Isaiah 23:8-18 ▼

8 Who planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose traders are princes, whose merchants are the honored ones of the earth?

9 The LORD of Armies planned it, to desecrate all its glorious beauty, to disgrace all the honored ones of the earth.

10 Overflow your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer anything to restrain you.

11 He stretched out his hand over the sea; he made kingdoms tremble. The LORD has commanded that the Canaanite fortresses be destroyed.

12 He said, “You will not celebrate anymore, ravished young woman, daughter of Sidon. Get up and cross over to Cyprus — even there you will have no rest! ”

13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans — a people who no longer exist. Assyria destined it for desert creatures. They set up their siege towers and stripped its palaces. They made it a ruin.

14 Wail, ships of Tarshish, because your fortress is destroyed!

15 On that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years—the life span of one king. At the end of seventy years, what the song says about the prostitute will happen to Tyre:

16 Pick up your lyre, stroll through the city, you forgotten prostitute. Play skillfully, sing many a song so that you will be remembered.

17 And at the end of the seventy years, the LORD will restore Tyre and she will go back into business, prostituting herself with all the kingdoms of the world throughout the earth.

18 But her profits and wages will be dedicated to the LORD. They will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live in the LORD’s presence, to provide them with ample food and sacred clothing.