Isaiah 23
23
A Message about Tyre
1This message came to me concerning Tyre:
Wail, you trading ships of Tarshish,
for the harbor and houses of Tyre are gone!
The rumors you heard in Cyprus#23:1 Hebrew Kittim; also in 23:12.
are all true.
2Mourn in silence, you people of the coast
and you merchants of Sidon.
Your traders crossed the sea,#23:2 As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text reads Those who have gone over the sea have filled you.
3sailing over deep waters.
They brought you grain from Egypt#23:3 Hebrew from Shihor, a branch of the Nile River.
and harvests from along the Nile.
You were the marketplace of the world.
4But now you are put to shame, city of Sidon,
for Tyre, the fortress of the sea, says,#23:4 Or for the god of the sea says; Hebrew reads for the sea, the fortress of the sea, says.
“Now I am childless;
I have no sons or daughters.”
5When Egypt hears the news about Tyre,
there will be great sorrow.
6Send word now to Tarshish!
Wail, you people who live in distant lands!
7Is this silent ruin all that is left of your once joyous city?
What a long history was yours!
Think of all the colonists you sent to distant places.
8Who has brought this disaster on Tyre,
that great creator of kingdoms?
Her traders were all princes,
her merchants were nobles.
9The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has done it
to destroy your pride
and bring low all earth’s nobility.
10Come, people of Tarshish,
sweep over the land like the flooding Nile,
for Tyre is defenseless.#23:10 The meaning of the Hebrew in this verse is uncertain.
11The Lord held out his hand over the sea
and shook the kingdoms of the earth.
He has spoken out against Phoenicia,#23:11 Hebrew Canaan.
ordering that her fortresses be destroyed.
12He says, “Never again will you rejoice,
O daughter of Sidon, for you have been crushed.
Even if you flee to Cyprus,
you will find no rest.”
13Look at the land of Babylonia#23:13 Or Chaldea.—
the people of that land are gone!
The Assyrians have handed Babylon over
to the wild animals of the desert.
They have built siege ramps against its walls,
torn down its palaces,
and turned it to a heap of rubble.
14Wail, you ships of Tarshish,
for your harbor is destroyed!
15For seventy years, the length of a king’s life, Tyre will be forgotten. But then the city will come back to life as in the song about the prostitute:
16Take a harp and walk the streets,
you forgotten harlot.
Make sweet melody and sing your songs
so you will be remembered again.
17Yes, after seventy years the Lord will revive Tyre. But she will be no different than she was before. She will again be a prostitute to all kingdoms around the world. 18But in the end her profits will be given to the Lord. Her wealth will not be hoarded but will provide good food and fine clothing for the Lord’s priests.
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Isaiah 23: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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Isaiah 23
23
XXIII
1THE ORACLE CONCERNING TYRE.
Howl, ye ships of Tarshish,
For she is laid waste; so that there is no house, no entering in:
From the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.
2Be silent, ye inhabitants of the sea-coast:
Thou whom the merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, crowded.
3And upon the mighty waters the seed of Sihor,
The harvest of the river, was her revenue;
And she was the mart of nations.
4Be thou ashamed, O Zidon; for the sea hath spoken.
Even the fortress of the sea, saying:
I have travailed not, nor brought forth children;
Neither have I nourished youths, nor reared up virgins.
5When the tidings shall reach Egypt,
They shall be seized with anguish at the tidings of Tyre.
6Pass ye over to Tarshish;
Howl, ye inhabitants of the sea-coast!
7Is this your joyous city;
Whose antiquity is of ancient days?
Her own feet bear her far away to sojourn.
8Who hath purposed this against Tyre, the dispenser of crowns;
Whose merchants are princes,
Her traders the honourable of the earth!
9 Jehovah of hosts hath purposed it,
To defile the pride of all beauty;
To bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth,
10Pass through thy land, like the river, O daughter of Tarshish!
There is now no defence left
11He hath stretched his hand over the sea,
He hath caused the kingdoms to tremble:
Jehovah hath issued a command concerning Canaan,
To destroy her strong holds.
12And he hath said: Thou shalt no more rejoice,
O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon:
Arise, pass over to Chittim; even there thou shalt have no rest.
13Behold the land of the Chaldeans!
This people was not,
Till the Assyrian founded it for the inhabitants of the desert.
They have raised their watch-towers,
They have demolished the palaces thereof;
Reduced her to a ruin.
14Howl, ye ships of Tarshish:
For your strong hold is destroyed.
15And it shall come to pass in that day,
That Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years,
According to the days of one king:
At the end of seventy years,
There shall be unto Tyre as it were the song of an harlot.
16Take an harp, go about the city,
Thou harlot that hast been forgotten;
Touch skilfully the strings, sing many songs, that thou mayest again be remembered.
17And it shall come to pass at the end of seventy years, That Jehovah will visit Tyre,
And she shall return to her hire;
And she shall play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world,
That are upon the face of the earth.
18But her merchandise and her hire shall be holy to Jehovah:
It shall not be treasured up, nor shall it be kept in store;
For her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before Jehovah,
To eat sufficiently; and for beautiful clothing.
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.