THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

 

Isaiah Chapter 23

1 ¶ God’s sentence on Tyre. Howl, you ships of Tarshish; for your haven has been destroyed, so that there is no house, no harbor: word has reached them from the land of Cyprus.

2 Mourn, you who live near the coast; you who are supplied by the merchants of Sidon, who cross over the sea.

3 On many waters the grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile river, is her revenue; and she is a merchant among nations.

4 Be ashamed, O Sidon: because the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, is saying, I do not travail, or bring forth children, nor do I nourish up young men, or bring up virgins.

5 When the report reaches Egypt, they will be in anguish over the news from Tyre.

6 Cross over to Tarshish; wail, you who live near the coast.

7 Is this your jubilant city, whose origin dates back to antiquity? whose feet have carried her to settle in distant places.

8 Who has planned this against Tyre, that regal city, whose businessmen are princes, whose traders are the honored ones of the earth?

9 The LORD of hosts has planned it, to pierce the pride of its beauty, and to bring into contempt all the honored ones of the earth.

10 Spread over your land like the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish: you no longer have a harbor.

11 He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD has given the order, that the Canaanite fortresses be destroyed.

12 And he says, You will no longer rejoice, O ravished virgin, daughter of Sidon: arise, cross over to Cyprus; you will have no rest there either.

13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans; a people who no longer exist, the Assyrians destined it for wild beasts: they set up their siege towers, they overthrew its palaces; and made it a ruin.

14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish: for your fortress is laid waste.

15 ¶ On that day it will come to pass, that Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the life span of one king: after the end of seventy years Tyre will sing like a harlot who has been forgotten.

16 Take a harp, and go about the city, you harlot who has been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that you may be remembered.

17 And it will come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she will return to her hire, and will play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

18 Then her profits and pay will be reserved for the LORD: it will not be hoarded or stored up; for her merchandise will belong to those who worship the LORD, so they have plenty to eat, and durable clothing.