Isaiah 23

1 The burden of Tyrus. Howle, yee shippes of Tarshish: for it is destroied, so that there is none house: none shall come from the lande of Chittim: it is reueiled vnto them.

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.

2 Be still, yee that dwell in the yles: the marchantes of Zidon, and such as passe ouer the sea, haue replenished thee.

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

3 The seede of Nilus growing by the abundance of waters, and the haruest of the riuer was her reuenues, and she was a marte 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, thou Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, euen the strength of the sea, saying, I haue not trauailed, nor brought forth children, neither nourished yong men, nor brought vp virgins.

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.

5 When the fame commeth to the Egyptians, they shall be sorie, concerning the rumour of Tyrus.

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

6 Goe you ouer to Tarshish: howle, yee that dwell in the yles.

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

7 Is not this that your glorious citie? her antiquitie is of ancient daies: her owne feete shall leade her afarre off to be a soiourner.

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

8 Who hath decreed this against Tyrus (that crowneth men) whose marchantes are princes? whose chapmen are the nobles of the worlde?

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 hostes hath decreed this, to staine the pride of all glorie, and to bring to contempt all them that be glorious in 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 Passe through thy lande like a flood to the daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.

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

11 He stretched out his hand vpon the sea: he shooke the kingdomes: the Lord hath giuen a commandement concerning the place of marchandise, to destroy the power thereof.

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.

12 And he saide, Thou shalt no more reioyce when thou art oppressed: O virgin daughter of Zidon: rise vp, goe ouer vnto Chittim: yet there thou shalt haue no rest.

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.

13 Behold the lande of the Caldeans: this was no people: Asshur founded it by the inhabitantes of the wildernesse: they set vp the towers thereof: they raised the palaces thereof and hee brought it to ruine.

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

14 Howle yee shippes of Tarshish, for your strength is destroyed.

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

15 And in that day shall Tyrus bee forgotten seuentie yeeres, (according to the yeeres of one King) at the ende of seuentie yeeres shall Tyrus sing as an 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 an harpe and go about the citie: (thou harlot thou hast beene forgotten) make sweete melodie, sing moe songes that thou maiest be remembred.

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.

17 And at the ende of seuentie yeres shall the Lord visite Tyrus, and shee shall returne to her wages, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdomes of the earth, that are in the world.

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 Yet her occupying and her wages shall bee holy vnto the Lord: it shall not be laied vp nor kept in store, but her marchandise shalbe for them that dwell before the Lord, to eate sufficiently, and to haue durable clothing.

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.