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An Oracle Concerning Tyre

23 The [a]oracle concerning (A)Tyre.

Wail, O (B)ships of (C)Tarshish,
For Tyre is destroyed, without house or [b](D)harbor;
It is revealed to them from the land of [c](E)Cyprus.
(F)Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You merchants of Sidon;
[d]Your messengers crossed the sea
And were on many waters.
(G)The [e]grain of [f](H)Shihor, the harvest of the Nile was her revenue;
And she was the nations’ (I)gain.
Be ashamed, O (J)Sidon;
For the sea speaks, the strong defense of the sea, saying,
“I have neither travailed nor given birth;
I have neither brought up choice men nor reared virgins.”
When the report reaches Egypt,
They will be in (K)travail at the report of Tyre.
Pass over to (L)Tarshish;
Wail, O inhabitants of the coastland.
Is this your (M)exultant city,
Whose origin is from days of old,
Whose feet used to lead her to sojourn in distant places?

Who has counseled this against Tyre, (N)the bestower of crowns,
Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?
(O)Yahweh of hosts has counseled it, to (P)defile the pride of all beauty,
To make contemptuous all the (Q)honored of the earth.
10 [g]Overflow your land like the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish;
There is no more [h]restraint.
11 He has (R)stretched His hand out (S)over the sea;
He has (T)made the kingdoms tremble;
Yahweh has given a command concerning Canaan to (U)demolish its strong defenses.

12 So He said, “(V)You shall exult no more, O crushed virgin daughter of Sidon.
Arise, pass over to [i](W)Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”

13 Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people which was not; (X)Assyria established it for (Y)desert creatures—they erected their siege towers, they stripped its palaces, (Z)they made it a ruin.

14 Wail, O (AA)ships of Tarshish,
For your strong defense is destroyed.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 23:1 Or burden of
  2. Isaiah 23:1 Lit entering
  3. Isaiah 23:1 Heb Kittim
  4. Isaiah 23:2 As in DSS; M.T. Who passed over the sea, they replenished you
  5. Isaiah 23:3 Lit seed
  6. Isaiah 23:3 Part of the Nile
  7. Isaiah 23:10 Lit Pass over
  8. Isaiah 23:10 Possibly girdle, shipyard
  9. Isaiah 23:12 Heb Kittim

A Message about Tyre

23 This message came to me concerning Tyre:

Wail, you trading ships of Tarshish,
    for the harbor and houses of Tyre are gone!
The rumors you heard in Cyprus[a]
    are all true.
Mourn in silence, you people of the coast
    and you merchants of Sidon.
Your traders crossed the sea,[b]
    sailing over deep waters.
They brought you grain from Egypt[c]
    and harvests from along the Nile.
You were the marketplace of the world.

But now you are put to shame, city of Sidon,
    for Tyre, the fortress of the sea, says,[d]
“Now I am childless;
    I have no sons or daughters.”
When Egypt hears the news about Tyre,
    there will be great sorrow.
Send word now to Tarshish!
    Wail, you people who live in distant lands!
Is this silent ruin all that is left of your once joyous city?
    What a long history was yours!
    Think of all the colonists you sent to distant places.

Who has brought this disaster on Tyre,
    that great creator of kingdoms?
Her traders were all princes,
    her merchants were nobles.
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has done it
    to destroy your pride
    and bring low all earth’s nobility.
10 Come, people of Tarshish,
    sweep over the land like the flooding Nile,
    for Tyre is defenseless.[e]
11 The Lord held out his hand over the sea
    and shook the kingdoms of the earth.
He has spoken out against Phoenicia,[f]
    ordering that her fortresses be destroyed.
12 He says, “Never again will you rejoice,
    O daughter of Sidon, for you have been crushed.
Even if you flee to Cyprus,
    you will find no rest.”

13 Look at the land of Babylonia[g]
    the people of that land are gone!
The Assyrians have handed Babylon over
    to the wild animals of the desert.
They have built siege ramps against its walls,
    torn down its palaces,
    and turned it to a heap of rubble.

14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish,
    for your harbor is destroyed!

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Footnotes

  1. 23:1 Hebrew Kittim; also in 23:12.
  2. 23:2 As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text reads Those who have gone over the sea have filled you.
  3. 23:3 Hebrew from Shihor, a branch of the Nile River.
  4. 23:4 Or for the god of the sea says; Hebrew reads for the sea, the fortress of the sea, says.
  5. 23:10 The meaning of the Hebrew in this verse is uncertain.
  6. 23:11 Hebrew Canaan.
  7. 23:13 Or Chaldea.