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,

you merchants of Sidon who travel over the sea,

whose agents sail over 3the deep waters!

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

whose origins are in the distant past,

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

8Who planned this for royal Tyre,

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,

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,

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:

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. 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.