Isaiah 23

An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon

1The aoracle concerning bTyre.

Wail, O cships of Tarshish,
for Tyre is laid waste, dwithout house or harbor!
From ethe land of Cyprus
Hebrew Kittim; also verse 12

it is revealed to them.
2Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;
the merchants of gSidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.
3And on many waters
your revenue was the grain of Shihor,
the harvest of the Nile;
you were hthe merchant of the nations.
4Be ashamed, O iSidon, 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.”
5When the report comes to Egypt,
they will be in anguish
Hebrew  they will have labor pains
over the report about Tyre.
6 kCross over to Tarshish;
wail, O inhabitants of the coast!
7Is this your exultant city
lwhose origin is from days of old,
whose feet carried her
to settle far away?
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,
mto defile the pompous pride of all glory,
The Hebrew words for  glory and  hosts sound alike

to dishonor all the honored of the earth.
10Cross over your land like the Nile,
O daughter of Tarshish;
there is no restraint anymore.
11 oHe has stretched out his hand over the sea;
he has shaken the kingdoms;
the Lord has given command concerning Canaan
to destroy its strongholds.
12And he said:
“You will no more exult,
O oppressed virgin daughter of pSidon;
arise, qcross over to rCyprus,
even there you will have no rest.”
13Behold the land of sthe Chaldeans! This is the people that was not;
Or  that has become nothing
Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected utheir siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin.

14 vWail, O ships of Tarshish,
for your stronghold is laid waste.
15In that day Tyre will be forgotten for wseventy years, like the days
Or lifetime
of one king. At the end of yseventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

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 zseventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and aawill prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 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.

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