Isaiah 23
1 [I received] this message [from Yahweh] about Tyre [city]: You [sailors on] [APO] ships from Tarshish, weep, because [the harbor of] Tyre and all the houses [in the city] have been destroyed. The reports that you heard in Cyprus [island] about Tyre [are true].
The prophecy concerning Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish! For it is laid waste; No house, no entrance is left! From the land of the Chittaeans were the tidings brought to them.
2 You people who live along the coast [near Tyre], and merchants of Sidon [city], mourn silently. Your sailors went across the seas [to many places like Tyre].
Be amazed, ye inhabitants of the sea-coast, Which the merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, did crowd!
3 They sailed across deep seas to buy grain in Egypt and [other] crops that are grown along the Nile [River]. Tyre became the city where people from [all] nations bought and sold goods.
Upon the wide waters, the corn of the Nile, The harvest of the river, was her revenue; She was the mart of the nations.
4 But now you people in Sidon should be ashamed, because [you trusted in Tyre], which has been a strong fortress [on an island] in the sea. [Tyre is like a woman who is saying], “[Now it is as though] I have not given birth to [any] children, or raised [any] sons or daughters.”
Be thou ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea hath spoken, The fortress of the sea hath spoken thus: “I have not travailed, nor brought forth children; I have not nourished youths, nor brought up virgins.”
5 When [the people of] Egypt hear what has happened to Tyre, they will grieve very much.
When the tidings shall reach Egypt, They shall be filled with anguish at the tidings concerning Tyre.
6 Sail to Tarshish [and tell them what happened]; weep, you people who live along the coast.
Pass ye over to Tarshish; Howl, ye inhabitants of the sea-coast!
7 [The people in] the very old city [of Tyre] were [RHQ] previously joyful. Traders [PRS] from Tyre established colonies in many distant nations.
Is this your joyous city, Whose antiquity is of ancient days? Now her own feet bear her To sojourn far away.
8 People from Tyre appointed kings [over other places]; their traders were wealthy; they were [as powerful and wealthy as] [MET] kings. [So], who [RHQ] caused the people of Tyre to experience this disaster?
Who hath purposed this against Tyre, The dispenser of crowns, Whose merchants are princes, Whose traders the nobles of the earth?
9 It was the Commander of the armies of angels who did it; he did it in order to cause [you people in] Tyre not to be proud any more, to humiliate you men who are honored all over the world.
Jehovah of hosts hath purposed it, To bring down the pride of all glory, To humble the nobles of the earth.
10 You people of Tarshish, you must grow crops in your land [instead of trading]; spread out over your land like [SIM] the Nile [River] spreads over the land [of Egypt] when it floods, because there is no harbor [in Tyre for your ships] now.
Go over thy land like the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish! Now thy bonds are broken.
11 [It is as though] Yahweh stretched out his hand over the sea and shook the kingdoms of the earth. He commanded that in Phoenicia/Canaan all its fortresses must be destroyed.
He hath stretched out his hand over the sea, He hath made the kingdoms tremble; Jehovah hath given commandment concerning Canaan To destroy her strong holds.
12 He said to the people of Sidon, “You will never rejoice again, because you will be crushed; even if you flee to Cyprus [island], you will not escape destruction.”
He hath said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, Thou ravished virgin, daughter of Sidon! Arise, pass over to the Chittaeans; Yet even there shalt thou have no rest.
13 Think about what happened in Babylonia: the people who were in that land have disappeared. [The armies of] Assyria have caused that land to become a place where wild animals from the desert live. The Assyrians built dirt ramps to the top of the walls [of the city of Babylon]; [then they entered the city and] tore down the palaces and caused the city to become [a heap of] rubble.
Behold the land of the Chaldaeans, Who, not long ago, were not a people, —The Assyrian assigned it to the inhabitants of the wilderness, —They raise their watch-towers; They destroy her palaces; They make her a heap of ruins.
14 [So] wail, you [sailors on the] ships of Tarshish, because the harbor [in Tyre where your ships stop] is destroyed!
Howl, ye ships of Tarshish! For your stronghold is destroyed.
15 For seventy years, which is as long as kings usually live, people will forget about Tyre. [But then it will be rebuilt]. What will happen there will be like what happened to a prostitute in this song:
And it shall come to pass in that day, That Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, According to the days of one king; But at the end of seventy years It shall be with Tyre as in the song of the harlot:
16 “You harlot, whom people had forgotten, play your harp well, and sing many songs, in order that people will remember you again.”
“Take thy lyre, go about the city, O harlot, long forgotten; Make sweet melody; sing many songs, That thou mayst again be remembered!”
17 [It is true that] after seventy years Yahweh will restore Tyre. Their merchants will again earn a lot of money by buying things from and selling things to many [other] nations [HYP].
At the end of seventy years shall Jehovah show regard to Tyre, And she shall return to her hire, And play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world, That are upon the face of the earth.
18 [But] their profits will be given to Yahweh. [The merchants] will not hoard their money; instead, they will give it to Yahweh’s priests in order that they [can] buy food and nice clothes.
But her gain and her hire shall be holy to Jehovah; It shall not be treasured, nor laid up in store; But it shall be for them that dwell before Jehovah, For abundant food, and for splendid clothing.
