1 An oracle concerning Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish! For Tyre is destroyed and left without house or harbor. From the land of Cyprus word has come to them.
2 Be silent, you people of the island and you merchants of Sidon, whom the seafarers have enriched.
3 On the great waters came the grain of the Shihor; the harvest of the Nilewas the revenue of Tyre, and she became the marketplace of the nations.
4 Be ashamed, O Sidon, and you, O fortress of the sea, for the sea has spoken: "I have neither been in labor nor given birth; I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.
5 When word comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish at the report from Tyre.
6 Cross over to Tarshish; wail, you people of the island.
7 Is this your city of revelry, the old, old city, whose feet have taken her to settle in far-off lands?
8 Who planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are renowned in the earth?
9 The LORD Almighty planned it, to bring low the pride of all glory and to humble all who are renowned on the earth.
10 Till your land as along the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish, for you no longer have a harbor.
11 The LORD has stretched out his hand over the sea and made its kingdoms tremble. He has given an order concerning Phoenicia that her fortresses be destroyed.
12 He said, "No more of your reveling, O Virgin Daughter of Sidon, now crushed! "Up, cross over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest."
13 Look at the land of the Babylonians, this people that is now of no account! The Assyrians have made it a place for desert creatures; they raised up their siege towers, they stripped its fortresses bare and turned it into a ruin.
14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish; your fortress is destroyed!
(The following is from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary -- www.christnotes.org)
"Commentary on Isaiah 23:1-14
Tyre was the mart of the nations. She was noted for mirth and diversions; and this made her loth to consider the warnings God gave by his servants. Her merchants were princes, and lived like princes. Tyre being destroyed and laid waste, the merchants should abandon her. Flee to shift for thine own safety; but those that are uneasy in one place, will be so in another; for when God's judgments pursue sinners, they will overtake them. Whence shall all this trouble come? It is a destruction from the Almighty. God designed to convince men of the vanity and uncertainty of all earthly glory. Let the ruin of Tyre warn all places and persons to take heed of pride; for he who exalts himself shall be abased. God will do it, who has all power in his hand; but the Chaldeans shall be the instruments."
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