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.
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 Be silent, you inhabitants of the island, Trader of Sidon, passing the sea, they filled you.
Stay shocked into silence, people of the coastlands, merchants of Sidon, and sailors.
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.
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; 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.”
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 As they are pained [at] the report of Egypt, So [at] the report of Tyre.
When the news about Tyre reaches Egypt they will be in agony.
6 Pass over to Tarshish, howl, you inhabitants of the island,
Sail across to Tarshish! Howl, people of the coastlands!
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 really your triumphant city, whose beginnings are from the distant past, who has sent out people to colonize faraway places?
8 Who has counseled this against Tyre, The crowning one, whose traders [are] princes, Her merchants—the honored of earth?
Who planned this attack on Tyre? Tyre, who created kingdoms, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were honored around the world!
9 YHWH of Hosts has counseled it, To defile the excellence of all beauty, To make light all the honored of earth.
The Lord Almighty planned it, to humble its pride in all its glory, and to bring down all who receive worldly honor.
10 Pass through your land as a brook, Daughter of Tarshish, There is no longer a girdle.
Work your land, people of Tarshish, as they do beside the Nile, for you don't have a harbor anymore.
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 held his hand out over the sea and shook kingdoms. He has condemned Phoenicia, giving the order to destroy their fortresses.
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, “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 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 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 Tarshish, For your strength has been destroyed.
Howl, people on the ships of Tarshish because your fortress is 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, 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 around the city, O forgotten harlot, play well, Multiply song 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 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.
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 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!
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.
