Isaiah 23–25

Chapter 23

A Message about Tyre

This message came to me concerning Tyre:

Wail, you trading ships of Tarshish,

for the harbor and houses of Tyre are gone!

The rumors you heard in Cyprus

are all true.

²Mourn in silence, you people of the coast

and you merchants of Sidon.

Your traders crossed the sea,

³sailing over deep waters.

They brought you grain from Egypt

and harvests from along the Nile.

You were the marketplace of the world.

⁴But now you are put to shame, city of Sidon,

for Tyre, the fortress of the sea, says,

“Now I am childless;

I have no sons or daughters.”

⁵When Egypt hears the news about Tyre,

there will be great sorrow.

⁶Send word now to Tarshish!

Wail, you people who live in distant lands!

⁷Is this silent ruin all that is left of your once joyous city?

What a long history was yours!

Think of all the colonists you sent to distant places.

⁸Who has brought this disaster on Tyre,

that great creator of kingdoms?

Her traders were all princes,

her merchants were nobles.

⁹The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has done it

to destroy your pride

and bring low all earth’s nobility.

¹⁰Come, people of Tarshish,

sweep over the land like the flooding Nile,

for Tyre is defenseless.

¹¹The Lord held out his hand over the sea

and shook the kingdoms of the earth.

He has spoken out against Phoenicia,

ordering that her fortresses be destroyed.

¹²He says, “Never again will you rejoice,

O daughter of Sidon, for you have been crushed.

Even if you flee to Cyprus,

you will find no rest.”

¹³Look at the land of Babylonia—

the people of that land are gone!

The Assyrians have handed Babylon over

to the wild animals of the desert.

They have built siege ramps against its walls,

torn down its palaces,

and turned it to a heap of rubble.

¹⁴Wail, you ships of Tarshish,

for your harbor is destroyed!

¹⁵For seventy years, the length of a king’s life, Tyre will be forgotten. But then the city will come back to life as in the song about the prostitute:

¹⁶Take a harp and walk the streets,

you forgotten harlot.

Make sweet melody and sing your songs

so you will be remembered again.

¹⁷Yes, after seventy years the Lord will revive Tyre. But she will be no different than she was before. She will again be a prostitute to all kingdoms around the world. ¹⁸But in the end her profits will be given to the Lord. Her wealth will not be hoarded but will provide good food and fine clothing for the Lord’s priests.

Chapter 24

Destruction of the Earth

¹Look! The Lord is about to destroy the earth

and make it a vast wasteland.

He devastates the surface of the earth

and scatters the people.

²Priests and laypeople,

servants and masters,

maids and mistresses,

buyers and sellers,

lenders and borrowers,

bankers and debtors—none will be spared.

³The earth will be completely emptied and looted.

The Lord has spoken!

⁴The earth mourns and dries up,

and the land wastes away and withers.

Even the greatest people on earth waste away.

⁵The earth suffers for the sins of its people,

for they have twisted God’s instructions,

violated his laws,

and broken his everlasting covenant.

⁶Therefore, a curse consumes the earth.

Its people must pay the price for their sin.

They are destroyed by fire,

and only a few are left alive.

⁷The grapevines waste away,

and there is no new wine.

All the merrymakers sigh and mourn.

⁸The cheerful sound of tambourines is stilled;

the happy cries of celebration are heard no more.

The melodious chords of the harp are silent.

⁹Gone are the joys of wine and song;

alcoholic drink turns bitter in the mouth.

¹⁰The city writhes in chaos;

every home is locked to keep out intruders.

¹¹Mobs gather in the streets, crying out for wine.

Joy has turned to gloom.

Gladness has been banished from the land.

¹²The city is left in ruins,

its gates battered down.

¹³Throughout the earth the story is the same—

only a remnant is left,

like the stray olives left on the tree

or the few grapes left on the vine after harvest.

¹⁴But all who are left shout and sing for joy.

Those in the west praise the Lord’s majesty.

¹⁵In eastern lands, give glory to the Lord.

In the lands beyond the sea, praise the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

¹⁶We hear songs of praise from the ends of the earth,

songs that give glory to the Righteous One!

But my heart is heavy with grief.

Weep for me, for I wither away.

Deceit still prevails,

and treachery is everywhere.

¹⁷Terror and traps and snares will be your lot,

you people of the earth.

¹⁸Those who flee in terror will fall into a trap,

and those who escape the trap will be caught in a snare.

Destruction falls like rain from the heavens;

the foundations of the earth shake.

¹⁹The earth has broken up.

It has utterly collapsed;

it is violently shaken.

²⁰The earth staggers like a drunk.

It trembles like a tent in a storm.

It falls and will not rise again,

for the guilt of its rebellion is very heavy.

²¹In that day the Lord will punish the gods in the heavens

and the proud rulers of the nations on earth.

²²They will be rounded up and put in prison.

They will be shut up in prison

and will finally be punished.

²³Then the glory of the moon will wane,

and the brightness of the sun will fade,

for the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will rule on Mount Zion.

He will rule in great glory in Jerusalem,

in the sight of all the leaders of his people.

Chapter 25

Praise for Judgment and Salvation

¹O Lord, I will honor and praise your name,

for you are my God.

You do such wonderful things!

You planned them long ago,

and now you have accomplished them.

²You turn mighty cities into heaps of ruins.

Cities with strong walls are turned to rubble.

Beautiful palaces in distant lands disappear

and will never be rebuilt.

³Therefore, strong nations will declare your glory;

ruthless nations will fear you.

⁴But you are a tower of refuge to the poor, O Lord,

a tower of refuge to the needy in distress.

You are a refuge from the storm

and a shelter from the heat.

For the oppressive acts of ruthless people

are like a storm beating against a wall,

⁵or like the relentless heat of the desert.

But you silence the roar of foreign nations.

As the shade of a cloud cools relentless heat,

so the boastful songs of ruthless people are stilled.

⁶In Jerusalem, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies

will spread a wonderful feast

for all the people of the world.

It will be a delicious banquet

with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat.

⁷There he will remove the cloud of gloom,

the shadow of death that hangs over the earth.

⁸He will swallow up death forever!

The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears.

He will remove forever all insults and mockery

against his land and people.

The Lord has spoken!

⁹In that day the people will proclaim,

“This is our God!

We trusted in him, and he saved us!

This is the Lord, in whom we trusted.

Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!”

¹⁰For the Lord’s hand of blessing will rest on Jerusalem.

But Moab will be crushed.

It will be like straw trampled down and left to rot.

¹¹God will push down Moab’s people

as a swimmer pushes down water with his hands.

He will end their pride

and all their evil works.

¹²The high walls of Moab will be demolished.

They will be brought down to the ground,

down into the dust.