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 declaration about Tyre: Howl, you ships of Tarshish; for there is neither home nor harbor; from the land of Cyprus it has been revealed to them.
2 To whom are the dwellers in the island become like, the merchants of Phoenice, passing over the sea
Be silent, you inhabitants of the coast; the merchant of Sidon, who travels over the sea, has filled you.
3 in great waters, a generation of merchants? as when the harvest is gathered in, [so are] these traders with the nations.
Upon the great waters was the grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile was her produce; and it became the commerce of 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.
Be ashamed, Sidon; for the sea has spoken, the mighty one of the sea. He says, “I have not labored nor given birth, nor have I raised young men nor brought up young women.”
5 Moreover when it shall be heard in Egypt, sorrow shall seize them for Tyre.
When the report comes to Egypt, they will be grieved concerning Tyre.
6 Depart you to Carthage; howl, you that dwell in this island.
Cross over to Tarshish; wail, you inhabitants of the coast.
7 Was not this your pride from the beginning, before she was given up?
Has this happened to you, the joyful city, whose origin is from ancient times, whose feet carried her far away to foreign places to settle?
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 has planned this against Tyre, the giver of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the honored ones of the 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.
Yahweh of hosts has planned it to dishonor her pride and all her glory, to shame all her honored ones of the earth.
10 Till your land; for ships no more come out of Carthage.
Plow your land, as one plows the Nile, daughter of Tarshish. There is no longer a marketplace in Tyre.
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.
Yahweh has reached out with his hand over the sea, and he has shaken the kingdoms; he has given a command concerning Phoenicia, to destroy the strongholds.
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, “You will not rejoice again, oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon; arise, pass over to Cyprus; but neither there you will have 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.
See the land of the Chaldeans. This people has ceased to be; the Assyrians have made it a wilderness for wild animals. They set up their siege towers; they demolished its palaces; they made it a heap of ruins.
14 Howl, you ships of Carthage: for your strong hold is destroyed.
Howl, you ships of Tarshish; for your refuge has 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.
In that day, Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of a king. After the end of seventy years there will happen in Tyre something like in the song of the 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 harp, go about the city, you forgotten prostitute; play it well, sing many songs, so that you may 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.
It will come about that after seventy years, Yahweh will help Tyre, and she will start making money again by doing the work of a prostitute, and she will offer her services to all the kingdoms of the earth.
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.
Her profits and earnings will be set apart to Yahweh. They will not be stored up or kept in the treasury, for her profits will be given to those who live in Yahweh's presence and will be used to supply them with abundant food and so they can have the best quality clothing.
