< 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].
משא צר הילילו אניות תרשיש כי שדד מבית מבוא מארץ כתים נגלה למו
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].
דמו ישבי אי סחר צידון עבר ים מלאוך
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.
ובמים רבים זרע שחר קציר יאור תבואתה ותהי סחר גוים
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.”
בושי צידון--כי אמר ים מעוז הים לאמר לא חלתי ולא ילדתי ולא גדלתי בחורים--רוממתי בתולות
5 When [the people of] Egypt hear what has happened to Tyre, they will grieve very much.
כאשר שמע למצרים יחילו כשמע צר
6 Sail to Tarshish [and tell them what happened]; weep, you people who live along the coast.
עברו תרשישה הילילו ישבי אי
7 [The people in] the very old city [of Tyre] were [RHQ] previously joyful. Traders [PRS] from Tyre established colonies in many distant nations.
הזאת לכם עליזה מימי קדם קדמתה יבלוה רגליה מרחוק לגור
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?
מי יעץ זאת על צר המעטירה אשר סחריה שרים כנעניה נכבדי ארץ
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.
יהוה צבאות יעצה--לחלל גאון כל צבי להקל כל נכבדי ארץ
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.
עברי ארצך כיאר בת תרשיש אין מזח עוד
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.
ידו נטה על הים הרגיז ממלכות יהוה צוה אל כנען לשמד מעזניה
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.”
ויאמר לא תוסיפי עוד לעלוז המעשקה בתולת בת צידון כתיים (כתים) קומי עברי--גם שם לא ינוח לך
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.
הן ארץ כשדים זה העם לא היה--אשור יסדה לציים הקימו בחיניו (בחוניו) עוררו ארמנותיה--שמה למפלה
14 [So] wail, you [sailors on the] ships of Tarshish, because the harbor [in Tyre where your ships stop] is destroyed!
הילילו אניות תרשיש כי שדד מעזכן
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:
והיה ביום ההוא ונשכחת צר שבעים שנה כימי מלך אחד מקץ שבעים שנה יהיה לצר כשירת הזונה
16 “You harlot, whom people had forgotten, play your harp well, and sing many songs, in order that people will remember you again.”
קחי כנור סבי עיר זונה נשכחה היטיבי נגן הרבי שיר למען תזכרי
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].
והיה מקץ שבעים שנה יפקד יהוה את צר ושבה לאתננה וזנתה את כל ממלכות הארץ על פני האדמה
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.
והיה סחרה ואתננה קדש ליהוה--לא יאצר ולא יחסן כי לישבים לפני יהוה יהיה סחרה לאכל לשבעה ולמכסה עתיק

< Isaiah 23 >