Isaiah 23

1 The burden of Tyre. Howl, you ships of Tarshish. For it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in. From the land of Kittim it is revealed to them.

The word about Tyre. Let a cry of sorrow go up, O ships of Tarshish, because your strong place is made waste; on the way back from the land of Kittim the news is given to them.

2 Be still, you inhabitants of the coast, you whom the merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.

Send out a cry of grief, you men of the sea-land, traders of Zidon, who go over the sea, whose representatives are on great waters;

3 On great waters, the seed of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue. She was the market of nations.

Who get in the seed of Shihor, whose wealth is the trade of the nations.

4 Be ashamed, Sidon; for the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, "I have not travailed, nor brought forth, neither have I nourished young men, nor brought up virgins."

Be shamed, O Zidon: for the sea, the strong place of the sea has said, I have not been with child, or given birth; I have not taken care of young men, or kept watch over the growth of virgins.

5 When the report comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish at the report of Tyre.

When the news comes to Egypt they will be bitterly pained at the fate of Tyre.

6 Pass over to Tarshish. Wail, you inhabitants of the coast.

Go over to Tarshish; give cries of sorrow, O men of the sea-land.

7 Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days, whose feet carried her far away to travel?

Is this the town which was full of joy, whose start goes back to times long past, whose wanderings took her into far-off countries?

8 Who has planned this against Tyre, the giver of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth?

By whom was this purposed against Tyre, the crowning town, whose traders are chiefs, whose business men are honoured in the land?

9 The LORD of hosts has planned it, to defile all the pride of glory, to shame all the honored of the earth.

It was the purpose of the Lord of armies to put pride to shame, to make sport of the glory of those who are honoured in the earth.

10 Cultivate your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish; there is no restraint any more.

Let your land be worked with the plough, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer any harbour.

11 He has stretched out his hand over the sea. He has shaken the kingdoms. The LORD has ordered the destruction of Canaan's strongholds.

His hand is stretched out over the sea, the kingdoms are shaking: the Lord has given orders about Canaan, to make waste its strong places.

12 He said, "You shall rejoice no more, you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon. Arise, pass over to Kittim. Even there you will have no rest."

And he said, There is no more joy for you, O crushed virgin daughter of Zidon: up! go over to Kittim; even there you will have no rest.

13 Look, the land of the Chaldeans, these people who have become nothing. The Assyrians have made it a home for wild animals. They set up their siege towers, they tore down her palaces, they made her a ruin.

14 Howl, you ships of Tarshish, for your stronghold is laid waste.

Let a cry of sorrow go up, O ships of Tarshish: because your strong place is made waste.

15 It will come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. After the end of seventy years it will be to Tyre like in the song of the prostitute.

And it will be in that day that Tyre will go out of mind for seventy years, that is, the days of one king: after the end of seventy years it will be for Tyre as in the song of the loose woman.

16 Take a harp; go about the city, you prostitute that has been forgotten. Make sweet melody. Sing many songs, that you may be remembered.

Take an instrument of music, go about the town, O loose woman who has gone out from the memory of man; make sweet melody with songs, so that you may come back to men's minds.

17 It will happen after the end of seventy years that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her wages, and will play the prostitute with all the kingdoms of the world on the surface of the earth.

And it will be after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will have mercy on Tyre, and she will go back to her trade, acting as a loose woman with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.

18 Her merchandise and her wages will be holiness to the LORD. It will not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise will be for those who dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

And her goods and her trade will be holy to the Lord: they will not be kept back or stored up; for her produce will be for those living in the Lord's land, to give them food for their needs, and fair clothing.