Psalm 71

English Standard Version

Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent

71 ^(A)In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame!
²In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
    incline your ear to me, and save me!
³Be to me a rock of ^(B)refuge,
    to which I may continually come;
you have ^(C)given the command to save me,
    for you are my ^(D)rock and my fortress.

⁴^(E)Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
    from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
⁵For you, O Lord, are my ^(F)hope,
    my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
⁶Upon you I have leaned ^(G)from before my birth;
    you are he who ^(H)took me from my mother's womb.
My praise is continually of you.

⁷I have been as ^(I)a portent to many,
    but you are my strong refuge.
⁸My ^(J)mouth is filled with your praise,
    and with your glory all the day.
⁹^(K)Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
    forsake me not when my strength is spent.
¹⁰For my enemies speak concerning me;
    those who ^(L)watch for my life ^(M)consult together
¹¹and say, “God has forsaken him;
    pursue and seize him,
    for there is none to deliver him.”

¹²O God, be not ^(N)far from me;
    O my God, ^(O)make haste to help me!
¹³May my accusers be ^(P)put to shame and consumed;
    ^(Q)with scorn and disgrace may they be covered
    who ^(R)seek my hurt.
¹⁴But I will ^(S)hope continually
    and will ^(T)praise you yet more and more.
¹⁵My ^(U)mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
    of your deeds of salvation all the day,
    for ^(V)their number is past my knowledge.
¹⁶With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;
    I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

¹⁷O God, from my youth you have taught me,
    and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
¹⁸So even to ^(W)old age and gray hairs,
    O God, ^(X)do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
    your power to all those to come.
¹⁹Your ^(Y)righteousness, O God,
    reaches the high heavens.
You who have done ^(Z)great things,
    O God, ^(AA)who is like you?
²⁰You who have ^(AB)made me see many troubles and calamities
    will ^(AC)revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
    you will bring me up again.
²¹You will increase my greatness
    and comfort me again.

²²I will also praise you with ^(AD)the harp
    for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
    O ^(AE)Holy One of Israel.
²³My lips will shout for joy,
    when I sing praises to you;
    my soul also, which you have ^(AF)redeemed.
²⁴And my ^(AG)tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,
for they have been ^(AH)put to shame and disappointed
    who sought to do me hurt.

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.
²Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;
    the merchants of ^(F)Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.
³And on many waters
your revenue was the grain of Shihor,
    the harvest of the Nile;
    you were ^(G)the merchant of the nations.
⁴Be 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.”
⁵When 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!
⁷Is this your exultant city
    ^(J)whose origin is from days of old,
whose feet carried her
    to settle far away?
⁸Who has purposed this
    against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants were princes,
    whose traders were the honored of the earth?
⁹The Lord of hosts has purposed it,
    ^(K)to defile the pompous pride of all glory,^[c]
    to dishonor all the honored of the earth.
¹⁰Cross 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.
¹²And 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.”

¹³Behold 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.

¹⁵In 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.”

¹⁷At 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. ¹⁸Her 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

Revelation 18

English Standard Version

The Fall of Babylon

18 After this I saw ^(A)another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and ^(B)the earth was made bright with his glory. ²And he called out with a mighty voice,

^(C)“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
    She has become ^(D)a dwelling place for demons,
a haunt ^(E)for every unclean spirit,
    a haunt ^(F)for every unclean bird,
    a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
³For all nations have drunk^[a]
    ^(G)the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and ^(H)the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
    and ^(I)the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

⁴Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

^(J)“Come out of her, my people,
    lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
⁵for ^(K)her sins are heaped high as heaven,
    and ^(L)God has remembered her iniquities.
⁶^(M)Pay her back as she herself has paid back others,
    and repay her ^(N)double for her deeds;
    mix a double portion for her ^(O)in the cup she mixed.
⁷^(P)As she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
    so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,
since in her heart she says,
    ^(Q)‘I sit as a queen,
I am no widow,
    and mourning I shall never see.’
⁸For this reason her plagues will come ^(R)in a single day,
    death and mourning and famine,
and ^(S)she will be burned up with fire;
    for ^(T)mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

⁹And ^(U)the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, ^(V)will weep and wail over her ^(W)when they see the smoke of her burning. ¹⁰^(X)They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

“Alas! Alas! ^(Y)You great city,
you mighty city, Babylon!
For ^(Z)in a single hour your judgment has come.”

¹¹And ^(AA)the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, ¹²cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, ¹³cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.^[b]

¹⁴“The fruit for which your soul longed
    has gone from you,
and all your delicacies and your splendors
    are lost to you,
    never to be found again!”

¹⁵^(AB)The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, ^(AC)will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

¹⁶“Alas, alas, for the great city
    ^(AD)that was clothed in fine linen,
        in purple and scarlet,
    adorned with gold,
        with jewels, and with pearls!
¹⁷For ^(AE)in a single hour all this wealth ^(AF)has been laid waste.”

And ^(AG)all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off ¹⁸and ^(AH)cried out ^(AI)as they saw the smoke of her burning,

^(AJ)“What city was like the great city?”

¹⁹And they threw ^(AK)dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,

“Alas, alas, for the great city
    ^(AL)where all who had ships at sea
    grew rich by her wealth!
For ^(AM)in a single hour she has been laid waste.
²⁰^(AN)Rejoice over her, O heaven,
    and you saints and ^(AO)apostles and prophets,
for ^(AP)God has given judgment for you against her!”

²¹Then ^(AQ)a mighty angel ^(AR)took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,

“So will Babylon ^(AS)the great city be thrown down with violence,
    and will be found no more;
²²and ^(AT)the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,
    will be heard in you no more,
and a craftsman of any craft
    will be found in you no more,
and ^(AU)the sound of the mill
    will be heard in you no more,
²³and the light of a lamp
    will shine in you no more,
and ^(AV)the voice of bridegroom and bride
    will be heard in you no more,
for ^(AW)your merchants were the great ones of the earth,
    and all nations were deceived ^(AX)by your sorcery.
²⁴And ^(AY)in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
    and of ^(AZ)all who have been slain on earth.”