Isaiah 23 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

A declaration about Tyre: Wail, you ships of Tarshish! Your harbor is destroyed — no house, no port of entry. From the land of Cyprus, the word has reached them.

Fall silent, you who live along the coast, you merchants of Sidon, whose traders crossed the sea and filled your coffers.

Over the great waters came the grain of the Nile, the harvest of the Shihor was her revenue. She became the marketplace of nations.

Be ashamed, Sidon — the sea has spoken, the fortress of the sea declares: "I have not labored or given birth, never raised young men or brought up young women."

When the report reaches Egypt, they will writhe in agony at the news of Tyre.

Cross over to Tarshish — wail, you coastland dwellers!

Is this your city of celebration, whose origins stretch back to ancient days, whose feet once carried her to settle in distant lands?

Who planned this against Tyre, the city that crowned kings, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were honored across the earth?

Yahweh of Armies planned it — to shatter the pride of all that glitters, to humiliate every honored name on earth.

Overflow your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish — there is no restraint anymore.

He has stretched his hand out over the sea, he has shaken kingdoms. Yahweh has given the order against Canaan's merchant-land: demolish her fortresses.

He said: "You will celebrate no more, crushed daughter of Sidon. Get up, cross over to Cyprus — but even there you will find no rest."

Look at the land of the Chaldeans — this people that did not exist before. Assyria assigned it to desert creatures. They raised their siege towers, stripped her palaces bare, and turned her into rubble.

Wail, you ships of Tarshish— your fortress is destroyed!

On that day, Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years — the span of one king's lifetime. At the end of seventy years, Tyre's song will be like the prostitute's song:

"Pick up your lyre, walk the streets, forgotten prostitute. Play it sweet, sing it again and again — maybe someone will remember you."

At the end of seventy years, Yahweh will turn his attention to Tyre. She will return to her trade and sell herself to every kingdom on the face of the earth.

But her profits and her earnings will be set apart for Yahweh. They will not be hoarded or stored away. Her revenue will go to those who live in Yahweh's presence, for abundant food and fine clothing.