Isaiah 23-24

Isaiah 23

¹The burden of Tyre. Howl, you ships of Tarshish! For it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in. From the land of Kittim it is revealed to them.

²Be still, you inhabitants of the coast, you whom the merchants of Sidon that pass over the sea have replenished.

³On great waters, the seed of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue. She was the market of nations.

⁴Be ashamed, Sidon; for the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, “I have not travailed, nor given birth, neither have I nourished young men, nor brought up virgins.”

⁵When the report comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish at the report of Tyre.

⁶Pass over to Tarshish! Wail, you inhabitants of the coast!

⁷Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days, whose feet carried her far away to travel?

⁸Who has planned this against Tyre, the giver of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the honorable of the earth?

⁹The LORD of Armies has planned it, to stain the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.

¹⁰Pass through your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish. There is no restraint any more.

¹¹He has stretched out his hand over the sea. He has shaken the kingdoms. The LORD has ordered the destruction of Canaan’s strongholds.

¹²He said, “You shall rejoice no more, you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon. Arise, pass over to Kittim. Even there you will have no rest.”

¹³Behold, the land of the Chaldeans. This people didn’t exist. The Assyrians founded it for those who dwell in the wilderness. They set up their towers. They overthrew its palaces. They made it a ruin.

¹⁴Howl, you ships of Tarshish, for your stronghold is laid waste!

¹⁵It will come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. After the end of seventy years it will be to Tyre like in the song of the prostitute.

¹⁶Take a harp; go about the city, you prostitute that has been forgotten. Make sweet melody. Sing many songs, that you may be remembered.

¹⁷It will happen after the end of seventy years that the LORD will visit Tyre. She will return to her wages, and will play the prostitute with all the kingdoms of the world on the surface of the earth.

¹⁸Her merchandise and her wages will be holiness to the LORD. It will not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise will be for those who dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

Isaiah 24

¹Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty, makes it waste, turns it upside down, and scatters its inhabitants.

²It will be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the creditor, so with the debtor; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest.

³The earth will be utterly emptied and utterly laid waste; for the LORD has spoken this word.

⁴The earth mourns and fades away. The world languishes and fades away. The lofty people of the earth languish.

⁵The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.

⁶Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell therein are found guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.

⁷The new wine mourns. The vine languishes. All the merry-hearted sigh.

⁸The mirth of tambourines ceases. The sound of those who rejoice ends. The joy of the harp ceases.

⁹They will not drink wine with a song. Strong drink will be bitter to those who drink it.

¹⁰The confused city is broken down. Every house is shut up, that no man may come in.

¹¹There is a crying in the streets because of the wine. All joy is darkened. The mirth of the land is gone.

¹²The city is left in desolation, and the gate is struck with destruction.

¹³For it will be so within the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is done.

¹⁴These shall lift up their voice. They will shout for the majesty of the LORD. They cry aloud from the sea.

¹⁵Therefore glorify the LORD in the east, even the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea!

¹⁶From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs. Glory to the righteous! But I said, “I pine away! I pine away! woe is me!” The treacherous have dealt treacherously. Yes, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously.

¹⁷Fear, the pit, and the snare are on you who inhabit the earth.

¹⁸It will happen that he who flees from the noise of the fear will fall into the pit; and he who comes up out of the middle of the pit will be taken in the snare; for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.

¹⁹The earth is utterly broken. The earth is torn apart. The earth is shaken violently.

²⁰The earth will stagger like a drunken man, and will sway back and forth like a hammock. Its disobedience will be heavy on it, and it will fall and not rise again.

²¹It will happen in that day that the LORD will punish the army of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth on the earth.

²²They will be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison; and after many days they will be visited.

²³Then the moon will be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for the LORD of Armies will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem; and glory will be before his elders.