Isaiah 23
23
God’s Message to Lebanon
1The message about Tyre:
You ships of Tarshish, cry!
The houses and harbor of Tyre are destroyed.
This news came to the ships
from the land of Cyprus.
2Be silent, you who live on the island of Tyre.
You merchants of Sidon, be silent.
Seamen have made you rich.
3They traveled the sea to bring grain from Egypt.
The men of Tyre brought grain from the Nile Valley
and sold it to other nations.
4Sidon, be ashamed.
Strong city of the sea, be ashamed. The sea says:
“I have not felt the pain of giving birth.
I have not reared young men or women.”
5Egypt will hear the news about Tyre.
And it will make Egypt hurt with sorrow.
6You ships should return to Tarshish.
You people living near the sea should be sad.
7Look at your once happy city!
Look at your old, old city!
People from that city have traveled
far away to live.
8Who planned Tyre’s destruction?
Tyre made others rich.
Her merchants were treated like princes.
Her traders were greatly respected.
9It was the Lord of heaven’s armies who planned this!
He decided to make these proud men unimportant.
He decided to disgrace those who were greatly respected.
10Go through your land,
Tarshish, like the Nile goes through Egypt.
There is no harbor for you now!
11The Lord has stretched his hand over the sea.
He makes its kingdoms tremble.
He commands that Canaan’s
places of safety be destroyed.
12The Lord said, “Sidon, you will not rejoice any longer.
You are destroyed.
Even if you cross the sea to Cyprus,
you will not find a place to rest.”
13Look at the land of the Babylonians.
Babylonia is not a country now.
Assyria has made it a place for wild animals.
Assyria built towers to attack it.
The soldiers took all the treasures from its cities.
They turned it into ruins.
14So be sad, you trading ships.
Your place of safety is destroyed.
15At that time people will forget about Tyre for 70 years. That is the length of a king’s life. After 70 years, Tyre will be like the prostitute in this song:
16“Oh woman, you are forgotten.
Take your harp and walk through the city.
Play your harp well. Sing your song often.
Then people will remember you.”
17After 70 years the Lord will deal with Tyre. Tyre will again have trade. It will be like a prostitute for all the nations of the earth. 18The profits will be saved for the Lord. Tyre will not keep the money she earns. It will give them to the people who serve the Lord. So they will have plenty of food and nice clothes.
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Isaiah 23: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Isaiah 23
23
A Pronouncement against Tyre
1A pronouncement#Is 13:1 concerning Tyre:#Jos 19:29; 1Kg 5:1; Jr 25:22; 47:4; Ezk 26:1–27:36; Jl 3:4–8; Am 1:9; Zch 9:2–4
Wail, ships of Tarshish,#Gn 10:4; 1Kg 10:22
for your haven has been destroyed.
Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus.#23:1 Hb Kittim#Jr 2:10; Ezk 27:6; Ac 11:19
2Mourn, inhabitants of the coastland,
you merchants of Sidon;#Gn 10:15; Jos 19:28; Jr 25:22; 27:3; Ezk 27:8; 32:30; Jl 3:4; Zch 9:2
your agents have crossed the sea#23:2 DSS; MT reads Sidon, whom the seafarers have filled
3over deep water.
Tyre’s revenue was the grain from Shihor —
the harvest of the Nile.
She was the merchant among the nations.#Ezk 27:3–23
4Be ashamed, Sidon, the stronghold of the sea,
for the sea has spoken:
“I have not been in labor or given birth.
I have not raised young men
or brought up young women.”
5When the news reaches Egypt,
they will be in anguish over the news about Tyre.#Ac 21:7
6Cross over to Tarshish;
wail, inhabitants of the coastland!
7Is this your jubilant city,
whose origin was in ancient times,
whose feet have taken her
to reside far away?
8Who planned this against Tyre,
the bestower of crowns,
whose traders are princes,
whose merchants are the honored ones of the earth?
9The Lord of Armies planned it,
to desecrate all its glorious beauty,
to disgrace all the honored ones of the earth.
10Overflow#23:10 DSS, LXX read Work your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish;
there is no longer anything to restrain you.#23:10 Or longer any harbor
11He stretched out his hand over the sea;#Ex 14:21; Is 14:26
he made kingdoms tremble.
The Lord has commanded
that the Canaanite fortresses be destroyed.
12He said,
“You will not celebrate anymore,
ravished young woman, daughter of Sidon.
Get up and cross over to Cyprus#Is 23:1; Jr 2:10; Ezk 27:6; Ac 4:36; 11:19–20; 13:4; 15:39; 21:3,16; 27:4 —
even there you will have no rest!”
13Look at the land of the Chaldeans —
a people who no longer exist.
Assyria destined it for desert creatures.
They set up their siege towers
and stripped its palaces.
They made it a ruin.
14Wail, ships of Tarshish,
because your fortress is destroyed!
15On that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years — the life span of one king. At the end of seventy years, what the song says about the prostitute will happen to Tyre:
16Pick up your lyre,
stroll through the city,
you forgotten prostitute.
Play skillfully,
sing many a song
so that you will be remembered.
17And at the end of the seventy years,#Jr 25:11,22 the Lord will restore Tyre#Ac 21:7 and she will go back into business, prostituting herself with all the kingdoms of the world throughout the earth. 18But her profits and wages will be dedicated to the Lord. They will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live in the Lord’s presence, to provide them with ample food and sacred clothing.
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