This message came to me concerning Tyre: Weep, O ships of Tarshish, returning home from distant lands! Weep for your harbor at Tyre because it is gone! The rumors you heard in Cyprus are all true.
Mourn in silence, you people of the coast and you merchants of Sidon. Your traders crossed the sea,
sailing over deep waters. They brought you grain from Egypt and harvests from along the Nile. You were the merchandise mart of the world.
But now you are put to shame, city of Sidon, fortress on the sea. For the sea says, "Now I am childless; I have no sons or daughters."
When Egypt hears the news about Tyre, there will be great sorrow.
Flee now to Tarshish! Wail, you people who live by the sea!
How can this silent ruin be all that is left of your once joyous city? What a history was yours! Think of all the colonists you sent to distant lands.
Who has brought this disaster on Tyre, empire builder and chief trader of the world?
The LORD Almighty has done it to destroy your pride and show his contempt for all human greatness.
Come, Tarshish, sweep over your mother Tyre like the flooding Nile, for the city is defenseless.
The LORD holds out his hand over the seas. He shakes the kingdoms of the earth. He has spoken out against Phoenicia and depleted its strength.
He says, "Never again will you rejoice, O daughter of Sidon. Once you were a lovely city, but you will never again be strong. Even if you flee to Cyprus, you will find no rest."
Look at the land of Babylonia--the people of that land are gone! The Assyrians have handed Babylon over to the wild beasts. They have built siege ramps against its walls, torn down its palaces, and turned it into a heap of rubble.
Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your home port is destroyed!
For seventy years, the length of a king's life, Tyre will be forgotten. But then the city will come back to life and sing sweet songs like a prostitute.
Long absent from her lovers, she will take a harp, walk the streets, and sing her songs, so that she will again be remembered.
Yes, after seventy years the LORD will revive Tyre. But she will be no different than she was before. She will return again to all her evil ways around the world.
But in the end her businesses will give their profits to the LORD. Her wealth will not be hoarded but will be used to provide good food and fine clothing for the LORD's priests.