Isaiah 23

An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon

23The ⁱoracle concerning ^jTyre.

Wail, O ^kships of Tarshish,

for Tyre is laid waste, ^lwithout house or harbor!

From ^mthe land of Cyprus¹

it is revealed to them.

²Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;

the merchants of ⁿSidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.

³And on many waters

your revenue was the grain of Shihor,

the harvest of the Nile;

you were ^othe merchant of the nations.

⁴Be ashamed, O ⁿSidon, for the sea has spoken,

the stronghold of the sea, saying:

“I have neither labored nor given birth,

I have neither reared young men

nor brought up young women.”

⁵When the report comes to Egypt,

they will be in anguish² over the report about Tyre.

^6pCross over to Tarshish;

wail, O inhabitants of the coast!

⁷Is this your exultant city

^qwhose origin is from days of old,

whose feet carried her

to settle far away?

⁸Who has purposed this

against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,

whose merchants were princes,

whose traders were the honored of the earth?

⁹The Lord of hosts has purposed it,

^rto defile the pompous pride of all glory,³

to dishonor all the honored of the earth.

¹⁰Cross over your land like the Nile,

O daughter of Tarshish;

there is no restraint anymore.

^11sHe has stretched out his hand over the sea;

he has shaken the kingdoms;

the Lord has given command concerning Canaan

to destroy its strongholds.

¹²And he said:

“You will no more exult,

O oppressed virgin daughter of ^tSidon;

arise, ^ucross over to ^vCyprus,

even there you will have no rest.”

¹³Behold the land of ^wthe Chaldeans! This is the people that was not;⁴ Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected ^xtheir siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin.

^14yWail, O ships of Tarshish,

for your stronghold is laid waste.

¹⁵In that day Tyre will be forgotten for ^zseventy years, like the days⁵ of one king. At the end of ^zseventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

¹⁶“Take a harp;

go about the city,

O forgotten prostitute!

Make sweet melody;

sing many songs,

that you may be remembered.”

¹⁷At the end of ^aseventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and ^bwill prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. ¹⁸Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the Lord.