Isaiah 23
Modern English Version
An Oracle Concerning Tyre
23 The oracle of Tyre.
Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
for Tyre is laid waste
so that there is no house or harbor;
from the land of Cyprus
it is reported to them.
2 Be still, you inhabitants of the coastland,
you merchants of Sidon;
your messengers passed over the sea,
3 and were on many waters;
the grain of the Nile,
the harvest of the River[a] was her revenue;
and she was the market of nations.
4 Be ashamed, O Sidon; for the sea has spoken,
even the stronghold of the sea, saying,
“I have not travailed nor brought forth children;
neither have I brought up young men nor raised virgins.”
5 When the report reaches Egypt,
they shall be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.
6 Pass over to Tarshish;
wail, O inhabitants of the coastland.
7 Is this your joyous city,
whose origin is from ancient days,
whose feet used to carry her
to sojourn in distant locations?
8 Who has planned this against Tyre,
the crowning city,
whose merchants are princes,
whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth?
9 The Lord of Hosts has purposed it,
to stain the pride of all glory
and to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.
10 Pass through your land as the Nile,
O daughter of Tarshish;
there is no more restraint.
11 He stretched out His hand over the sea,
He shook the kingdoms;
the Lord has given a command against the merchant city,
to destroy its strongholds.
12 He said: You shall rejoice no more,
O oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon.
Arise, pass over to Cyprus;
there also you shall have no rest.
13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans;
this was a people who was not;
Assyria founded it
for those who dwell in the wilderness.
They set up their siege towers,
they stripped its palaces,
and brought it to ruin.
14 Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
for your stronghold is laid waste.
15 In that day Tyre shall be forgotten for seventy years, according to the days of one king. After the end of seventy years Tyre shall sing as a harlot:
16 Take your harp, go about the city,
O forgotten harlot;
make sweet melody, sing many songs,
that you may be remembered.
17 At the end of seventy years, the Lord will punish Tyre. Then she shall turn to her harlot’s wages and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18 Her merchandise and her harlot’s wages shall be set apart to the Lord. It shall not be treasured nor stored up, for her merchandise shall be for those who dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for choice clothing.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 23:3 Nile River.
Isaiah 23
American Standard Version
23 The [a]burden of Tyre.
Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Kittim it is revealed to them. 2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the coast, thou whom the merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. 3 And on great waters the seed of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue; and she was the mart of nations. 4 Be thou ashamed, O Sidon; for the sea hath spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, I have not travailed, nor brought forth, neither have I nourished young men, nor brought up virgins. 5 [b]When the report cometh to Egypt, they shall be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. 6 Pass ye over to Tarshish; wail, ye inhabitants of the coast. 7 Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is [c]of ancient days, whose feet carried her afar off to sojourn?
8 Who hath purposed this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth? 9 Jehovah of hosts hath purposed it, to [d]stain the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. 10 [e]Pass through thy land as the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no [f]restraint any more. 11 He hath stretched out his hand over the sea, he hath shaken the kingdoms: Jehovah hath given commandment concerning [g]Canaan, to destroy the strongholds thereof. 12 And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon: arise, pass over to Kittim; even there shalt thou have no rest.
13 Behold, the land of the Chaldeans: [h]this people was not; the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness; they set up [i]their towers; they [j]overthrew the palaces thereof; they made it a ruin. 14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for your stronghold is laid waste. 15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years [k]it shall be unto Tyre as in the song of the harlot. 16 Take a harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. 17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her hire, and shall play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. 18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to Jehovah: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before Jehovah, to eat sufficiently, and for [l]durable clothing.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 23:1 Or, oracle concerning
- Isaiah 23:5 Or, As at the report concerning Egypt, so etc.
- Isaiah 23:7 Or, of ancient days? her own feet shall carry etc.
- Isaiah 23:9 Hebrew profane.
- Isaiah 23:10 Or, Overflow
- Isaiah 23:10 Hebrew girdle.
- Isaiah 23:11 Or, the merchant people
- Isaiah 23:13 Or, This people is no more; the Assyrian hath appointed it for the beasts of the wilderness
- Isaiah 23:13 Or, the towers thereof
- Isaiah 23:13 Or, raised up
- Isaiah 23:15 Or, shall Tyre sing as a harlot
- Isaiah 23:18 Or, stately
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
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