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Isaiah 23
International Children’s Bible
Isaiah 23
International Children’s Bible
God’s Message to Lebanon
23 The message about Tyre:
You ships of Tarshish, cry!
The houses and harbor of Tyre are destroyed.
This news came to the ships
from the land of Cyprus.
2 Be silent, you who live on the island of Tyre.
You merchants of Sidon, be silent.
Seamen have made you rich.
3 They traveled the sea to bring grain from Egypt.
The men of Tyre brought grain from the Nile Valley
and sold it to other nations.
4 Sidon, be ashamed.
Strong city of the sea, be ashamed. The sea says:
“I have not felt the pain of giving birth.
I have not reared young men or women.”
5 Egypt will hear the news about Tyre.
And it will make Egypt hurt with sorrow.
6 You ships should return to Tarshish.
You people living near the sea should be sad.
7 Look at your once happy city!
Look at your old, old city!
People from that city have traveled
far away to live.
8 Who planned Tyre’s destruction?
Tyre made others rich.
Her merchants were treated like princes.
Her traders were greatly respected.
9 It was the Lord of heaven’s armies who planned this!
He decided to make these proud men unimportant.
He decided to disgrace those who were greatly respected.
10 Go through your land,
Tarshish, like the Nile goes through Egypt.
There is no harbor for you now!
11 The Lord has stretched his hand over the sea.
He makes its kingdoms tremble.
He commands that Canaan’s
places of safety be destroyed.
12 The Lord said, “Sidon, you will not rejoice any longer.
You are destroyed.
Even if you cross the sea to Cyprus,
you will not find a place to rest.”
13 Look at the land of the Babylonians.
Babylonia is not a country now.
Assyria has made it a place for wild animals.
Assyria built towers to attack it.
The soldiers took all the treasures from its cities.
They turned it into ruins.
14 So be sad, you trading ships.
Your place of safety is destroyed.
15 At that time people will forget about Tyre for 70 years. That is the length of a king’s life. After 70 years, Tyre will be like the prostitute in this song:
16 “Oh woman, you are forgotten.
Take your harp and walk through the city.
Play your harp well. Sing your song often.
Then people will remember you.”
17 After 70 years the Lord will deal with Tyre. Tyre will again have trade. It will be like a prostitute for all the nations of the earth. 18 The profits will be saved for the Lord. Tyre will not keep the money she earns. It will give them to the people who serve the Lord. So they will have plenty of food and nice clothes.
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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The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.