Isaiah 23

1 The burden of Tyre. Wail, you ships of the sea! For the house, from which they were accustomed to go forth, has been laid waste. From the land of Kittim, this has been revealed to them.

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

2 Be silent, you inhabitants of the island! The merchants of Sidon, crossing over the sea, have filled you.

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

3 The offspring of the Nile is in the midst of many waters. The harvest of the river is her crop. And she has become the marketplace of the nations.

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

4 Be ashamed, O Sidon! For the sea speaks, the strength of the sea, saying: “I have not been in labor, and I have not given birth, and I have not raised young men, nor have I promoted the development of virgins.”

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

5 When it has been heard in Egypt, they will be in anguish, when they hear of Tyre.

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

6 Cross over the seas. Wail, you inhabitants of the island!

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

7 Is this not your place, which from its earliest days has gloried in its antiquity? Her feet will lead her to a sojourn far away.

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

8 Who has made this plan against Tyre, which formerly was crowned, whose merchants were leaders, whose traders were illustrious on the earth?

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

9 The Lord of hosts has planned this, so that he may tear down the arrogance of all glory, and may bring disgrace to all the illustrious of the earth.

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.

10 Cross through your land, as through a river, O daughter of the sea. You no longer have a belt.

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

11 He has extended his hand over the sea. He has stirred up kingdoms. The Lord has given an order against Canaan, so that he may crush its strong.

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

12 And he said: “You shall no longer increase so as to glory, while enduring calumny, O virgin daughter of Sidon. Rise up and set sail for Kittim; in that place, too, there will be no rest for you.”

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

13 Behold, the land of the Chaldeans: never before was there such a people! Assur founded it. They have led away its strong ones into captivity. They have dug under its houses. They have left it in ruins.

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

14 Wail, you ships of the sea! For your strength has been devastated.

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

15 And this shall be in that day: you, O Tyre, will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. Then, after seventy years, there will be, for Tyre, something like the canticle of a harlot.

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.

16 Take up a stringed instrument. Circulate through the city, you harlot who had been forgotten. Sing many canticles well, so that you may be remembered.

Take a harp, go about, O city, you harlot that have been forgotten; play well on the harp, sing many [songs], that you may be remembered.

17 And this shall be after seventy years: the Lord will visit Tyre, and he will lead her back to her profits. And she will fornicate again with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

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.

18 And her businesses and her profits will be sanctified to the Lord. They will not be locked away and they will not be stored. For her business will be for those who will live in the presence of the Lord, so that they may eat until satisfied, and may be well-clothed even into old age.

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.