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Be silent, you who live along the coast,
you merchants of Sidon,
whose agents have crossed the sea[a] on the great waters.
The grain of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, provided her income.
She was the marketplace of nations.
Be ashamed, Sidon, fortress by the sea,
because the sea has spoken, saying,
“No longer do I feel the pain of childbirth.
No longer do I have children.
I have no young men to raise,
no virgin girls to bring up.”[b]

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 23:2 The translation follows a reading from the Hebrew Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah. The literal reading in the Masoretic text is the one passing over the sea they have replenished you.
  2. Isaiah 23:4 The meaning of this figurative statement spoken by the sea is unclear. The sea seems to be lamenting the loss of Tyre, a daughter of the sea.

Be silent,(A) you people of the island
    and you merchants(B) of Sidon,(C)
    whom the seafarers have enriched.
On the great waters
    came the grain of the Shihor;(D)
the harvest of the Nile[a](E) was the revenue of Tyre,(F)
    and she became the marketplace of the nations.

Be ashamed, Sidon,(G) and you fortress of the sea,
    for the sea has spoken:
“I have neither been in labor nor given birth;(H)
    I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 23:3 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls Sidon, / who cross over the sea; / your envoys are on the great waters. / The grain of the Shihor, / the harvest of the Nile,