Isaiah 23
English Standard Version
An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon
23 The (A)oracle concerning (B)Tyre.
Wail, O (C)ships of Tarshish,
for Tyre is laid waste, (D)without house or harbor!
From (E)the land of Cyprus[a]
it is revealed to them.
2 Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;
the merchants of (F)Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.
3 And on many waters
your revenue was the grain of Shihor,
the harvest of the Nile;
you were (G)the merchant of the nations.
4 Be ashamed, O (H)Sidon, for the sea has spoken,
the stronghold of the sea, saying:
“I have neither labored nor given birth,
I have neither reared young men
nor brought up young women.”
5 When the report comes to Egypt,
they will be in anguish[b] over the report about Tyre.
6 (I)Cross over to Tarshish;
wail, O inhabitants of the coast!
7 Is this your exultant city
(J)whose origin is from days of old,
whose feet carried her
to settle far away?
8 Who has purposed this
against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants were princes,
whose traders were the honored of the earth?
9 The Lord of hosts has purposed it,
(K)to defile the pompous pride of all glory,[c]
to dishonor all the honored of the earth.
10 Cross over your land like the Nile,
O daughter of Tarshish;
there is no restraint anymore.
11 (L)He has stretched out his hand over the sea;
he has shaken the kingdoms;
the Lord has given command concerning Canaan
to destroy its strongholds.
12 And he said:
“You will no more exult,
O oppressed virgin daughter of (M)Sidon;
arise, (N)cross over to (O)Cyprus,
even there you will have no rest.”
13 Behold the land of (P)the Chaldeans! This is the people that was not;[d] Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected (Q)their siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin.
14 (R)Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
for your stronghold is laid waste.
15 In that day Tyre will be forgotten for (S)seventy years, like the days[e] of one king. At the end of (T)seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:
16 “Take a harp;
go about the city,
O forgotten prostitute!
Make sweet melody;
sing many songs,
that you may be remembered.”
17 At the end of (U)seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and (V)will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18 Her merchandise and her wages will be holy 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.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 23:1 Hebrew Kittim; also verse 12
- Isaiah 23:5 Hebrew they will have labor pains
- Isaiah 23:9 The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike
- Isaiah 23:13 Or that has become nothing
- Isaiah 23:15 Or lifetime
Isaiah 24
English Standard Version
Judgment on the Whole Earth
24 Behold, (A)the Lord will empty the earth[a] and make it desolate,
and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
2 (B)And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;
as with the slave, so with his master;
as with the maid, so with her mistress;
(C)as with the buyer, so with the seller;
as with the lender, so with the borrower;
(D)as with the creditor, so with the debtor.
3 (E)The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;
(F)for the Lord has spoken this word.
4 (G)The earth mourns and withers;
the world languishes and withers;
the highest people of the earth languish.
5 The earth lies (H)defiled
under its inhabitants;
for (I)they have transgressed the laws,
violated the statutes,
broken the everlasting covenant.
6 Therefore (J)a curse devours the earth,
and its inhabitants (K)suffer for their guilt;
therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,
and few men are left.
7 (L)The wine mourns,
the vine languishes,
all the merry-hearted sigh.
8 (M)The mirth of the tambourines is stilled,
the noise of the jubilant has ceased,
the mirth of the lyre is stilled.
9 No more do they drink wine (N)with singing;
strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10 (O)The wasted city is broken down;
(P)every house is shut up so that none can enter.
11 (Q)There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;
(R)all joy has grown dark;
the gladness of the earth is banished.
12 Desolation is left in the city;
the gates are battered into ruins.
13 For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth
among the nations,
(S)as when an olive tree is beaten,
as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.
14 They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;
over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west.[b]
15 (T)Therefore in the east[c] give glory to the Lord;
in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
16 (U)From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,
of glory to (V)the Righteous One.
But I say, “I waste away,
I waste away. Woe is me!
For (W)the traitors have betrayed,
with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”
17 (X)Terror and the pit and the snare[d]
are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!
18 (Y)He who flees at the sound of the terror
shall fall into the pit,
and he who climbs out of the pit
shall be caught in the snare.
For (Z)the windows of heaven are opened,
and (AA)the foundations of the earth tremble.
19 The earth is utterly broken,
the earth is split apart,
the earth is violently shaken.
20 The earth (AB)staggers like a drunken man;
it sways like a hut;
(AC)its transgression lies heavy upon it,
and it falls, and will not rise again.
21 On that day the Lord will punish
the host of heaven, in heaven,
and (AD)the kings of the earth, on the earth.
22 (AE)They will be gathered together
as prisoners in a pit;
they will be shut up in a prison,
and after many days (AF)they will be punished.
23 (AG)Then the moon will be confounded
and the sun ashamed,
for (AH)the Lord of hosts reigns
on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and his glory will be before his elders.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 24:1 Or land; also throughout this chapter
- Isaiah 24:14 Hebrew from the sea
- Isaiah 24:15 Hebrew in the realm of light, or with the fires
- Isaiah 24:17 The Hebrew words for terror, pit, and snare sound alike
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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