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.
Currently Selected:
Isaiah 23: ICB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Isaiah 23
23
A Message about Phoenicia
1 #
Ezek 26.1—28.19; Joel 3.4–8; Amos 1.9–10; Zech 9.1–4; Mt 11.21–22; Lk 10.13–14 This is a message about Tyre.
Howl with grief, you sailors out on the ocean! Your home port of Tyre has been destroyed; its houses and its harbour are in ruins. As your ships return from Cyprus, you learn the news. 2Wail, you merchants of Sidon! You sent men 3across the sea to buy and sell the corn that grew in Egypt and to do business with all the nations.
4City of Sidon, you are disgraced! The sea and the great ocean depths disown you and say, “I never had any children. I never brought up sons or daughters.”
5Even the Egyptians will be shocked and dismayed when they learn that Tyre has been destroyed.
6Howl with grief, you people of Phoenicia! Try to escape to Spain! 7Can this be the joyful city of Tyre, founded so long ago? Is this the city that sent settlers across the sea to establish colonies? 8Who was it that planned to bring all this on Tyre, that imperial city, whose merchant princes were the most honoured men on earth? 9The LORD Almighty planned it. He planned it in order to put an end to their pride in what they had done and to humiliate their honoured ones.
10Go and farm the land, you people in the colonies in Spain! There is no one to protect you any more.#23.10 Verse 10 in Hebrew is unclear. 11The LORD has stretched out his hand over the sea and overthrown kingdoms. He has ordered the Phoenician centres of commerce to be destroyed. 12City of Sidon, your happiness has ended, and your people are oppressed. Even if they escape to Cyprus, they will still not be safe.
13(It was the Babylonians, not the Assyrians, who let the wild animals overrun Tyre. It was the Babylonians who put up siege towers, tore down the fortifications of Tyre, and left the city in ruins.#23.13 Verse 13 in Hebrew is unclear.)
14Howl with grief, you sailors out on the ocean! The city you relied on has been destroyed.
15A time is coming when Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the lifetime of a king. When those years are over, Tyre will be like the prostitute in the song:
16Take your harp, go round the town,
you poor forgotten whore!
Play and sing your songs again
to bring men back once more.
17When the seventy years are over, the LORD will let Tyre go back to her old trade, and she will hire herself out to all the kingdoms of the world. 18The money she earns by commerce will be dedicated to the LORD. She will not store it away, but those who worship the LORD will use her money to buy the food and the clothing they need.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.