Isaiah 23–25

An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon

23The ⁱoracle concerning ^jTyre.

Wail, O ^kships of Tarshish,

for Tyre is laid waste, ^lwithout house or harbor!

From ^mthe land of Cyprus¹

it is revealed to them.

²Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;

the merchants of ⁿSidon, 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 ^othe merchant of the nations.

⁴Be ashamed, O ⁿSidon, 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 anguish² over the report about Tyre.

^6pCross over to Tarshish;

wail, O inhabitants of the coast!

⁷Is this your exultant city

^qwhose 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,

^rto defile the pompous pride of all glory,³

to dishonor all the honored of the earth.

¹⁰Cross over your land like the Nile,

O daughter of Tarshish;

there is no restraint anymore.

^11sHe 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 ^tSidon;

arise, ^ucross over to ^vCyprus,

even there you will have no rest.”

¹³Behold the land of ^wthe Chaldeans! This is the people that was not;⁴ Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected ^xtheir siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin.

^14yWail, O ships of Tarshish,

for your stronghold is laid waste.

¹⁵In that day Tyre will be forgotten for ^zseventy years, like the days⁵ of one king. At the end of ^zseventy 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 ^aseventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and ^bwill 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.

Judgment on the Whole Earth

24Behold, ^cthe Lord will empty the earth¹ and make it desolate,

and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.

^2dAnd 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;

^eas with the buyer, so with the seller;

as with the lender, so with the borrower;

^fas with the creditor, so with the debtor.

^3gThe earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;

^hfor the Lord has spoken this word.

⁴ⁱThe earth mourns and withers;

the world languishes and withers;

the highest people of the earth languish.

⁵The earth lies ^jdefiled

under its inhabitants;

for ^kthey have transgressed the laws,

violated the statutes,

broken the everlasting covenant.

⁶Therefore ^la curse devours the earth,

and its inhabitants ^msuffer for their guilt;

therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,

and few men are left.

⁷ⁿThe wine mourns,

the vine languishes,

all the merry-hearted sigh.

^8oThe mirth of the tambourines is stilled,

the noise of the jubilant has ceased,

the mirth of the lyre is stilled.

⁹No more do they drink wine ^pwith singing;

strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

^10qThe wasted city is broken down;

^revery house is shut up so that none can enter.

^11sThere is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;

^tall joy has grown dark;

the gladness of the earth is banished.

¹²Desolation is left in the city;

the gates are battered into ruins.

¹³For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth

among the nations,

^uas when an olive tree is beaten,

as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.

¹⁴They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;

over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west.²

^15vTherefore in the east³ give glory to the Lord;

in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

^16wFrom the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,

of glory to ^xthe Righteous One.

But I say, “I waste away,

I waste away. Woe is me!

For ^ythe traitors have betrayed,

with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”

^17zTerror and the pit and the snare⁴

are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!

^18zHe 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 ^athe windows of heaven are opened,

and ^bthe foundations of the earth tremble.

¹⁹The earth is utterly broken,

the earth is split apart,

the earth is violently shaken.

²⁰The earth ^cstaggers like a drunken man;

it sways like a hut;

^dits transgression lies heavy upon it,

and it falls, and will not rise again.

²¹On that day the Lord will punish

the host of heaven, in heaven,

and ^ethe kings of the earth, on the earth.

^22fThey will be gathered together

as prisoners in a pit;

they will be shut up in a prison,

and after many days ^gthey will be punished.

^23hThen the moon will be confounded

and the sun ashamed,

for ⁱthe Lord of hosts reigns

on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,

and his glory will be before his elders.

God Will Swallow Up Death Forever

25O Lord, ^jyou are my God;

^kI will exalt you; I will praise your name,

for you have done wonderful things,

^lplans formed of old, faithful and sure.

²For you have made the city ^ma heap,

the fortified city a ruin;

the foreigners’ palace is a city no more;

it will never be rebuilt.

³ⁿTherefore strong peoples will glorify you;

cities of ruthless nations will fear you.

^4oFor you have been a stronghold to the poor,

a stronghold to the needy in his distress,

^pa shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;

^qfor the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,

^5rlike heat in a dry place.

You subdue the noise of the foreigners;

as heat by the shade of a cloud,

so the song of the ruthless is put down.

^6sOn this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples

a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,

^tof rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.

⁷And he will swallow up ^son this mountain

the covering that is cast over all peoples,

^uthe veil that is spread over all nations.

^8vHe will swallow up death forever;

and ^wthe Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,

and ^xthe reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,

^yfor the Lord has spoken.

⁹It will be said on that day,

“Behold, this is our God; ^zwe have waited for him, that he might save us.

This is the Lord; we have waited for him;

^alet us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

¹⁰For the hand of the Lord will rest ^son this mountain,

and ^bMoab shall be trampled down in his place,

as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.¹

^11cAnd he will spread out his hands in the midst of it

as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,

but the Lord ^dwill lay low his pompous pride together with the skill² of his hands.

¹²And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down,

lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.