Isaiah 23

1 The burden of Tyre. Howl, you ships of Tarshish! For it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in. From the land of Kittim it is revealed to them.

THE WORD CONCERNING TYRE. Howl, ye ships of Carthage; for she has perished, and [men] no longer arrive from the land of the Citians: she is led captive.

2 Be still, you inhabitants of the coast, you whom the merchants of Sidon that pass over the sea have replenished.

To whom are the dwellers in the island become like, the merchants of Phoenice, passing over the sea

3 On great waters, the seed of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue. She was the market of nations.

in great waters, a generation of merchants? as when the harvest is gathered in, [so are] these traders with the nations.

4 Be ashamed, Sidon; for the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, “I have not travailed, nor given birth, neither have I nourished young men, nor brought up virgins.”

Be ashamed, O Sidon: the sea has said, yea, the strength of the sea has said, I have not travailed, nor brought forth, nor have I brought up young men, nor reared virgins.

5 When the report comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish at the report of Tyre.

Moreover when it shall be heard in Egypt, sorrow shall seize them for Tyre.

6 Pass over to Tarshish! Wail, you inhabitants of the coast!

Depart ye to Carthage; howl, ye that dwell in this island.

7 Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days, whose feet carried her far away to travel?

Was not this your pride from the beginning, before she was given up?

8 Who has planned this against Tyre, the giver of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the honorable of the earth?

Who has devised this counsel against Tyre? Is she inferior? or has she no strength? her merchants were the glorious princes of the earth.

9 The LORD of Armies has planned it, to stain the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.

The Lord of hosts has purposed to bring down all the pride of the glorious ones, and to disgrace every glorious thing on the earth.

10 Pass through your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish. There is no restraint any more.

Till thy land; for ships no more come out of Carthage.

11 He has stretched out his hand over the sea. He has shaken the kingdoms. The LORD has ordered the destruction of Canaan’s strongholds.

And thy hand prevails no more by sea, which troubled kings: the Lord of hosts has given a command concerning Chanaan, to destroy the strength thereof.

12 He said, “You shall rejoice no more, you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon. Arise, pass over to Kittim. Even there you will have no rest.”

And [men] shall say, Ye shall no longer at all continue to insult and injure the daughter of Sidon: and if thou depart to the Citians, neither there shalt thou have rest.

13 Behold, the land of the Chaldeans. This people did not exist. The Assyrians founded it for those who dwell in the wilderness. They set up their towers. They overthrew its palaces. They made it a ruin.

And [if thou depart] to the land of the Chaldeans, this also is laid waste by the Assyrians, for her wall is fallen.

14 Howl, you ships of Tarshish, for your stronghold is laid waste!

Howl, ye ships of Carthage: for your strong hold is destroyed.

15 It will come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. After the end of seventy years it will be to Tyre like in the song of the prostitute.

And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] Tyre shall be left seventy years, as the time of a king, as the time of a man: and it shall come to pass after seventy years, [that] Tyre shall be as the song of a harlot.

16 Take a harp; go about the city, you prostitute that has been forgotten. Make sweet melody. Sing many songs, that you may be remembered.

Take a harp, go about, O city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; play well on the harp, sing many [songs], that thou mayest be remembered.

17 It will happen after the end of seventy years that the LORD will visit Tyre. She will return to her wages, and will play the prostitute with all the kingdoms of the world on the surface of the earth.

And it shall come to pass after the seventy years, [that] God will visit Tyre, and she shall be again restored to her primitive state, and she shall be a mart for all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.

18 Her merchandise and her wages will be holiness to the LORD. It will not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise will be for those who dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

And her trade and her gain shall be holiness to the Lord: it shall not be gathered for them, but for those that dwell before the Lord, [even] all her trade, to eat and drink and be filled, and for a covenant [and] a memorial before the Lord.