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: CEV
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
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.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers