Isaiah 23 Common English Bible

Concerning Tyre

23 An oracle about Tyre.

Wail, ships of Tarshish,
    because your port is destroyed!^[a]
        When returning from Cyprus, they heard about it.
²Be still, inhabitants of the coast, traders of Sidon,
    whose messengers crossed over the sea,^[b]
³    over the mighty waters.
The grain of Shihor, the Nile’s harvest, was her income;
    she was the marketplace of nations.
⁴Be ashamed, Sidon, because the sea has spoken;
    the fortress of the sea has said,
    “I haven’t been in labor; I didn’t give birth;
    I never raised young men or brought up young women.”
⁵When the Egyptians hear,
    they will be in anguish at the news about Tyre.
⁶Cross over to Tarshish;
    wail, inhabitants of the coast.
⁷Is this your triumphant town,
    whose origin is from ancient times,
    whose feet carried her to settle far away?
⁸Who planned this concerning Tyre,
        the one who gives crowns,
    whose merchants were princes,
    whose traders were the honored of the earth?
⁹The Lord of heavenly forces planned it,
    to defile the pride of all beauty,
    to shame all the honored of the earth.

¹⁰Go through your own land, Daughter Tarshish,
    for the harbor^[c] is gone.
¹¹God’s hand is extended over the sea, shaking nations.
The Lord gave the command to destroy Phoenicia’s fortresses,
¹²    saying, You will no longer celebrate,
    violated virgin Daughter Sidon.
Get up and head to Cyprus;
    even there you will find no rest.
¹³Look at the land of the Chaldeans,
    the people who are no more.
Assyria destined it for wild animals:
    they raised up their siege towers,
    stripped its palaces,
    and made it a ruin.
¹⁴Wail, ships of Tarshish,
    for your fortress is destroyed!

¹⁵On that day, Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, the lifetime of one king. At the end of seventy years, Tyre will become like the prostitute in the song:

¹⁶Take a harp, go around the city, forgotten prostitute.
Play well, sing many songs, so they’ll remember you.

¹⁷At the end of seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre. She will return to her trade and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms on the earth. ¹⁸Her profits and wages will be sacred to the Lord. They won’t be stored or saved. Her profits will go to those living before the Lord, for plentiful food and elegant clothes.