Isaiah 23
1 The Burden of Tyre. Howl, you ships of Tarshish, For it has been destroyed, Without house, without entrance, From the land of Chittim it was revealed to them.
This is the burden against Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor. Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus.
2 Be silent, you inhabitants of the island, Trader of Sidon, passing the sea, they filled you.
Be silent, O dwellers of the coastland, you merchants of Sidon, whose traders have crossed the sea.
3 And the seed of Sihor [is] in many waters, Her increase [is] the harvest of the brook, And she is a market of nations.
On the great waters came the grain of Shihor; the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre; she was the merchant of the nations.
4 Be ashamed, O Sidon; for the sea spoke, The strength of the sea, saying, “I have not been pained, nor have I brought forth, Nor have I nourished young men, [nor] brought up virgins.”
Be ashamed, O Sidon, the stronghold of the sea, for the sea has spoken: “I have not been in labor or given birth. I have not raised young men or brought up young women.”
5 As they are pained [at] the report of Egypt, So [at] the report of Tyre.
When the report reaches Egypt, they will writhe in agony over the news of Tyre.
6 Pass over to Tarshish, howl, you inhabitants of the island,
Cross over to Tarshish; wail, O inhabitants of the coastland!
7 Is this your exulting one? Her antiquity [is] from the days of old, Her own feet carry her far off to sojourn.
Is this your jubilant city, whose origin is from antiquity, whose feet have taken her to settle far away?
8 Who has counseled this against Tyre, The crowning one, whose traders [are] princes, Her merchants—the honored of earth?
Who planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose traders are princes, whose merchants are renowned on the earth?
9 YHWH of Hosts has counseled it, To defile the excellence of all beauty, To make light all the honored of earth.
The LORD of Hosts planned it, to defile all its glorious beauty, to disgrace all the renowned of the earth.
10 Pass through your land as a brook, Daughter of Tarshish, There is no longer a girdle.
Cultivate your land like the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer a harbor.
11 He has stretched out His hand over the sea, He has caused kingdoms to tremble, YHWH has charged concerning the merchant one, To destroy her strong places.
The LORD has stretched out His hand over the sea; He has made kingdoms tremble. He has given a command that the strongholds of Canaan be destroyed.
12 And He says, “You do not add to exult anymore, O oppressed one, virgin daughter of Sidon, To Chittim arise, pass over, Even there—there is no rest for you.”
He said, “You shall rejoice no more, O oppressed Virgin Daughter of Sidon. Get up and cross over to Cyprus— even there you will find no rest.”
13 Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this people was not, Asshur founded it for desert-dwellers, They raised its watchtowers, They lifted up her palaces—He has appointed her for a ruin!
Look at the land of the Chaldeans — a people now of no account. The Assyrians destined it for the desert creatures; they set up their siege towers and stripped its palaces. They brought it to ruin.
14 Howl, you ships of Tarshish, For your strength has been destroyed.
Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your harbor has been destroyed!
15 And it has come to pass in that day, That Tyre is forgotten seventy years, According to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years there is to Tyre as the song of the harlot.
At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years—the span of a king’s life. But at the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot:
16 Take a harp, go around the city, O forgotten harlot, play well, Multiply song that you may be remembered.
“Take up your harp, stroll through the city, O forgotten harlot. Make sweet melody, sing many a song, so you will be remembered.”
17 And it has come to pass, At the end of seventy years YHWH inspects Tyre, And she has returned to her wage, And she committed fornication With all kingdoms of the earth on the face of the ground.
And at the end of seventy years, the LORD will restore Tyre. Then she will return to hire as a prostitute and sell herself to all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.
18 And her merchandise and her wage have been holy to YHWH, Not treasured up nor stored, For her merchandise is to those sitting before YHWH, To eat to satiety, and for a lasting covering!
Yet her profits and wages will be set apart to the LORD; they will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live before the LORD, for abundant food and fine clothing.
