Isaiah 23

The Lord Will Judge Tyre

23:1 Here is a message about Tyre:

Wail, you large ships,¹

for the port is too devastated to enter!²

From the land of Cyprus³ this news is announced to them.

23:2 Lament,⁴ you residents of the coast,

you merchants of Sidon⁵ who travel over the sea,

whose agents sail over 23:3 the deep waters!⁶

Grain from the Shihor region,⁷

crops grown near the Nile⁸ she receives;⁹

she is the trade center¹⁰ of the nations.

23:4 Be ashamed, O Sidon,

for the sea¹¹ says this, O fortress of the sea:

“I have not gone into labor

or given birth;

I have not raised young men

or brought up young women.”¹²

23:5 When the news reaches Egypt,

they will be shaken by what has happened to Tyre.¹³

23:6 Travel to Tarshish!

Wail, you residents of the coast!

23:7 Is this really your boisterous city¹⁴

whose origins are in the distant past,¹⁵

and whose feet led her to a distant land to reside?

23:8 Who planned this for royal Tyre,¹⁶

whose merchants are princes,

whose traders are the dignitaries¹⁷ of the earth?

23:9 The Lord who commands armies planned it –

to dishonor the pride that comes from all her beauty,¹⁸

to humiliate all the dignitaries of the earth.

23:10 Daughter Tarshish, travel back to your land, as one crosses the Nile;

there is no longer any marketplace in Tyre.¹⁹

23:11 The Lord stretched out his hand over the sea,²⁰

he shook kingdoms;

he²¹ gave the order

to destroy Canaan’s fortresses.²²

23:12 He said,

“You will no longer celebrate,

oppressed²³ virgin daughter Sidon!

Get up, travel to Cyprus,

but you will find no relief there.”²⁴

23:13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans,

these people who have lost their identity!²⁵

The Assyrians have made it a home for wild animals.

They erected their siege towers,²⁶

demolished²⁷ its fortresses,

and turned it into a heap of ruins.²⁸

23:14 Wail, you large ships,²⁹

for your fortress is destroyed!

23:15 At that time³⁰ Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years,³¹ the typical life span of a king.³² At the end of seventy years Tyre will try to attract attention again, like the prostitute in the popular song:³³

23:16 “Take the harp,

go through the city,

forgotten prostitute!

Play it well,

play lots of songs,

so you’ll be noticed!”³⁴

23:17 At the end of seventy years³⁵ the Lord will revive³⁶ Tyre. She will start making money again by selling her services to all the earth’s kingdoms.³⁷ 23:18 Her profits and earnings will be set apart for the Lord. They will not be stored up or accumulated, for her profits will be given to those who live in the Lord’s presence and will be used to purchase large quantities of food and beautiful clothes.³⁸

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