²² The king had a fleet of trading ships of Tarshish that sailed with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the ships returned, loaded with gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.^[a]

A Message about Tyre

23 This message came to me concerning Tyre:

And all the captains of the merchant ships and their passengers and sailors and crews will stand at a distance. ¹⁸ They will cry out as they watch the smoke ascend, and they will say, “Where is there another city as great as this?” ¹⁹ And they will weep and throw dust on their heads to show their grief. And they will cry out,

¹¹ The merchants of the world will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods.

⁴⁸ Jehoshaphat also built a fleet of trading ships^[a] to sail to Ophir for gold. But the ships never set sail, for they met with disaster in their home port of Ezion-geber. ⁴⁹ At one time Ahaziah son of Ahab had proposed to Jehoshaphat, “Let my men sail with your men in the ships.” But Jehoshaphat refused the request.

⁵² you must drive out all the people living there. You must destroy all their carved and molten images and demolish all their pagan shrines.