1 A Prophecy About Tyre
1 An oracle concerning Tyre: 1 Wail, O ships of Tarshish! 1 For Tyre is destroyed 1 and left without house or harbor. 1 From the land of Cyprus[a] 1 word has come to them.
2 Be silent, you people of the island 2 and you merchants of Sidon, 2 whom the seafarers have enriched.
3 On the great waters 3 came the grain of the Shihor; 3 the harvest of the Nile[b] was the revenue of Tyre, 3 and she became the marketplace of the nations.
4 Be ashamed, O Sidon, and you, O fortress of the sea, 4 for the sea has spoken: 4 "I have neither been in labor nor given birth; 4 I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters."
5 When word comes to Egypt, 5 they will be in anguish at the report from Tyre.
6 Cross over to Tarshish; 6 wail, you people of the island.
7 Is this your city of revelry, 7 the old, old city, 7 whose feet have taken her 7 to settle in far-off lands?
8 Who planned this against Tyre, 8 the bestower of crowns, 8 whose merchants are princes, 8 whose traders are renowned in the earth?
9 The Lord Almighty planned it, 9 to bring low the pride of all glory 9 and to humble all who are renowned on the earth.
10 Till[c] your land as along the Nile, 10 O Daughter of Tarshish, 10 for you no longer have a harbor.
11 The Lord has stretched out his hand over the sea 11 and made its kingdoms tremble. 11 He has given an order concerning Phoenicia[d] 11 that her fortresses be destroyed.
12 He said, "No more of your reveling, 12 O Virgin Daughter of Sidon, now crushed! 12 "Up, cross over to Cyprus[e]; 12 even there you will find no rest."
13 Look at the land of the Babylonians,[f] 13 this people that is now of no account! 13 The Assyrians have made it 13 a place for desert creatures; 13 they raised up their siege towers, 13 they stripped its fortresses bare 13 and turned it into a ruin.
14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish; 14 your fortress is destroyed!
15 At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, 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, 16 O prostitute forgotten; 16 play the harp well, sing many a song, 16 so that you will be remembered."
17 At the end of seventy years, the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire as a prostitute and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18 Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord; they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord, for abundant food and fine clothes.
