The Lord Will Judge Tyre

¹Here is a message about Tyre:

Wail, you large ships,

for the port is too devastated to enter!

From the land of Cyprus this news is announced to them.

²Lament, you residents of the coast,[#tn Or “keep quiet”; NAB “Silence!”]

you merchants of Sidon who travel over the sea,

whose agents sail over

³the deep waters![#tc The Hebrew text (23:2b-3a) reads literally, “merchant of Sidon, the one who crosses the sea, they filled you, and on the deep waters.” Instead of מִלְאוּךְ (mil’ukh, “they filled you”) the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa reads מלאכיך (“your messengers”). The translation assumes an emendation of מִלְאוּךְ to מַלְאָכָו (mal’akhav, “his messengers”), taking the vav (ו) on וּבְמַיִם (uvÿmayim) as improperly placed; instead it should be the final letter of the preceding word.]

Grain from the Shihor region,

crops grown near the Nile she receives;

she is the trade center of the nations.

⁴Be ashamed, O Sidon,

for the sea says this, O fortress of the sea:

“I have not gone into labor

or given birth;

I have not raised young men

or brought up young women.”

⁵When the news reaches Egypt,

they will be shaken by what has happened to Tyre.

⁶Travel to Tarshish!

Wail, you residents of the coast!

⁷Is this really your boisterous city[#tn Heb “Is this to you, boisterous one?” The pronoun “you” is masculine plural, like the imperatives in v. 6, so it is likely addressed to the Egyptians and residents of the coast. “Boisterous one” is a feminine singular form, probably referring to the personified city of Tyre.]

whose origins are in the distant past,

and whose feet led her to a distant land to reside?

⁸Who planned this for royal Tyre,[#tn The precise meaning of הַמַּעֲטִירָה (hamma’atirah) is uncertain. The form is a Hiphil participle from עָטַר (’atar), a denominative verb derived from עֲטָרָה (’atarah, “crown, wreath”). The participle may mean “one who wears a crown” or “one who distributes crowns.” In either case, Tyre’s prominence in the international political arena is in view.]

whose merchants are princes,

whose traders are the dignitaries of the earth?

⁹The Lord who commands armies planned it –

to dishonor the pride that comes from all her beauty,

to humiliate all the dignitaries of the earth.

¹⁰Daughter Tarshish, travel back to your land, as one crosses the Nile;

there is no longer any marketplace in Tyre.

¹¹The Lord stretched out his hand over the sea,[#tn Heb “his hand he stretched out over the sea.”]

he shook kingdoms;

he gave the order

to destroy Canaan’s fortresses.

¹²He said,

“You will no longer celebrate,

oppressed virgin daughter Sidon!

Get up, travel to Cyprus,

but you will find no relief there.”

¹³Look at the land of the Chaldeans,

these people who have lost their identity!

The Assyrians have made it a home for wild animals.

They erected their siege towers,

demolished its fortresses,

and turned it into a heap of ruins.

¹⁴Wail, you large ships,[#tn Heb “ships of Tarshish.” See the note at v. 1.]

for your fortress is destroyed!

¹⁵At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the typical life span of a king. At the end of seventy years Tyre will try to attract attention again, like the prostitute in the popular song:[#tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.; #sn The number seventy is probably used in a stereotypical, nonliteral sense here to indicate a long period of time that satisfies completely the demands of God’s judgment.; #tn Heb “like the days of a king.”; #tn Heb “At the end of seventy years it will be for Tyre like the song of the prostitute.”]

¹⁶“Take the harp,

go through the city,

forgotten prostitute!

Play it well,

play lots of songs,

so you’ll be noticed!”

¹⁷At the end of seventy years the Lord will revive Tyre. She will start making money again by selling her services to all the earth’s kingdoms.[#tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.; #tn Heb “visit [with favor]” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “will deal with.”; #tn Heb “and she will return to her [prostitute’s] wages and engage in prostitution with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the earth.”]

¹⁸Her profits and earnings will be set apart for the Lord . They will not be stored up or accumulated, for her profits will be given to those who live in the Lord ’s presence and will be used to purchase large quantities of food and beautiful clothes.[#tn Heb “for eating to fullness and for beautiful covering[s].”sn The point of this verse, which in its blatant nationalism comes precariously close to comparing the Lord to one who controls or manages a prostitute, is that Tyre will become a subject of Israel and her God. Tyre’s commercial profits will be used to enrich the Lord’s people.]