Isaiah 23
23
The City of Tyre Will Be Punished
1 #
Ez 26.1—28.19; Jl 3.4-8; Am 1.9,10; Zec 9.1-4; Mt 11.21,22; Lk 10.13,14. This is a message from distant islands about the city of Tyre:#23.1 Tyre: A fortress city built on an island in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of what is now Lebanon.
Cry, you seagoing ships!#23.1 seagoing ships: See the note at 2.16.
Tyre and its houses
lie in ruins.#23.1 Tyre … ruins: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
2Mourn in silence,
you shop owners of Sidon,#23.2 Sidon: A coastal city just north of Tyre.
you people on the coast.
Your sailors crossed oceans,
making your city rich.
3Your merchants sailed the seas,
making you wealthy by trading
with nation after nation.
They brought back grain
that grew along the Nile.#23.3 along the Nile: The Hebrew text has “grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile,” but Shihor is probably a name for a region near the lower part of the Nile.
4Sidon, you are a mighty fortress
built along the sea.
But you will be disgraced
like a married woman
who never had children.#23.4 children: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
5When Egypt hears about Tyre,
it will tremble.
6All of you along the coast
had better cry and sail
far across the ocean.#23.6 far across the ocean: The Hebrew text has “to Tarshish,” probably meaning a long distance.
7Can this be the happy city
that has stood for centuries?
Its people have spread
to distant lands;
8its merchants were kings
honored all over the world.
Who planned to destroy Tyre?
9The Lord All-Powerful planned it
to bring shame and disgrace
to those who are honored
by everyone on earth.
10People of Tyre,#23.10 People of Tyre: The Hebrew text has “the people of Tarshish,” which stands for the colonies of Tyre.
your harbor is destroyed!
You will have to become farmers
just like the Egyptians.#23.10 Egyptians: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 10.
Tyre Will Be Forgotten
11The Lord's hand has reached
across the sea,
upsetting the nations.
He has given a command
to destroy fortresses
in the land of Canaan.
12The Lord has said
to the people of Sidon,
“Your celebrating is over—
you are crushed.
Even if you escape to Cyprus,
you won't find peace.”
13Look what the Assyrians have done to Babylonia! They have attacked, destroying every palace in the land. Now wild animals live among the ruins.#23.13 ruins: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 13. 14Not a fortress will be left standing, so tell all the seagoing ships#23.14 seagoing ships: See the note at 2.16. to mourn.
15The city of Tyre will be forgotten for 70 years, which is the lifetime of a king. Then Tyre will be like that evil woman in the song:
16You're gone and forgotten,
you evil woman!
So strut through the town,
singing and playing
your favorite tune
to be remembered again.
17At the end of those 70 years, the Lord will let Tyre get back into business. The city will be like a woman who sells her body to everyone of every nation on earth, 18but none of what is earned will be kept in the city. That money will belong to the Lord, and it will be used to buy more than enough food and good clothes for those who worship the Lord.
Currently Selected:
Isaiah 23: CEVDCI
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 23
23
1 #
Ezek 26.1—28.19; Joel 3.4-8; Amos 1.9-10; Zech 9.3-4. The oracle concerning Tyre.
Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
for Tyre is laid waste, without house or haven!
From the land of Cyprus
it is revealed to them.
2Be still, O inhabitants of the coast,
O merchants of Sidon;
your messengers passed over the sea#23.2 One ancient Ms: Heb who passed over the sea, they replenished you
3and were on many waters;
your revenue was the grain of Shihor,
the harvest of the Nile;
you were the merchant of the nations.
4Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken,
the stronghold of the sea, saying:
“I have neither travailed nor given birth,
I have neither reared young men
nor brought up virgins.”
5When the report comes to Egypt,
they will be in anguish over the report about Tyre.
6Pass over to Tarshish,
wail, O inhabitants of the coast!
7Is this your exultant city
whose origin is from days of old,
whose feet carried her
to settle afar?
8Who has purposed this
against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants were princes,
whose traders were the honored of the earth?
9The Lord of hosts has purposed it,
to defile the pride of all glory,
to dishonor all the honored of the earth.
10Overflow your land like the Nile,
O daughter of Tarshish;
there is no restraint any more.
11He has stretched out his hand over the sea,
he has shaken the kingdoms;
the Lord has given command concerning Canaan
to destroy its strongholds.
12And he said:
“You will no more exult,
O oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon;
arise, pass over to Cyprus,
even there you will have no rest.”
13Behold the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people; it was not Assyria. They destined Tyre for wild beasts. They erected their siege towers, they razed her palaces, they made her a ruin.#23.13 The Hebrew of this verse is obscure
14Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
for your stronghold is laid waste.
15In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot:
16“Take a harp,
go about the city,
O forgotten harlot!
Make sweet melody,
sing many songs,
that you may be remembered.”
17 #
Rev 17.2. At the end of seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her hire, and will play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. 18Her merchandise and her hire will be dedicated to the Lord; it will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the Lord.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America