1Here is a prophecy against Tyre that the LORD gave me. Men in the ships of Tarshish, cry out! The city of Tyre is destroyed. Its houses and harbour are gone. That’s the message you have received from the island of Cyprus.2People on the island of Tyre, be silent. Traders from the city of Sidon, be quiet. Those who sail on the Mediterranean Sea have made you rich.3Corn from Egypt came across the mighty waters. The harvest of the River Nile brought wealth to Tyre. It became the market-place of the nations.4Sidon, be ashamed. Mighty Tyre out in the sea, be ashamed. The sea has spoken. It has said, ‘It’s as if I had never felt labour pains or had children. It’s as if I had never brought up sons or daughters. It’s as if the city of Tyre had never existed.’5The Egyptians will hear about what has happened to Tyre. They’ll be very sad and troubled.6People of the island of Tyre, cry out! Go across the sea to Tarshish.7Just look at Tyre. It’s no longer the old, old city that was known for its wild parties. It no longer sends its people out to make their homes in lands far away.8Tyre was a city that produced kings. Its traders were princes. They were honoured all over the earth. So who planned to destroy such a city?9The LORD who rules over all planned to do it. He wanted to bring down all its pride and glory. He wanted to shame those who were honoured all over the earth.10People of Tarshish, farm your land as they do along the River Nile. That’s because you don’t have a harbour anymore.11The LORD has reached his powerful hand out over the sea. He has made its kingdoms tremble with fear. He has given a command concerning Phoenicia. He has ordered that its forts be destroyed.12He said, ‘No more wild parties for you! People of Sidon, you are now destroyed! ‘Leave your city. Go across the sea to Cyprus. Even there you will not find any rest.’13Look at the land of the Babylonians. No one lives there anymore. The Assyrians have turned it into a place for desert creatures. They built their towers in order to attack it. They took everything out of its forts. They knocked down all its buildings.14Men in the ships of Tarshish, cry out! Mighty Tyre is destroyed!15A time is coming when people will forget about Tyre for 70 years. That’s the length of a king’s life. But at the end of those 70 years, Tyre will be like the prostitute that people sing about. They say,16‘Forgotten prostitute, pick up a harp. Walk through the city. Play the harp well. Sing many songs. Then you will be remembered.’17At the end of the 70 years, the LORD will punish Tyre. He will let it return to its way of life as a prostitute. It will earn its living with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.18But the money it earns will be set apart for the LORD. The money won’t be stored up or kept for Tyre. Instead, it will go to those who live the way the LORD wants them to. It will pay for plenty of food and fine clothes for them.
Isaiah 23
English Standard Version
An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon
1The oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor! From the land of Cyprus[1] it is revealed to them. (Ge 10:4; 1Ki 10:22; 1Ki 22:48; Isa 13:1; Isa 23:14; Isa 24:10; Jer 2:10; Jer 25:22; Jer 27:2; Eze 26:2; Joe 3:4; Am 1:9; Zec 9:2)2Be still, O inhabitants of the coast; the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you. (Ge 10:15; Jos 19:28; Isa 23:4; Isa 23:12; Jer 25:22; Jer 27:3; Eze 27:8; Eze 32:30; Joe 3:4; Zec 9:2)3And on many waters your revenue was the grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile; you were the merchant of the nations. (Eze 27:3)4Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying: “I have neither labored nor given birth, I have neither reared young men nor brought up young women.” (Isa 23:2)5When the report comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish[2] over the report about Tyre.6Cross over to Tarshish; wail, O inhabitants of the coast! (Isa 23:12)7Is this your exultant city whose origin is from days of old, whose feet carried her to settle far away? (Ge 10:15)8Who has purposed this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?9The Lord of hosts has purposed it, to defile the pompous pride of all glory,[3] to dishonor all the honored of the earth. (Eze 28:7)10Cross over your land like the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no restraint anymore.11He has stretched out his hand over the sea; he has shaken the kingdoms; the Lord has given command concerning Canaan to destroy its strongholds. (Ex 14:21)12And he said: “You will no more exult, O oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon; arise, cross over to Cyprus, even there you will have no rest.” (Isa 23:1; Isa 23:2; Isa 23:6)13Behold the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people that was not;[4] Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected their siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin. (2Ki 25:1; Isa 47:1; Isa 48:14)14Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your stronghold is laid waste. (Isa 23:1)15In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days[5] of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute: (Jer 25:11; Jer 25:22)16“Take a harp; go about the city, O forgotten prostitute! Make sweet melody; sing many songs, that you may be remembered.”17At the end of seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. (Jer 25:11; Jer 25:22; Re 17:1)18Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the Lord.