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].
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 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 silent, you inhabitants of the coast; the merchant of Sidon, who travels over the sea, has filled you.
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 great waters was the grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile was her produce; and it became the commerce 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 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 When [the people of] Egypt hear what has happened to Tyre, they will grieve very much.
When the report comes to Egypt, they will be grieved concerning Tyre.
6 Sail to Tarshish [and tell them what happened]; weep, you people who live along the coast.
Cross over to Tarshish; wail, you inhabitants of the 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.
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 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 has planned this against Tyre, the giver of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the honored ones 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.
Yahweh of hosts has planned it to dishonor her pride and all her glory, to shame all her honored ones 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.
Plow your land, as one plows the Nile, daughter of Tarshish. There is no longer a marketplace in Tyre.
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.
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 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 said, “You will not rejoice again, oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon; arise, pass over to Cyprus; but neither there you will have 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.
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 [So] wail, you [sailors on the] ships of Tarshish, because the harbor [in Tyre where your ships stop] is destroyed!
Howl, you ships of Tarshish; for your refuge has been 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:
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 “You harlot, whom people had forgotten, play your harp well, and sing many songs, in order that people will remember you again.”
Take a harp, go about the city, you forgotten prostitute; play it well, sing many songs, so that you may 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].
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 [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.
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.
