Isaiah 23
23
An Oracle against Tyre
1An oracle # Is 13:1 against 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. # 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 # DSS; MT reads Sidon, whom the seafarers have filled
3on many waters.
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 settle 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 Hosts planned it,
to desecrate all its glorious beauty,
to disgrace all the honored ones of the earth.
10Overflow # DSS, LXX read Work your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish;
there is no longer anything to restrain you. # 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 rejoice 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 70 years — the life span of one king. At the end of 70 years, what the song says about the prostitute will happen to Tyre:
16Pick up your lyre,
stroll through the city,
prostitute forgotten by men.
Play skillfully,
sing many a song,
and you will be thought of again.
17And at the end of the 70 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 on the face of 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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© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
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.
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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.