Esias 23
1 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.
A message about Tyre. Howl, people on the ships of Tarshish! Tyre has been destroyed—nothing is left of the houses and the harbor. They heard the news from the people of Cyprus.
2 To whom are the dwellers in the island become like, the merchants of Phoenice, passing over the sea
Stay shocked into silence, people of the coastlands, merchants of Sidon, and sailors.
3 in great waters, a generation of merchants? as when the harvest is gathered in, [so are] these traders with the nations.
Egyptian grain came across the wide oceans. The Nile's harvest was what made Tyre money; she was the merchant to the nations.
4 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.
Feel the shame, Sidon! For the fortress of the sea says, “I have no children, having never been in labor or given birth. I have not brought up young men or brought up young women.”
5 Moreover when it shall be heard in Egypt, sorrow shall seize them for Tyre.
When the news about Tyre reaches Egypt they will be in agony.
6 Depart you to Carthage; howl, you that dwell in this island.
Sail across to Tarshish! Howl, people of the coastlands!
7 Was not this your pride from the beginning, before she was given up?
Is this really your triumphant city, whose beginnings are from the distant past, who has sent out people to colonize faraway places?
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 planned this attack on Tyre? Tyre, who created kingdoms, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were honored around the world!
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.
The Lord Almighty planned it, to humble its pride in all its glory, and to bring down all who receive worldly honor.
10 Till your land; for ships no more come out of Carthage.
Work your land, people of Tarshish, as they do beside the Nile, for you don't have a harbor anymore.
11 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.
The Lord held his hand out over the sea and shook kingdoms. He has condemned Phoenicia, giving the order to destroy their fortresses.
12 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.
He said, “Don't celebrate any more, mistreated virgin daughter of Sidon. Go and sail over to Cyprus—however, even there you won't find rest.”
13 And [if you depart] to the land of the Chaldeans, this also is laid waste by the Assyrians, for her wall is fallen.
Look at the country of the Babylonians, this people that are not as they used to be! The Assyrians have turned it into a place for desert animals. They set up their siege towers, they demolished the fortresses, and ruined the country.
14 Howl, you ships of Carthage: for your strong hold is destroyed.
Howl, people on the ships of Tarshish because your fortress is 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.
At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, a king's lifetime, as it were. But at the end of these seventy years, Tyre will be like the song about a prostitute,
16 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.
“Take a lyre and walk around the city, forgotten prostitute! Play and sing so people will remember you!”
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.
After seventy years, the Lord will restore Tyre. But then she will go back to hiring herself out as a prostitute, selling herself to all the kingdoms of the world.
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.
However, her profits and what she earns will consecrated to the Lord. They won't be kept or saved up, for her business earnings will go to those who worship the Lord, to provide them with plenty of food and good clothes.
