CHAPTER 23 May 31 
A Message about Tyre and Sidon
The burden of Tyre. Howl, you ships of Tarshish! For it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in. From the land of Kittim it is revealed to them. 2Be still, you inhabitants of the coast, you whom the merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. 3On great waters, the seed of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue. She was the market of nations. 4Be ashamed, Sidon; for the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, I have not travailed, nor brought forth, neither have I nourished young men, nor brought up virgins. 5When the report comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish at the report of Tyre. 6Pass over to Tarshish! Wail, you inhabitants of the coast! 7Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days, whose feet carried her far away to travel? 8Who has planned this against Tyre, the giver of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? 9Yahweh of Armies has planned it, to stain the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth. 10Pass through your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish. There is no restraint any more. 11He has stretched out His hand over the sea,  He has shaken the kingdoms. Yahweh has ordered the destruction of Canaan’s strongholds. 12He said, You shall rejoice no more, you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon. Arise, pass over to Kittim. Even there you will have no rest. 13Behold, the land of the Chaldeans. This people was not until the Assyrians founded it for those who dwell in the wilderness. They set up their towers; they overthrew its palaces, they made it a ruin. 14Howl, you ships of Tarshish, for your stronghold is laid waste! 15It will come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. After the end of seventy years it will be to Tyre like in the song of the prostitute. 16Take a harp; go about the city, you prostitute that has been forgotten. Make sweet melody. Sing many songs, that you may be remembered. 17It will happen after the end of seventy years that Yahweh will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her wages, and will play the prostitute with all the kingdoms of the world on the surface of the earth. 18Her merchandise and her wages will be holiness to Yahweh. It will not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise will be for those who dwell before Yahweh, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

Commentary

23:9 To stain the pride of all glory- All the various prophecies of judgment could have chosen many sinful aspects of the peoples’ behaviour as the reason for them. But repeatedly, pride is the sin which God focuses upon. God is so sensitive to human pride that He even notices it amongst those not in relationship with Him, and takes the trouble to punish it and bring it down. It is quite simply so important to be humble. God gave Judah all this information about the impending fall of the surrounding nations so that His people would perceive the principles He works according to, and therefore humble themselves lest the same inevitable judgment for pride come upon them. We are intended to reflect upon the people who form the environment God has surrounded us with, and to learn from their rises and falls.
23:15 God’s prophesied 70 year silencing of Tyre was perhaps to encourage Judah to believe that the prophecies of their 70 year captivity in Babylon and subsequent revival would likewise be fulfilled (Jer. 25:12; 29:10). God may make situations occur in the unbelieving world around us which parallel our own, in order that we may be encouraged that His word will come true in our lives and that His principles will be upheld in the end.