Isaiah 23

A Pronouncement against Tyre

1 A pronouncement  * 23:1 Is 13:1 concerning Tyre:  * 23:1 Jos 19:29; 1Kg 5:1; Jr 25:22; 47:4; Ezk 26:1–27:36; Jl 3:4–8; Am 1:9; Zch 9:2–4

Wail, ships of Tarshish,  * 23:1 Gn 10:4; 1Kg 10:22

for your haven has been destroyed.

Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus.  * 23:1 Hb Kittim,* 23:1 Jr 2:10; Ezk 27:6; Ac 11:19

2 Mourn, inhabitants of the coastland,

you merchants of Sidon;  * 23:2 Gn 10:15; Jos 19:28; Jr 25:22; 27:3; Ezk 27:8; 32:30; Jl 3:4; Zch 9:2

your agents have crossed the sea  * 23:2 DSS; MT reads Sidon, whom the seafarers have filled

3 over deep water.

Tyre’s revenue was the grain from Shihor —

the harvest of the Nile.

She was the merchant among the nations.  * 23:3 Ezk 27:3–23

4 Be ashamed, 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 news reaches Egypt,

they will be in anguish over the news about Tyre.  * 23:5 Ac 21:7

6 Cross over to Tarshish;

wail, inhabitants of the coastland!

7 Is this your jubilant city,

whose origin was in ancient times,

whose feet have taken her

to reside far away?

8 Who planned this against Tyre,

the bestower of crowns,

whose traders are princes,

whose merchants are the honored ones of the earth?

9 The Lord of Armies planned it,

to desecrate all its glorious beauty,

to disgrace all the honored ones of the earth.

10 Overflow  * 23:10 DSS, LXX read Work your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish;

there is no longer anything to restrain you.  * 23:10 Or longer any harbor

11 He stretched out his hand over the sea;  * 23:11 Ex 14:21; Is 14:26

he made kingdoms tremble.

The Lord has commanded

that the Canaanite fortresses be destroyed.

12 He said,

"You will not celebrate anymore,

ravished young woman, daughter of Sidon.

Get up and cross over to Cyprus  * 23:12 Is 23:1; Jr 2:10; Ezk 27:6; Ac 4:36; 11:19–20; 13:4; 15:39; 21:3,16; 27:4  —

even there you will have no rest! "

13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans —

a people who no longer exist.

Assyria destined it for desert creatures.

They set up their siege towers

and stripped its palaces.

They made it a ruin.

14 Wail, ships of Tarshish,

because your fortress is destroyed!

15 On that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years — the life span of one king. At the end of seventy years, what the song says about the prostitute will happen to Tyre:

16 Pick up your lyre,

stroll through the city,

you forgotten prostitute.

Play skillfully,

sing many a song

so that you will be remembered.

17 And at the end of the seventy years,  * 23:17 Jr 25:11,22 the Lord will restore Tyre  * 23:17 Ac 21:7 and she will go back into business, prostituting herself with all the kingdoms of the world throughout the earth. 18 But her profits and wages will be dedicated to the Lord. They will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live in the Lord’s presence, to provide them with ample food and sacred clothing.