Isaiah 23–25

A Prophecy Against Tyre

23A prophecy against Tyre:^s

Wail,^t you ships^u of Tarshish!^v

For Tyre is destroyed^w

and left without house or harbor.

From the land of Cyprus

word has come to them.

²Be silent,^x you people of the island

and you merchants^y of Sidon,^z

whom the seafarers have enriched.

³On the great waters

came the grain of the Shihor;^a

the harvest of the Nile^ab was the revenue of Tyre,^c

and she became the marketplace of the nations.

⁴Be ashamed, Sidon,^d and you fortress of the sea,

for the sea has spoken:

“I have neither been in labor nor given birth;^e

I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.”

⁵When word comes to Egypt,

they will be in anguish^f at the report from Tyre.^g

⁶Cross over to Tarshish;^h

wail, you people of the island.

⁷Is this your city of revelry,ⁱ

the old, old city,

whose feet have taken her

to settle in far-off lands?

⁸Who planned this against Tyre,

the bestower of crowns,

whose merchants^j are princes,

whose traders^k are renowned in the earth?

⁹The Lord Almighty planned^l it,

to bring down^m her pride in all her splendor

and to humbleⁿ all who are renowned^o on the earth.

¹⁰Till^b your land as they do along the Nile,

Daughter Tarshish,

for you no longer have a harbor.

¹¹The Lord has stretched out his hand^p over the sea

and made its kingdoms tremble.^q

He has given an order concerning Phoenicia

that her fortresses be destroyed.^r

¹²He said, “No more of your reveling,^s

Virgin Daughter^t Sidon, now crushed!

“Up, cross over to Cyprus;^u

even there you will find no rest.”

¹³Look at the land of the Babylonians,^cv

this people that is now of no account!

The Assyrians^w have made it

a place for desert creatures;^x

they raised up their siege towers,^y

they stripped its fortresses bare

and turned it into a ruin.^z

¹⁴Wail, you ships^a of Tarshish;^b

your fortress is destroyed!^c

¹⁵At that time Tyre^d will be forgotten for seventy years,^e the span of a king’s life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

¹⁶“Take up a harp, walk through the city,

you forgotten prostitute;^f

play the harp well, sing many a song,

so that you will be remembered.”

¹⁷At the end of seventy years,^g the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution^h and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.^{i 18}Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord;^j they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord,^k for abundant food and fine clothes.^l

The Lord’s Devastation of the Earth

24See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth^m

and devastateⁿ it;

he will ruin its face

and scatter^o its inhabitants—

²it will be the same

for priest as for people,^p

for the master as for his servant,

for the mistress as for her servant,

for seller as for buyer,^q

for borrower as for lender,

for debtor as for creditor.^r

³The earth will be completely laid waste^s

and totally plundered.^t

The Lord has spoken^u this word.

⁴The earth dries up^v and withers,^w

the world languishes and withers,

the heavens^x languish with the earth.^y

⁵The earth is defiled^z by its people;

they have disobeyed^a the laws,

violated the statutes

and broken the everlasting covenant.^b

⁶Therefore a curse^c consumes the earth;

its people must bear their guilt.

Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up,^d

and very few are left.

⁷The new wine dries up^e and the vine withers;^f

all the merrymakers groan.^g

⁸The joyful timbrels^h are stilled,

the noiseⁱ of the revelers^j has stopped,

the joyful harp^k is silent.^l

⁹No longer do they drink wine^m with a song;

the beer is bitterⁿ to its drinkers.

¹⁰The ruined city^o lies desolate;^p

the entrance to every house is barred.

¹¹In the streets they cry out^q for wine;^r

all joy turns to gloom,^s

all joyful sounds are banished from the earth.

¹²The city is left in ruins,^t

its gate^u is battered to pieces.

¹³So will it be on the earth

and among the nations,

as when an olive tree is beaten,^v

or as when gleanings are left after the grape harvest.^w

¹⁴They raise their voices, they shout for joy;^x

from the west^y they acclaim the Lord’s majesty.

¹⁵Therefore in the east^z give glory^a to the Lord;

exalt^b the name^c of the Lord, the God of Israel,

in the islands^d of the sea.

¹⁶From the ends of the earth^e we hear singing:^f

“Glory^g to the Righteous One.”^h

But I said, “I waste away, I waste away!ⁱ

Woe^j to me!

The treacherous^k betray!

With treachery the treacherous betray!^l”

¹⁷Terror^m and pit and snareⁿ await you,

people of the earth.^o

¹⁸Whoever flees^p at the sound of terror

will fall into a pit;^q

whoever climbs out of the pit

will be caught in a snare.^r

The floodgates of the heavens^s are opened,

the foundations of the earth shake.^t

¹⁹The earth is broken up,^u

the earth is split asunder,^v

the earth is violently shaken.

²⁰The earth reels like a drunkard,^w

it sways like a hut^x in the wind;

so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion^y

that it falls^z—never to rise again.^a

²¹In that day^b the Lord will punish^c

the powers^d in the heavens above

and the kings^e on the earth below.

²²They will be herded together

like prisoners^f bound in a dungeon;^g

they will be shut up in prison

and be punished^a after many days.^h

²³The moon will be dismayed,

the sunⁱ ashamed;

for the Lord Almighty will reign^j

on Mount Zion^k and in Jerusalem,

and before its elders—with great glory.^l

Praise to the Lord

25Lord, you are my God;^m

I will exalt you and praise your name,ⁿ

for in perfect faithfulness^o

you have done wonderful things,^p

things planned^q long ago.

²You have made the city a heap of rubble,^r

the fortified^s town a ruin,^t

the foreigners’ stronghold^u a city no more;

it will never be rebuilt.^v

³Therefore strong peoples will honor you;^w

cities of ruthless^x nations will revere you.

⁴You have been a refuge^y for the poor,^z

a refuge for the needy^a in their distress,

a shelter from the storm^b

and a shade from the heat.

For the breath of the ruthless^c

is like a storm driving against a wall

⁵and like the heat of the desert.

You silence^d the uproar of foreigners;^e

as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud,

so the song of the ruthless^f is stilled.

⁶On this mountain^g the Lord Almighty will prepare

a feast^h of rich food for all peoples,

a banquet of aged wine—

the best of meats and the finest of wines.ⁱ

⁷On this mountain he will destroy

the shroud^j that enfolds all peoples,^k

the sheet that covers all nations;

⁸he will swallow up death^l forever.

The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears^m

from all faces;

he will remove his people’s disgraceⁿ

from all the earth.

The Lord has spoken.^o

⁹In that day^p they will say,

“Surely this is our God;^q

we trusted^r in him, and he saved^s us.

This is the Lord, we trusted in him;

let us rejoice^t and be glad in his salvation.”^u

¹⁰The hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain;^v

but Moab^w will be trampled in their land

as straw is trampled down in the manure.

¹¹They will stretch out their hands in it,

as swimmers stretch out their hands to swim.

God will bring down^x their pride^y

despite the cleverness^a of their hands.

¹²He will bring down your high fortified walls^z

and lay them low;^a

he will bring them down to the ground,

to the very dust.