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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.

23 This is God’s message to Tyre:

Weep, O ships of Tyre,[a] returning home from distant lands! Weep for your harbor, for it is gone! The rumors that you heard in Cyprus are all true. 2-3 Deathly silence is everywhere. Stillness reigns where once your hustling port was full of ships from Sidon, bringing merchandise from far across the ocean, from Egypt and along the Nile. You were the merchandise mart of the world. Be ashamed, O Sidon, stronghold of the sea. For you are childless now! When Egypt hears the news, there will be great sorrow. Flee to Tarshish, men of Tyre, weeping as you go. This silent ruin is all that’s left of your once joyous land. What a history was yours! Think of all the colonists you sent to distant lands!

Who has brought this disaster on Tyre, empire builder and top trader of the world? The Commander of the armies of heaven has done it to destroy your pride and show his contempt for all the greatness of mankind. 10 Sail on, O ships of Tarshish, for your harbor is gone. 11 The Lord holds out his hand over the seas; he shakes the kingdoms of the earth; he has spoken out against this great merchant city, to destroy its strength.

12 He says, “Never again, O dishonored virgin, daughter of Sidon, will you rejoice, will you be strong. Even if you flee to Cyprus, you will find no rest.”

13 It will be the Babylonians, not the Assyrians, who consign Tyre to the wild beasts. They will lay siege to it, raze its palaces, and make it a heap of ruins. 14 Wail, you ships that ply the oceans, for your home port is destroyed!

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 23:1 Tyre. Tyre was originally a colony of the mother city, Sidon. Also in v. 4.