IsaiahChapter 23
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1This is the message of judgment against Tyre:
Wail, you ships of Tarshish!
Tyre is destroyed, with no house or harbor left.
The news has reached them from the land of Cyprus. 2Be silent, you people who live on the coast,
you merchants of Sidon.
Your traders have crossed the sea. 3The grain of Shihor came across the great waters.
The harvest of the Nile was Tyre's income.
She traded with the nations. 4Be ashamed, Sidon, you fortress by the sea.
For the sea has spoken:
"I have not been in labor or given birth.
I have not raised young men or brought up young women." 5When the report reaches Egypt,
they will twist in pain over the news about Tyre. 6Cross over to Tarshish.
Wail, you people who live on the coast! 7Is this your happy city?
She began long, long ago.
Her feet carried her to live in faraway places. 8Who planned this against Tyre?
She gave out crowns.
Her traders are princes.
Her merchants are famous on the earth. 9The LORD of Hosts planned it.
He did it to dishonor all her proud beauty.
He did it to bring shame to all the famous people of the earth. 10Farm your land like the Nile, Daughter of Tarshish.
There is no harbor anymore. 11The LORD has stretched out his hand over the sea.
He has made kingdoms shake.
He has given a command
to destroy the fortresses of Canaan. 12He said, "You will not celebrate anymore,
crushed Virgin Daughter of Sidon.
Get up and cross over to Cyprus.
Even there you will find no rest." 13Look at the land of the Chaldeans.
Those people are now worth nothing.
The Assyrians made it a place for desert animals.
They set up their siege towers.
They stripped its palaces bare.
They turned it into ruins. 14Wail, you ships of Tarshish!
Your harbor has been destroyed! 15At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years. That is as long as a king lives. But at the end of seventy years, Tyre will be like the prostitute in the song: 16"Pick up your harp. Walk through the city,
you forgotten prostitute.
Play sweet music. Sing many songs.
Then people will remember you." 17At the end of seventy years, the LORD will bring Tyre back. Then she will go back to selling herself like a prostitute. She will sell herself to all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18But her profits and her pay will be set apart for the LORD. They will not be stored up or saved. Her profits will go to those who live in the LORD's presence. They will have plenty of food and fine clothes.