Isaiah 23:1-14

The Oracle concerning Tyre

23¹ The oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your fortress is destroyed. When they came in from Cyprus they learned of it. ² Be still, O inhabitants of the coast, O merchants of Sidon, your messengers crossed over the sea ³ and were on the mighty waters; your revenue was the grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile; you were the merchant of the nations. ⁴ Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken, the fortress of the sea, saying: "I have neither labored nor given birth, I have neither reared young men nor brought up young women. ⁵ When the report comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish over the report about Tyre. ⁶ Cross over to Tarshish- wail, O inhabitants of the coast! ⁷ Is this your exultant city whose origin is from days of old, whose feet carried her to settle far away? ⁸ Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth? ⁹ The Lord of hosts has planned it- to defile the pride of all glory, to shame all the honored of the earth. ¹⁰ Cross over to your own land, O ships of Tarshish; this is a harbor no more. ¹¹ He has stretched out his hand over the sea, he has shaken the kingdoms; the Lord has given command concerning Canaan to destroy its fortresses. ¹² He said: You will exult no longer, O oppressed virgin daughter Sidon; rise, cross over to Cyprus- even there you will have no rest. ¹³ Look at the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people; it was not Assyria. They destined Tyre for wild animals. They erected their siege towers, they tore down her palaces, they made her a ruin. ¹⁴ Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your fortress is destroyed