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.
[I received] this message [from Yahweh] about Tyre [city]: You [sailors on] [APO] ships from Tarshish, weep, because [the harbor of] Tyre and all the houses [in the city] have been destroyed. The reports that you heard in Cyprus [island] about Tyre [are true].
2 Be still, yee that dwell in the yles: the marchantes of Zidon, and such as passe ouer the sea, haue replenished thee.
You people who live along the coast [near Tyre], and merchants of Sidon [city], mourn silently. Your sailors went across the seas [to many places like Tyre].
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.
They sailed across deep seas to buy grain in Egypt and [other] crops that are grown along the Nile [River]. Tyre became the city where people from [all] nations bought and sold goods.
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.
But now you people in Sidon should be ashamed, because [you trusted in Tyre], which has been a strong fortress [on an island] in the sea. [Tyre is like a woman who is saying], “[Now it is as though] I have not given birth to [any] children, or raised [any] sons or daughters.”
5 When the fame commeth to the Egyptians, they shall be sorie, concerning the rumour of Tyrus.
When [the people of] Egypt hear what has happened to Tyre, they will grieve very much.
6 Goe you ouer to Tarshish: howle, yee that dwell in the yles.
Sail to Tarshish [and tell them what happened]; weep, you people who live along the coast.
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.
[The people in] the very old city [of Tyre] were [RHQ] previously joyful. Traders [PRS] from Tyre established colonies in many distant nations.
8 Who hath decreed this against Tyrus (that crowneth men) whose marchantes are princes? whose chapmen are the nobles of the worlde?
People from Tyre appointed kings [over other places]; their traders were wealthy; they were [as powerful and wealthy as] [MET] kings. [So], who [RHQ] caused the people of Tyre to experience this disaster?
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.
It was the Commander of the armies of angels who did it; he did it in order to cause [you people in] Tyre not to be proud any more, to humiliate you men who are honored all over the world.
10 Passe through thy lande like a flood to the daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.
You people of Tarshish, you must grow crops in your land [instead of trading]; spread out over your land like [SIM] the Nile [River] spreads over the land [of Egypt] when it floods, because there is no harbor [in Tyre for your ships] now.
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.
[It is as though] Yahweh stretched out his hand over the sea and shook the kingdoms of the earth. He commanded that in Phoenicia/Canaan all its fortresses must be destroyed.
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.
He said to the people of Sidon, “You will never rejoice again, because you will be crushed; even if you flee to Cyprus [island], you will not escape destruction.”
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.
Think about what happened in Babylonia: the people who were in that land have disappeared. [The armies of] Assyria have caused that land to become a place where wild animals from the desert live. The Assyrians built dirt ramps to the top of the walls [of the city of Babylon]; [then they entered the city and] tore down the palaces and caused the city to become [a heap of] rubble.
14 Howle yee shippes of Tarshish, for your strength is destroyed.
[So] wail, you [sailors on the] ships of Tarshish, because the harbor [in Tyre where your ships stop] 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.
For seventy years, which is as long as kings usually live, people will forget about Tyre. [But then it will be rebuilt]. What will happen there will be like what happened to a prostitute in this song:
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.
“You harlot, whom people had forgotten, play your harp well, and sing many songs, in order that people will remember you again.”
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.
[It is true that] after seventy years Yahweh will restore Tyre. Their merchants will again earn a lot of money by buying things from and selling things to many [other] nations [HYP].
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.
[But] their profits will be given to Yahweh. [The merchants] will not hoard their money; instead, they will give it to Yahweh’s priests in order that they [can] buy food and nice clothes.
