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 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 Be silent, you inhabitants of the island, Trader of Sidon, passing the sea, they filled you.
Be silent, you inhabitants of the coast; the merchant of Sidon, who travels over the sea, has filled you.
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.
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; 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, 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 As they are pained [at] the report of Egypt, So [at] the report of Tyre.
When the report comes to Egypt, they will be grieved concerning Tyre.
6 Pass over to Tarshish, howl, you inhabitants of the island,
Cross over to Tarshish; wail, you inhabitants of the coast.
7 Is this your exulting one? Her antiquity [is] from the days of old, Her own feet carry her far off to sojourn.
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 counseled this against Tyre, The crowning one, whose traders [are] princes, Her merchants—the honored of 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 YHWH of Hosts has counseled it, To defile the excellence of all beauty, To make light all the honored of 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 Pass through your land as a brook, Daughter of Tarshish, There is no longer a girdle.
Plow your land, as one plows the Nile, daughter of Tarshish. There is no longer a marketplace in Tyre.
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.
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 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 will not rejoice again, oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon; arise, pass over to Cyprus; but neither there you will have 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!
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 Tarshish, For your strength has been destroyed.
Howl, you ships of Tarshish; for your refuge 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.
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 around the city, O forgotten harlot, play well, Multiply song 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 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.
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 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!
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.
