Isaiah 23
Lexham English Bible
Oracle against Tyre
23 The oracle of Tyre:
Wail, ships of Tarshish, for the house is destroyed so that no one can enter;[a]
it is announced to them from the land of Cyprus.
2 Be still, inhabitants of the coast,
merchant of Sidon, who travels over the sea, they filled you.
3 And on the great waters is the seed of Shihor,
the harvest of the Nile is its produce,
and she was the merchandise of the nations.
4 Be ashamed, Sidon, for the sea,
the fortress of the sea said, saying,
“I was not in labor,
and I have not given birth,
and I have not reared young men,
brought[b] up young women.”
5 When the report comes to Egypt,
they will be in anguish at the report about[c] Tyre.
6 Cross over to Tarshish!
Wail, inhabitants of the coast!
7 Is this your exultant one,[d] her origin from the days of long ago?
Her feet brought her to dwell afar as an alien.
8 Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,[e]
whose merchants were princes,
her traders the honored ones of the earth?
9 Yahweh of hosts has planned it:
to defile the pride of all glory,
to humble all the honored ones of the earth.
10 Cross over your own land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish;
there is no longer a harbor.[f]
11 He has stretched his hand out over the sea;
he has made kingdoms shake.
Yahweh has commanded concerning Canaan
to destroy her fortresses.
12 And he said,
“You will not continue[g] to exult, crushed one, virgin[h] daughter of Sidon.
Arise, cross over to Cyprus! There will be no rest for you even there.”
13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans!
This people no longer exists.
Assyria destined[i] it for wild animals.
They erected its siege towers;
they demolished its citadel fortresses.
It made her like a ruin.
14 Wail, ships of Tarshish!
For your fortress is destroyed.
15 And this will happen on that day: And Tyre will be forgotten seventy years,[j]
like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years,[k] it will be for Tyre like the song of the prostitute:
16 “Take a harp,
go around the city, forgotten prostitute!
Do it well, playing a stringed instrument!
Make numerous songs,[l] that you may be remembered.”
17 And this shall happen:
at the end of seventy years,[m] Yahweh will visit Tyre,
and she will return to her harlot’s wages,
and she will commit fornication
with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.
18 And this shall happen:
her merchandise and her harlot’s wages will be set apart for Yahweh;
it will not be stored up,
and it will not be hoarded,
but her merchandise will be for those who live before the presence[n] of Yahweh,
for eating to satiation and for fine clothing.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 23:1 Literally “it is destroyed from a house from entering”
- Isaiah 23:4 Or “I have brought”
- Isaiah 23:5 Literally “of”
- Isaiah 23:7 Literally “this to you, exultant”
- Isaiah 23:8 Hebrew “crown”
- Isaiah 23:10 Hebrew “waistband” is emended to “harbor” by transposing two consonants
- Isaiah 23:12 Literally “do again longer”
- Isaiah 23:12 Literally “virgin of the”
- Isaiah 23:13 Literally “this people was not Assyria destined,” which could be translated “It was this people! It was not Assyria. They destined”
- Isaiah 23:15 Hebrew “year”
- Isaiah 23:15 Hebrew “year”
- Isaiah 23:16 Hebrew “song”
- Isaiah 23:17 Hebrew “year”
- Isaiah 23:18 Literally “face”
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