The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of the sea, for the house is destroyed, from whence they were wont to come: from the land of Cethim it is revealed to them.

Onus Tyri. Ululate, naves maris, quia vastata est domus unde venire consueverant: de terra Cethim revelatum est eis.

What burden for Tyre? Mourn aloud, ocean-going ships, that reach Cyprus to learn that the home you left is in ruins!

Be silent, you that dwell in the island: the merchants of Sidon passing over the sea, have filled thee.

Tacete, qui habitatis in insula; negotiatores Sidonis, transfretantes mare, repleverunt te.

Stand they aghast, dwellers in the coast-land that once was thronged with Sidonian merchants,

The seed of the Nile in many waters, the harvest of the river is her revenue: and she is become the mart of the nations.

In aquis multis semen Nili; messis fluminis fruges ejus: et facta est negotiatio gentium.

that gathered its revenue from far over-seas; grain of Egypt’s sowing, of the Nile’s ripening, bartered they among the nations.

Be thou ashamed, O Sidon: for the sea speaketh, even the strength of the sea, saying: I have not been in labour, nor have I brought forth, nor have I nourished up young men, nor brought up virgins.

Erubesce, Sidon; ait enim mare, fortitudo maris, dicens: Non parturivi, et non peperi, et non enutrivi juvenes, nec ad incrementum perduxi virgines.

Poor Sidon, by false hopes betrayed! A cry comes up from the sea, from her that was guardian of the sea, Not for me a mother’s joys, a mother’s pangs; never a son reared, never a maid brought to womanhood.

When it shall be heard in Egypt, they will be sorry when they shall hear of Tyre:

Cum auditum fuerit in Ægypto, dolebunt cum audierint de Tiro.

Here is news for Egypt, news from Tyre that shall grip her with despair!

Pass over the seas, howl, ye inhabitants of the island.

Transite maria, ululate, qui habitatis in insula!

Go out on your ocean voyage, dwellers on the coast-land, mourning aloud;

Is not this your city, which gloried from of old in her antiquity? her feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.

Numquid non vestra hæc est, quæ gloriabatur a diebus pristinis in antiquitate sua? Ducent eam pedes sui longe ad peregrinandum.

your city come to this, the same city that had so long boasted of her ancientry! For her townsfolk there is a journey to make on foot, a distant journey.

Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, that was formerly crowned, whose merchants were princes, and her traders the nobles of the earth?

Quis cogitavit hoc super Tyrum quondam coronatam, cujus negotiatores principes, institores ejus inclyti terræ?

Who was it plotted the downfall of Tyre, a city once so rich in crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose traffickers were among the great men of the earth?

The Lord of hosts hath designed it, to pull down the pride of all glory, and bring to disgrace all the glorious ones of the earth.

Dominus exercituum cogitavit hoc, ut detraheret superbiam omnis gloriæ, et ad ignominiam deduceret universos inclytos terræ.

He, the Lord of hosts, designed it; who else drags in the mire the boaster’s pride, brings all the great men of the earth into derision?

Pass thy land as a river, O daughter of the sea, thou hast a girdle no more.

Transi terram tuam quasi flumen, filia maris! non est cingulum ultra tibi.

Daughter of ocean, henceforward thy land must be watered with streams; the girdle of strength thou hadst is thine no more.

He stretched out his hand over the sea, he troubled kingdoms: the Lord hath given a charge against Chanaan, to destroy the strong ones thereof.

Manum suam extendit super mare; conturbavit regna. Dominus mandavit adversus Chanaan, ut contereret fortes ejus;

The Lord’s hand, now, is stretched out over the sea itself, throwing all the kingdoms into dismay; his writ has gone out against Chanaan, that all its strongholds should be brought to nothing.

And he said: Thou shalt glory no more, O virgin daughter of Sidon, who art oppressed: arise and sail over to Cethim, there also thou shalt have no rest.

et dixit: Non adjicies ultra ut glorieris, calumniam sustinens virgo filia Sidonis: in Cethim consurgens transfreta: ibi quoque non erit requies tibi.

Sidon, poor queen (he says), boast no more of thy virginity; thy name is tarnished now. Cross the sea, and betake thyself to Cyprus if thou wilt; even there thou shalt find no rest.

Behold the land of the Chaldeans, there was not such a people, the Assyrian founded it: they have led away the strong ones thereof into captivity, they have destroyed the houses thereof, they have brought it to ruin.

Ecce terra Chaldæorum, talis populus non fuit: Assur fundavit eam; in captivitatem traduxerunt robustos ejus, suffoderunt domos ejus, posuerunt eam in ruinam.

Her resting-place is the land of the Chaldeans, where Assur has founded a nation strong as no nation ever was; nation that has carried off her warriors into captivity, undermined her palaces, made her into a heap of ruins.

Howl, O ye ships of the sea, for your strength is laid waste.

Ululate, naves maris, quia devastata est fortitudo vestra.

Mourn aloud, ocean-going ships; your stronghold is laid waste.

And it shall come to pass in that day that thou, O Tyre, shalt be forgotten, seventy years, according to the days of one king: but after seventy years, there shall be unto Tyre as the song of a harlot.

Et erit in die illa: in oblivione eris, o Tyre! septuaginta annis, sicut dies regis unius; post septuaginta autem annos erit Tyro quasi canticum meretricis:

After this thou wilt be forgotten, thou city of Tyre, for seventy years, long as the life-time of one of thy kings. At the end of those seventy years, Tyre will know the meaning of the harlot’s song,

Take a harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten: sing well, sing many a song, that thou mayst be remembered.

Sume citharam, circui civitatem, meretrix oblivioni tradita: bene cane, frequenta canticum, ut memoria tui sit.

Take thy harp and go round the streets, poor harlot forgotten; now for thy best notes, now for thy whole store of music, to bring thee back into remembrance!

And it shall come to pass after seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and will bring her back again to her traffic: and she shall commit fornication again with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

Et erit post septuaginta annos: visitabit Dominus Tyrum, et reducet eam ad mercedes suas, et rursum fornicabitur cum universis regnis terræ super faciem terræ;

At the end of those seventy years, the Lord will relent towards Tyre, and send her back to her trafficking; all the world over, with all the world’s kingdoms, she shall play the harlot once more.

And her merchandise and her hire shall be sanctified to the Lord: they shall not be kept in store, nor laid up: for her merchandise shall be for them that shall dwell before the Lord, that they may eat unto fulness, and be clothed for a continuance.

et erunt negotiationes ejus et mercedes ejus sanctificatæ Domino: non condentur neque reponentur, quia his qui habitaverint coram Domino erit negotiatio ejus, ut manducent in saturitatem, et vestiantur usque ad vetustatem.

But now the revenues of her trafficking shall be devoted to the Lord’s use, not hoarded up and laid by; revenue she shall earn, but for Sion’s folk, the Lord’s servants, to give them food in abundance, and brave clothes to wear.