< Isaiah 23 >
1 The oracle on Tyre, —Howl! ye ships of Tarshish, For it is laid too waste to be a haven to enter, From the land of Cyprus, hath it been unveiled 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 dumb, ye inhabitants of the Coast, —Whom the merchants of Zidon, passing over the sea, once replenished;
Stay shocked into silence, people of the coastlands, merchants of Sidon, and sailors.
3 Yea on mighty waters, was the grain of Shihor, The harvest of the Nile, was her increase, —And so she became a mart 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 Turn thou pale, O Zidon, For spoken hath the sea, the fortress of the sea saying, —I have neither been in pangs nor given birth I have neither brought up young men nor promoted 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 Like the report of Egypt, They shall be in pangs at the like report of Tyre.
When the news about Tyre reaches Egypt they will be in agony.
6 Pass ye over to Tarshish, —Howl ye inhabitants of the Coast:
Sail across to Tarshish! Howl, people of the coastlands!
7 Is this to you an exultation? Though from ancient days, is her antiquity, Yet shall her own feet carry her away, far off to dwell.
Is this really your triumphant city, whose beginnings are from the distant past, who has sent out people to colonize faraway places?
8 Who hath purposed this, against Tyre, The bestower of crowns, —Whose merchants are princes, Her traders the honourable of the earth?
Who planned this attack on Tyre? Tyre, who created kingdoms, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were honored around the world!
9 Yahweh of hosts, hath purposed it, —To humble the pride of all beauty, To make of little esteem all the honourable of the 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 thy land as the Nile, —O daughter of Tarshish, there is no restraint any longer!
Work your land, people of Tarshish, as they do beside the Nile, for you don't have a harbor anymore.
11 His hand, hath he stretched out over the sea, He hath shaken kingdoms, —Yahweh, hath given command against the Phoenician coast, To destroy her fortresses.
The Lord held his hand out over the sea and shook kingdoms. He has condemned Phoenicia, giving the order to destroy their fortresses.
12 Therefore hath he said, —No more, again, do thou exult, Thou violated virgin daughter of Zidon, —To Cyprus, arise and pass over, Even there, shall one find thee no rest.
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 Lo! the land of the Chaldeans, This is the people that was not, Assyria, founded it for the inhabitants of the desert, —They set up its siege-towers, They demolished its palaces Made it 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, ye ships of Tarshish, —For laid waste is your fortress.
Howl, people on the ships of Tarshish because your fortress is destroyed!
15 So shall it be in that day, That Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, According to the days of a certain king: At the end of seventy years, shall it befall Tyre according to 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 thou a lyre, Go round the city, O harlot forgotten, —Sweetly touch the strings Lengthen out the song, That thou mayest be called to mind.
“Take a lyre and walk around the city, forgotten prostitute! Play and sing so people will remember you!”
17 So shall it be, at the end of seventy years, That Yahweh will visit Tyre, And she will return to her hire, —Yea she will play the harlot—with all the kingdoms of the earth, upon 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 But her merchandise and her hire, shall be hallowed unto Yahweh, It shall not be stored up, nor hoarded, —For, to them who dwell before Yahweh, shall her merchandise belong, That they may eat to satisfaction And have stately apparel.
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.