Isaiah 23

The Burden against Tyre

1 This is the burden against Tyre:

Wail, O ships of Tarshish,*23:1 Or Wail, O fleet of trading ships; also in verse 14

for Tyre is laid waste,

without house or harbor.

Word has reached them

from the land of Cyprus.*23:1 Hebrew Kittim; also in verse 12

2 Be silent, O dwellers of the coastland,

you merchants of Sidon,

whose traders have crossed the sea.*23:2 DSS and LXX; MT whom the seafarers have enriched

3 On the great waters

came the grain of Shihor;

the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre;

she was the merchant of the nations.

4 Be ashamed, O Sidon, the stronghold of the sea,

for the sea has spoken:

"I have not been in labor

or given birth.

I have not raised young men

or brought up young women."

5 When the report reaches Egypt,

they will writhe in agony over the news of Tyre.

6 Cross over to Tarshish;

wail, O inhabitants of the coastland!

7 Is this your jubilant city,

whose origin is from antiquity,

whose feet have taken her

to settle far away?

8 Who planned this against Tyre,

the bestower of crowns,

whose traders are princes,

whose merchants are renowned on the earth?

9 The LORD of Hosts planned it,

to defile all its glorious beauty,

to disgrace all the renowned of the earth.

10 Cultivate*23:10 DSS and some LXX manuscripts; MT Overflow your land like the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish;

there is no longer a harbor.

11 The LORD has stretched out His hand over the sea;

He has made kingdoms tremble.

He has given a command

that the strongholds of Canaan be destroyed.

12 He said, "You shall rejoice no more,

O oppressed Virgin Daughter of Sidon.

Get up and cross over to Cyprus—

even there you will find no rest."

13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans*23:13 That is, the Babylonians—

a people now of no account.

The Assyrians destined it for the desert creatures;

they set up their siege towers and stripped its palaces.

They brought it to ruin.

14 Wail, O ships of Tarshish,

for your harbor has been destroyed!

15 At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years— the span of a king’s life. But at the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot:

16 "Take up your harp,

stroll through the city,

O forgotten harlot.

Make sweet melody,

sing many a song,

so you will be remembered."

17 And at the end of seventy years, the LORD will restore Tyre. Then she will return to hire as a prostitute and sell herself to all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18 Yet her profits and wages will be set apart to the LORD; they will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live before the LORD, for abundant food and fine clothing.