< Isaiah 23 >
1 The doom of Tyre. Wail, ye ships of Tharshish; for it is laid waste, without house, without entrance: from the land of Kittim hath it been revealed to them.
2 Be silent, ye inhabitants of the coast-land: the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea [formerly] filled thee.
3 And on mighty waters [came] the seed of Shichor, the harvest of the stream, as her revenue; and she became the mart of nations.
4 Be ashamed, O Zion; for spoken hath the sea, the stronghold of the sea, saying, I travailed not, nor brought forth children, neither did I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins.
5 As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they tremble at the report of Tyre.
6 Pass ye over to Tharshish; wail, ye inhabitants of the coast-land.
7 Is this your fate, ye of the joyous [city]? she whose antiquity is of ancient days—her own feet shall carry her, afar off to sojourn.
8 Who hath resolved this against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the honorable of the earth?
9 The Lord hath resolved it, to dishonor the pride of all ornament, to make of light esteem all the honorable of the earth.
10 Pass through thy land as a stream, O daughter of Tharshish: there is no more strength.
11 He hath stretched out his hand over the sea, he hath shaken kingdoms; the Lord hath given a command against Canaan, to subvert its strongholds.
12 And he said, Thou shalt no longer rejoice any more, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to the Kittim; also there shalt thou have no rest.
13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans—this people which was not, Asshur founded it for the dwellers in the wilderness—they have set up their watchtowers, have overthrown its palaces, have rendered it a heap of ruins.
14 Wail, ye ships of Tharshish; your stronghold is laid waste.
15 And it shall come to pass on that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, like the days of one king: at the end of seventy years shall it happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot.
16 “Take the harp, go round about the city, thou forgotten harlot; make sweet music, sing many songs, in order that thou mayest be remembered.”
17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her hire, and shall have commerce with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
18 And her gain and her hire shall be holy to the Lord: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; but for those that dwell before the Lord shall her gain be, to eat to fulness, and for magnificent clothing.
