Isaiah 23

Oracle against Tyre

23The oracle of Tyre:

Wail, ships of Tarshish, for the house is destroyed so that no one can enter;^a

it is announced to them from the land of Cyprus.

²Be still, inhabitants of the coast,

merchant of Sidon, who travels over the sea, they filled you.

³And on the great waters is the seed of Shihor,

the harvest of the Nile is its produce,

and she was the merchandise of the nations.

⁴Be ashamed, Sidon, for the sea,

the fortress of the sea said, saying,

“I was not in labor,

and I have not given birth,

and I have not reared young men,

brought^b up young women.”

⁵When the report comes to Egypt,

they will be in anguish at the report about^c Tyre.

⁶Cross over to Tarshish!

Wail, inhabitants of the coast!

⁷Is this your exultant one,^d her origin from the days of long ago?

Her feet brought her to dwell afar as an alien.

⁸Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,^e

whose merchants were princes,

her traders the honored ones of the earth?

⁹Yahweh of hosts has planned it:

to defile the pride of all glory,

to humble all the honored ones of the earth.

¹⁰Cross over your own land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish;

there is no longer a harbor.^f

¹¹He has stretched his hand out over the sea;

he has made kingdoms shake.

Yahweh has commanded concerning Canaan

to destroy her fortresses.

¹²And he said,

“You will not continue^g to exult, crushed one, virgin^h daughter of Sidon.

Arise, cross over to Cyprus! There will be no rest for you even there.”

¹³Look at the land of the Chaldeans!

This people no longer exists.

Assyria destinedⁱ it for wild animals.

They erected its siege towers;

they demolished its citadel fortresses.

It made her like a ruin.

¹⁴Wail, ships of Tarshish!

For your fortress is destroyed.

¹⁵And this will happen on that day: And Tyre will be forgotten seventy years,^j

like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years,^k it will be for Tyre like the song of the prostitute:

¹⁶“Take a harp,

go around the city, forgotten prostitute!

Do it well, playing a stringed instrument!

Make numerous songs,^l that you may be remembered.”

¹⁷And this shall happen:

at the end of seventy years,^m Yahweh will visit Tyre,

and she will return to her harlot’s wages,

and she will commit fornication

with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.

¹⁸And this shall happen:

her merchandise and her harlot’s wages will be set apart for Yahweh;

it will not be stored up,

and it will not be hoarded,

but her merchandise will be for those who live before the presenceⁿ of Yahweh,

for eating to satiation and for fine clothing.