Isaiah 22-23

Holman Christian Standard Bible

What’s the matter with you?
Why have all of you gone up to the rooftops?^(C)
2 The noisy city, the jubilant town,^(D)
is filled with revelry.
Your dead did not die by the sword;
they were not killed in battle.
³ All your rulers have fled together,
captured without a bow.
All your fugitives were captured together;
they had fled far away.
⁴ Therefore I said,
“Look away from me! Let me weep bitterly!^(E)
Do not try to comfort me
about the destruction of my dear^[a] people.”
⁵ For the Lord God of Hosts
had a day of tumult, trampling, and confusion^(F)
in the Valley of Vision—
people shouting^[b] and crying to the mountains;
⁶ Elam took up a quiver
with chariots and horsemen,^[c]
and Kir^(G) uncovered the shield.
⁷ Your best valleys were full of chariots,
and horsemen were positioned at the gates.
⁸ He removed the defenses of Judah.

¹² On that day the Lord God of Hosts
called for weeping,^(M) for wailing, for shaven heads,
and for the wearing of sackcloth.
¹³ But look: joy and gladness,
butchering of cattle, slaughtering of sheep,
eating of meat, and drinking of wine—
“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”^(N)
14 The Lord of Hosts has directly revealed to me:^(O)
“This sin of yours will never^[d] be wiped out.”^(P)
The Lord God of Hosts has spoken.

Wail, ships of Tarshish,^(Y)
for your haven has been destroyed.
Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus.^[f](Z)
2 Mourn, inhabitants of the coastland,
you merchants of Sidon;^(AA)
your agents have crossed the sea^[g]
3 on many waters.
Tyre’s revenue was the grain from Shihor—
the harvest of the Nile.
She was the merchant among the nations.^(AB)
4 Be 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.”
⁵ When the news reaches Egypt,
they will be in anguish over the news about Tyre.^(AC)
6 Cross over to Tarshish;
wail, inhabitants of the coastland!
⁷ Is this your jubilant city,
whose origin was in ancient times,
whose feet have taken her
to settle far away?
⁸ Who planned this against Tyre,
the bestower of crowns,
whose traders are princes,
whose merchants are the honored ones of the earth?
⁹ The Lord of Hosts planned it,
to desecrate all its glorious beauty,
to disgrace all the honored ones of the earth.
¹⁰ Overflow^[h] your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish;
there is no longer anything to restrain you.^[i]
11 He stretched out His hand over the sea;^(AD)
He made kingdoms tremble.
The Lord has commanded
that the Canaanite fortresses be destroyed.
¹² He said,
“You will not rejoice anymore,
ravished young woman, daughter of Sidon.
Get up and cross over to Cyprus^(AE)—
even there you will have no rest!”
¹³ Look 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.
¹⁴ Wail, ships of Tarshish,
because your fortress is destroyed!

¹⁶ Pick up your lyre,
stroll through the city,
prostitute forgotten by men.
Play skillfully,
sing many a song,
and you will be thought of again.