Esias 23

1 THE WORD CONCERNING TYRE. Howl, ye ships of Carthage; for she has perished, and [men] no longer arrive from the land of the Citians: she is led captive.

The Burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, For it hath been destroyed, Without house, without entrance, From the land of Chittim it was revealed to them.

2 To whom are the dwellers in the island become like, the merchants of Phoenice, passing over the sea

Be silent, ye inhabitants of the isle, Trader of Zidon, passing the sea, they filled thee.

3 in great waters, a generation of merchants? as when the harvest is gathered in, [so are] these traders with the nations.

And in many waters [is] the seed of Sihor, The harvest of the brook [is] her increase, And she is a mart of nations.

4 Be ashamed, O Sidon: the sea has said, yea, the strength of the sea has said, I have not travailed, nor brought forth, nor have I brought up young men, nor reared virgins.

Be ashamed, O Zidon; for the sea spake, The strength of the sea, saying: 'I have not been pained, nor have I brought forth, Nor have I nourished young men, [nor] brought up virgins.'

5 Moreover when it shall be heard in Egypt, sorrow shall seize them for Tyre.

As [at] the report of Egypt they are pained, So [at] the report of Tyre.

6 Depart ye to Carthage; howl, ye that dwell in this island.

Pass over to Tarshish, howl, ye inhabitants of the isle,

7 Was not this your pride from the beginning, before she was given up?

Is this your exulting one? From the days of old [is] her antiquity, Carry her do her own feet afar off to sojourn.

8 Who has devised this counsel against Tyre? Is she inferior? or has she no strength? her merchants were the glorious princes of the earth.

Who hath counselled this against Tyre, The crowning one, whose traders [are] princes, Her merchants the honoured of earth?'

9 The Lord of hosts has purposed to bring down all the pride of the glorious ones, and to disgrace every glorious thing on the earth.

Jehovah of Hosts hath counselled it, To pollute the excellency of all beauty, To make light all the honoured of earth.

10 Till thy land; for ships no more come out of Carthage.

Pass through thy land as a brook, Daughter of Tarshish, there is no more a girdle.

11 And thy hand prevails no more by sea, which troubled kings: the Lord of hosts has given a command concerning Chanaan, to destroy the strength thereof.

His hand He hath stretched out over the sea, He hath caused kingdoms to tremble, Jehovah hath charged concerning the merchant one, To destroy her strong places.

12 And [men] shall say, Ye shall no longer at all continue to insult and injure the daughter of Sidon: and if thou depart to the Citians, neither there shalt thou have rest.

And He saith, 'Thou dost not add any more to exult, O oppressed one, virgin daughter of Zidon, To Chittim arise, pass over, Even there — there is no rest for thee.'

13 And [if thou depart] to the land of the Chaldeans, this also is laid waste by the Assyrians, for her wall is fallen.

Lo, the land of the Chaldeans — this people was not, Asshur founded it for the Ziim, They raised its watch-towers, They lifted up her palaces, — He hath appointed her for a ruin!

14 Howl, ye ships of Carthage: for your strong hold is destroyed.

Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, For your strength hath been destroyed.

15 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] Tyre shall be left seventy years, as the time of a king, as the time of a man: and it shall come to pass after seventy years, [that] Tyre shall be as the song of a harlot.

And it hath come to pass, in that day, That forgotten is Tyre seventy years, According to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years there is to Tyre as the song of the harlot.

16 Take a harp, go about, O city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; play well on the harp, sing many [songs], that thou mayest be remembered.

Take a harp, go round the city, O forgotten harlot, play well, Multiply song that thou mayest be remembered.

17 And it shall come to pass after the seventy years, [that] God will visit Tyre, and she shall be again restored to her primitive state, and she shall be a mart for all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.

And it hath come to pass, At the end of seventy years Jehovah inspecteth Tyre, And she hath repented of her gift, That she committed fornication With all kingdoms of the earth on the face of the ground.

18 And her trade and her gain shall be holiness to the Lord: it shall not be gathered for them, but for those that dwell before the Lord, [even] all her trade, to eat and drink and be filled, and for a covenant [and] a memorial before the Lord.

And her merchandise and her gift have been holy to Jehovah, Not treasured up nor stored, For to those sitting before Jehovah is her merchandise, To eat to satiety, and for a lasting covering!