23
The Burden against Tyre
(Ezekiel 26:1–21)
 
This is the burden against Tyre:
 
Wail, O ships of Tarshish,* Or Wail, O fleet of trading ships; also in verse 14
for Tyre is laid waste,
without house or harbor.
Word has reached them
from the land of Cyprus. Hebrew Kittim; also in verse 12
Be silent, O dwellers of the coastland,
you merchants of Sidon,
whose traders have crossed the sea. DSS and LXX; MT whom the seafarers have enriched
On the great waters
came the grain of Shihor;
the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre;
she was the merchant of the nations.
Be ashamed, O Sidon, the stronghold of the sea,
for the sea has spoken:
“I have not been in labor
or given birth.
I have not raised young men
or brought up young women.”
When the report reaches Egypt,
they will writhe in agony over the news of Tyre.
 
Cross over to Tarshish;
wail, O inhabitants of the coastland!
Is this your jubilant city,
whose origin is from antiquity,
whose feet have taken her
to settle far away?
Who planned this against Tyre,
the bestower of crowns,
whose traders are princes,
whose merchants are renowned on the earth?
The LORD of Hosts planned it,
to defile all its glorious beauty,
to disgrace all the renowned of the earth.
 
10 Cultivate § DSS and some LXX manuscripts; MT Overflow your land like the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish;
there is no longer a harbor.
11 The LORD has stretched out His hand over the sea;
He has made kingdoms tremble.
He has given a command
that the strongholds of Canaan be destroyed.
12 He said, “You shall rejoice no more,
O oppressed Virgin Daughter of Sidon.
Get up and cross over to Cyprus—
even there you will find no rest.”
 
13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans * That is, the Babylonians
a people now of no account.
The Assyrians destined it for the desert creatures;
they set up their siege towers and stripped its palaces.
They brought it to ruin.
 
14 Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
for your harbor has been destroyed!
 
15 At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years—the span of a king’s life. But at the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot:
 
16 “Take up your harp,
stroll through the city,
O forgotten harlot.
Make sweet melody,
sing many a song,
so you will be remembered.”
 
17 And at the end of seventy years, the LORD will restore Tyre. Then she will return to hire as a prostitute and sell herself to all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18 Yet her profits and wages will be set apart to the LORD; they will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live before the LORD, for abundant food and fine clothing.

*23:1 Or Wail, O fleet of trading ships; also in verse 14

23:1 Hebrew Kittim; also in verse 12

23:2 DSS and LXX; MT whom the seafarers have enriched

§23:10 DSS and some LXX manuscripts; MT Overflow

*23:13 That is, the Babylonians