Zidon, —To Cyprus, arise and pass over, Even there, shall one find thee no rest.
Lo! the land of the Chaldeans, This is the people that was not, Assyria, founded it for the inhabitants of the desert, —They set up its siege-towers, They demolished its palaces Made it a ruin!
14 Let a cry of sorrow go up, O ships of Tarshish: because your strong place is made waste.
Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, —For laid waste is your fortress.
15 And it will be in that day that Tyre will go out of mind for seventy years, that is, the days of one king: after the end of seventy years it will be for Tyre as in the song of the loose woman.
So shall it be in that day, That Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, According to the days of a certain king: At the end of seventy years, shall it befall Tyre according to the song of the harlot:
16 Take an instrument of music, go about the town, O loose woman who has gone out from the memory of man; make sweet melody with songs, so that you may come back to men's minds.
Take thou a lyre, Go round the city, O harlot forgotten, —Sweetly touch the strings Lengthen out the song, That thou mayest be called to mind.
17 And it will be after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will have mercy on Tyre, and she will go back to her trade, acting as a loose woman with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.
So shall it be, at the end of seventy years, That Yahweh will visit Tyre, And she will return to her hire, —Yea she will play the harlot—with all the kingdoms of the earth, upon the face of the ground.
18 And her goods and her trade will be holy to the Lord: they will not be kept back or stored up; for her produce will be for those living in the Lord's land, to give them food for their needs, and fair clothing.
But her merchandise and her hire, shall be hallowed unto Yahweh, It shall not be stored up, nor hoarded, —For, to them who dwell before Yahweh, shall her merchandise belong, That they may eat to satisfaction And have stately apparel.

< Isaiah 23 >