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13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans,
these people who have lost their identity![a]
The Assyrians have made it a home for wild animals.
They erected their siege towers,[b]
demolished[c] its fortresses,
and turned it into a heap of ruins.[d]
14 Wail, you large ships,[e]
for your fortress is destroyed!

15 At that time[f] Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years,[g] the typical life span of a king.[h] At the end of seventy years Tyre will try to attract attention again, like the prostitute in the popular song:[i]

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 23:13 tn Heb “this people [that] is not.”
  2. Isaiah 23:13 tn For the meaning of this word, see HALOT 118 s.v. *בַּחוּן.
  3. Isaiah 23:13 tn Or “laid bare.” For the meaning of this word, see HALOT 889 s.v. ערר.
  4. Isaiah 23:13 sn This verse probably refers to the Assyrian destruction of Babylon.
  5. Isaiah 23:14 tn Heb “ships of Tarshish.” See the note at v. 1.
  6. Isaiah 23:15 tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
  7. Isaiah 23:15 sn The number seventy is probably used in a stereotypical, nonliteral sense here to indicate a long period of time that satisfies completely the demands of God’s judgment.
  8. Isaiah 23:15 tn Heb “like the days of a king.”
  9. Isaiah 23:15 tn Heb “At the end of seventy years it will be for Tyre like the song of the prostitute.”

13 Look at the land of the Babylonians,[a](A)
    this people that is now of no account!
The Assyrians(B) have made it
    a place for desert creatures;(C)
they raised up their siege towers,(D)
    they stripped its fortresses bare
    and turned it into a ruin.(E)

14 Wail, you ships(F) of Tarshish;(G)
    your fortress is destroyed!(H)

15 At that time Tyre(I) will be forgotten for seventy years,(J) the span of a king’s life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 23:13 Or Chaldeans