Chapter 23

¹The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of the sea, for the house is destroyed, from whence they were wont to come: from the land of Cethim it is revealed to them. ²Be silent, you that dwell in the island: the merchants of Sidon passing over the sea, have filled thee. ³The seed of the Nile in many waters, the harvest of the river is her revenue: and she is become the mart of the nations. ⁴Be thou ashamed, O Sidon: for the sea speaketh, even the strength of the sea, saying: I have not been in labour, nor have I brought forth, nor have I nourished up young men, nor brought up virgins. ⁵When it shall be heard in Egypt, they will be sorry when they shall hear of Tyre: ⁶Pass over the seas, howl, ye inhabitants of the island. ⁷Is not this your city, which gloried from of old in her antiquity? her feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. ⁸Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, that was formerly crowned, whose merchants were princes, and her traders the nobles of the earth? ⁹The Lord of hosts hath designed it, to pull down the pride of all glory, and bring to disgrace all the glorious ones of the earth. ¹⁰Pass thy land as a river, O daughter of the sea, thou hast a girdle no more. ¹¹He stretched out his hand over the sea, he troubled kingdoms: the Lord hath given a charge against Chanaan, to destroy the strong ones thereof. ¹²And he said: Thou shalt glory no more, O virgin daughter of Sidon, who art oppressed: arise and sail over to Cethim, there also thou shalt have no, rest. ¹³Behold the land of the Chaldeans, there was not such a people, the Assyrian founded it: they have led away the strong ones thereof into captivity, they have destroyed the houses thereof, they have brought it to ruin. ¹⁴Howl, O ye ships of the sea, for your strength is laid waste. ¹⁵And it shall come to pass in that day that thou, O Tyre, shalt be forgotten, seventy years, according to the days of one king: but after seventy years, there shall be unto Tyre as the song of a harlot. ¹⁶Take a harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten: sing well, sing many a song, that thou mayst be remembered. ¹⁷And it shall come to pass after seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and will bring her back again to her traffic: and she shall commit fornication again with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. ¹⁸And her merchandise and her hire shall be sanctified to the Lord: they shall not be kept in store, nor laid up: for her merchandise shall be for them that shall dwell before the Lord, that they may eat unto fulness, and be clothed for a continuance.