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Isaiah 23
EasyEnglish Bible
Isaiah 23
EasyEnglish Bible
A message about Tyre
23 This is a message about Tyre.
Weep aloud, you people in the great ships of Tarshish. An enemy has destroyed the port and the houses of Tyre. They heard this news in Cyprus.
2 Weep quietly, you people who live on the coast of the sea. Yes, weep, you traders of Sidon city. Your sailors travelled across the sea and you became rich. 3 They brought grain to you from Shihor region in Egypt. You received crops that had grown beside the Nile river. Tyre became an important city where traders from many nations came.
4 Be ashamed, you people in Sidon. You have become strong because of the sea. But the sea now speaks against you! It says, ‘I have not given birth to any children. I have not taken care of any sons or daughters as a parent should do.’
5 When the people in Egypt hear the news about Tyre, they will be very sad and upset.
6 Travel to Tarshish! Weep aloud, you people who live on the coast of the sea. 7 Tyre is a city where you had many parties. It has been there since long ago. People from this city went to live in foreign countries far away. 8 It is a royal city and its traders are princes. They are famous everywhere on earth. So who decided to destroy it?
9 The Lord Almighty did that! He decided to show that the pride of those people is useless. He decided to bring all those famous people down low.
10 People of Tarshish, now you will have to grow your own crops. Grow them like they do beside the Nile river. Traders no longer come to Tyre to sell their things.
11 The Lord has lifted his hand up over the sea. He has made kingdoms shake with fear. He has given his command against Canaan, to destroy all its strong places.[a]
12 He says to Sidon's people, ‘Your parties have finished! Now it will be a time of pain for you. Move away, if you can! Travel to Cyprus. But you will still not be safe there.’
13 Look at what happened in Babylonia. Its people have disappeared! The Assyrian army has made it a place for wild animals to live in. Their soldiers built hills of earth against the city's walls. They climbed over and they destroyed its strong buildings. Babylon's buildings became heaps of stones.
14 So weep aloud, you great ships of Tarshish. Enemies have destroyed your strong place.
15 At that time people will forget Tyre for 70 years. That is how long one king lives. At the end of 70 years, there will be a change in Tyre. It will happen to them like the song about the prostitute:
16 ‘Prostitute that people have forgotten,
walk about the city with your harp.
Play it well. Sing many songs.
Then people will remember you again.’
17 At the end of 70 years, the Lord will be kind to Tyre. People from all the nations of the world will come to Tyre to buy things. Tyre will receive their money, like the prostitute in the song. 18 But the money that Tyre receives will belong to the Lord. Tyre's traders will not hide their riches or store them. Their money will buy plenty of food and beautiful clothes for people who worship the Lord.
Footnotes
- 23:11 ‘Canaan’ or ‘Phoenicia’.
Isaiah 23
New International Version
Isaiah 23
New International Version
A Prophecy Against Tyre
23 A prophecy against Tyre:(A)
Wail,(B) you ships(C) of Tarshish!(D)
For Tyre is destroyed(E)
and left without house or harbor.
From the land of Cyprus
word has come to them.
2 Be silent,(F) you people of the island
and you merchants(G) of Sidon,(H)
whom the seafarers have enriched.
3 On the great waters
came the grain of the Shihor;(I)
the harvest of the Nile[a](J) was the revenue of Tyre,(K)
and she became the marketplace of the nations.
4 Be ashamed, Sidon,(L) and you fortress of the sea,
for the sea has spoken:
“I have neither been in labor nor given birth;(M)
I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.”
5 When word comes to Egypt,
they will be in anguish(N) at the report from Tyre.(O)
6 Cross over to Tarshish;(P)
wail, you people of the island.
7 Is this your city of revelry,(Q)
the old, old city,
whose feet have taken her
to settle in far-off lands?
8 Who planned this against Tyre,
the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants(R) are princes,
whose traders(S) are renowned in the earth?
9 The Lord Almighty planned(T) it,
to bring down(U) her pride in all her splendor
and to humble(V) all who are renowned(W) on the earth.
10 Till[b] your land as they do along the Nile,
Daughter Tarshish,
for you no longer have a harbor.
11 The Lord has stretched out his hand(X) over the sea
and made its kingdoms tremble.(Y)
He has given an order concerning Phoenicia
that her fortresses be destroyed.(Z)
12 He said, “No more of your reveling,(AA)
Virgin Daughter(AB) Sidon, now crushed!
“Up, cross over to Cyprus;(AC)
even there you will find no rest.”
13 Look at the land of the Babylonians,[c](AD)
this people that is now of no account!
The Assyrians(AE) have made it
a place for desert creatures;(AF)
they raised up their siege towers,(AG)
they stripped its fortresses bare
and turned it into a ruin.(AH)
15 At that time Tyre(AL) will be forgotten for seventy years,(AM) 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;(AN)
play the harp well, sing many a song,
so that you will be remembered.”
17 At the end of seventy years,(AO) the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution(AP) and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.(AQ) 18 Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord;(AR) they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord,(AS) for abundant food and fine clothes.(AT)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 23:3 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls Sidon, / who cross over the sea; / your envoys 3 are on the great waters. / The grain of the Shihor, / the harvest of the Nile,
- Isaiah 23:10 Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts; Masoretic Text Go through
- Isaiah 23:13 Or Chaldeans
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