Isaiah 23

A Prophecy Against Tyre

A prophecy concerning Tyre:^a

Wail,^b you ships^c of Tarshish!^d

For Tyre is destroyed^e

and left without house or harbor.

From the land of Cyprus

word has come to them.

Be silent,^f you people of the island

and you merchants^g of Sidon,^h

whom the seafarers have enriched.

On the great waters

came the grain of the Shihor;ⁱ

the harvest of the Nile^j was the revenue of Tyre,^k

and she became the marketplace of the nations.

Be ashamed, Sidon,^l and you fortress of the sea,

for the sea has spoken:

“I have neither been in labor nor given birth;^m

I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.”

When word comes to Egypt,

they will be in anguishⁿ at the report from Tyre.^o

Cross over to Tarshish;^p

wail, you people of the island.

Is this your city of revelry,^q

the old, old city,

whose feet have taken her

to settle in far-off lands?

Who planned this against Tyre,

the bestower of crowns,

whose merchants^r are princes,

whose traders^s are renowned in the earth?

The Lord Almighty planned^t it,

to bring down^u her pride in all her splendor

and to humble^v all who are renowned^w on the earth.

Till your land as they do along the Nile,

Daughter Tarshish,

for you no longer have a harbor.

The Lord has stretched out his hand^x over the sea

and made its kingdoms tremble.^y

He has given an order concerning Phoenicia

that her fortresses be destroyed.^z

He said, “No more of your reveling,^a

Virgin Daughter^b Sidon, now crushed!

“Up, cross over to Cyprus;^c

even there you will find no rest.”

Look at the land of the Babylonians,^d

this people that is now of no account!

The Assyrians^e have made it

a place for desert creatures;^f

they raised up their siege towers,^g

they stripped its fortresses bare

and turned it into a ruin.^h

Wail, you shipsⁱ of Tarshish;^j

your fortress is destroyed!^k

At that time Tyre^l will be forgotten for seventy years,^m the span of a king’s life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

“Take up a harp, walk through the city,

you forgotten prostitute;ⁿ

play the harp well, sing many a song,

so that you will be remembered.”

At the end of seventy years,^o the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution^p and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.^q Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord;^r they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord,^s for abundant food and fine clothes.^t