Proclamation Against Tyre

23 The (A)burden[a] against Tyre.

Wail, you ships of Tarshish!
For it is laid waste,
So that there is no house, no harbor;
From the land of [b]Cyprus it is revealed to them.

Be still, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You merchants of Sidon,
[c]Whom those who cross the sea have filled.
And on great waters the grain of Shihor,
The harvest of [d]the River, is her revenue;
And (B)she is a marketplace for the nations.

Be ashamed, O Sidon;
For the sea has spoken,
The strength of the sea, saying,
“I do not labor, nor bring forth children;
Neither do I rear young men,
Nor bring up virgins.”
(C)When the report reaches Egypt,
They also will be in agony at the report of Tyre.

Cross over to Tarshish;
Wail, you inhabitants of the coastland!
Is this your (D)joyous city,
Whose antiquity is from ancient days,
Whose feet carried her far off to dwell?
Who has taken this counsel against Tyre, (E)the crowning city,
Whose merchants are princes,
Whose traders are the honorable of the earth?
The Lord of hosts has (F)purposed it,
To [e]bring to dishonor the (G)pride of all glory,
To bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.

10 Overflow through your land like [f]the River,
O daughter of Tarshish;
There is no more [g]strength.
11 He stretched out His hand over the sea,
He shook the kingdoms;
The Lord has given a commandment (H)against Canaan
To destroy its strongholds.
12 And He said, “You will rejoice no more,
O you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon.
Arise, (I)cross over to Cyprus;
There also you will have no rest.”

13 Behold, the land of the (J)Chaldeans,
This people which was not;
Assyria founded it for (K)wild beasts of the desert.
They set up its towers,
They raised up its palaces,
And brought it to ruin.

14 (L)Wail, you ships of Tarshish!
For your strength is laid waste.

15 Now it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot:

16 “Take a harp, go about the city,
You forgotten harlot;
Make sweet melody, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered.”

17 And it shall be, at the end of seventy years, that the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire, and (M)commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18 Her gain and her pay (N)will be set apart for the Lord; it will not be treasured nor laid up, for her gain will be for those who dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for [h]fine clothing.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 23:1 oracle, prophecy
  2. Isaiah 23:1 Heb. Kittim, western lands, especially Cyprus
  3. Isaiah 23:2 So with MT, Vg.; LXX, Tg. Passing over the water; DSS Your messengers passing over the sea
  4. Isaiah 23:3 The Nile
  5. Isaiah 23:9 pollute
  6. Isaiah 23:10 The Nile
  7. Isaiah 23:10 restraint, lit. belt
  8. Isaiah 23:18 choice

A Prophecy Against Tyre

23 A prophecy against Tyre:(A)

Wail,(B) you ships(C) of Tarshish!(D)
    For Tyre is destroyed(E)
    and left without house or harbor.
From the land of Cyprus
    word has come to them.

Be silent,(F) you people of the island
    and you merchants(G) of Sidon,(H)
    whom the seafarers have enriched.
On the great waters
    came the grain of the Shihor;(I)
the harvest of the Nile[a](J) was the revenue of Tyre,(K)
    and she became the marketplace of the nations.

Be ashamed, Sidon,(L) and you fortress of the sea,
    for the sea has spoken:
“I have neither been in labor nor given birth;(M)
    I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.”
When word comes to Egypt,
    they will be in anguish(N) at the report from Tyre.(O)

Cross over to Tarshish;(P)
    wail, you people of the island.
Is this your city of revelry,(Q)
    the old, old city,
whose feet have taken her
    to settle in far-off lands?
Who planned this against Tyre,
    the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants(R) are princes,
    whose traders(S) are renowned in the earth?
The Lord Almighty planned(T) it,
    to bring down(U) her pride in all her splendor
    and to humble(V) all who are renowned(W) on the earth.

10 Till[b] your land as they do along the Nile,
    Daughter Tarshish,
    for you no longer have a harbor.
11 The Lord has stretched out his hand(X) over the sea
    and made its kingdoms tremble.(Y)
He has given an order concerning Phoenicia
    that her fortresses be destroyed.(Z)
12 He said, “No more of your reveling,(AA)
    Virgin Daughter(AB) Sidon, now crushed!

“Up, cross over to Cyprus;(AC)
    even there you will find no rest.”
13 Look at the land of the Babylonians,[c](AD)
    this people that is now of no account!
The Assyrians(AE) have made it
    a place for desert creatures;(AF)
they raised up their siege towers,(AG)
    they stripped its fortresses bare
    and turned it into a ruin.(AH)

14 Wail, you ships(AI) of Tarshish;(AJ)
    your fortress is destroyed!(AK)

15 At that time Tyre(AL) will be forgotten for seventy years,(AM) the span of a king’s life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

16 “Take up a harp, walk through the city,
    you forgotten prostitute;(AN)
play the harp well, sing many a song,
    so that you will be remembered.”

17 At the end of seventy years,(AO) the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution(AP) and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.(AQ) 18 Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord;(AR) they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord,(AS) for abundant food and fine clothes.(AT)

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,
  2. Isaiah 23:10 Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts; Masoretic Text Go through
  3. Isaiah 23:13 Or Chaldeans

23 The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.

Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.

And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.

Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins.

As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.

Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.

Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.

Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?

The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.

10 Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.

11 He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the Lord hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof.

12 And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.

13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.

14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.

15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.

16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.

17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

22 all the kings of (A)Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands which are across the (B)sea;

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22 all the kings of Tyre(A) and Sidon;(B) the kings of the coastlands(C) across the sea;

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22 And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,

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“Son of man, (A)because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, (B)‘Aha! She is broken who was the gateway of the peoples; now she is turned over to me; I shall be filled; she is laid waste.’

“Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and (C)make her like the top of a rock.

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“Son of man, because Tyre(A) has said of Jerusalem, ‘Aha!(B) The gate to the nations is broken, and its doors have swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will prosper,’ therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea(C) casting up its waves. They will destroy(D) the walls of Tyre(E) and pull down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock.

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Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:

Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.

And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.

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“Indeed, what have you to do with Me,
(A)O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia?
Will you [a]retaliate against Me?
But if you [b]retaliate against Me,
Swiftly and speedily I will return your [c]retaliation upon your own head;
Because you have taken My silver and My gold,
And have carried into your temples My [d]prized possessions.
Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem
You have sold to the Greeks,
That you may remove them far from their borders.

“Behold, (B)I will raise them
Out of the place to which you have sold them,
And will return your [e]retaliation upon your own head.
I will sell your sons and your daughters
Into the hand of the people of Judah,
And they will sell them to the (C)Sabeans,[f]
To a people (D)far off;
For the Lord has spoken.”

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 3:4 Or render Me repayment
  2. Joel 3:4 Or repay Me
  3. Joel 3:4 Or repayment
  4. Joel 3:5 Lit. precious good things
  5. Joel 3:7 Or repayment
  6. Joel 3:8 Lit. Shebaites, Is. 60:6; Ezek. 27:22

“Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon(A) and all you regions of Philistia?(B) Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done.(C) For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.[a](D) You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks,(E) that you might send them far from their homeland.

“See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them,(F) and I will return(G) on your own heads what you have done. I will sell your sons(H) and daughters to the people of Judah,(I) and they will sell them to the Sabeans,(J) a nation far away.” The Lord has spoken.(K)

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 3:5 Or palaces

Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;

Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:

The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.

Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:

And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the Lord hath spoken it.

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