UST GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR EZRA NEH EST JOB PSA PROV ECC SNG ISA JER LAM EZE DAN HOS JOEL AMOS OBA YNA MIC NAH HAB ZEP HAG ZEC MAL MAT MARK LUKE YHN ACTs ROM 1 COR 2 COR GAL EPH PHP COL 1 TH 2 TH 1 TIM 2 TIM TIT PHM HEB YAC 1 PET 2 PET 1 YHN 2 YHN 3 YHN YUD REV

ISA C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36 C37 C38 C39 C40 C41 C42 C43 C44 C45 C46 C47 C48 C49 C50 C51 C52 C53 C54 C55 C56 C57 C58 C59 C60 C61 C62 C63 C64 C65 C66

UST ISA Chapter 23

◄ ISA 23 ► ║ ═ ©

23 Yahweh gave this message about the city of Tyre.

Sailors on ships that can sail long distances should weep

because enemies have destroyed the port city of Tyre!

There are no buildings left, and it is not safe for their ships to enter the harbor.

They first heard this news when they stopped at the island of Cyprus

where the Kittim people live.

2 Merchants from the city of Sidon

made Tyre wealthy by using its harbor to send and receive goods

that they transported across the sea in ships.

People who lived along the coast near Tyre also became wealthy.

Now those merchants and people should be silent with grief.

3 Tyre became wealthy by trading the grain

that people grew along the Nile River.

Tyre was a place where people from many nations

bought and sold goods.

4 The people of the city of Sidon should feel shame.

The city of Tyre, its ally, was once a strong city by the sea.

Now it is as if the sea is speaking to the people of Sidon

on behalf of Tyre and saying,

“I have no population left.

It is as if I never had labor pains and gave birth to children.

It is as if I never raised young men or brought up young women.”

5 When the Egyptians hear what happened to Tyre,

they will tremble with grief.

6 The ships that once docked at Tyre

should now go to other ports.

The people who live along the part of the coast

near where Tyre used to be should weep with grief.

7 Tyre was a city for a very long time.

The people who lived along the coast were very proud of it.

Its people went out and settled in many other lands.

8 The leaders of Tyre appointed leaders for its colonies.

Its merchants were like princes.

People throughout the world treated its traders with great respect.

So it is important to consider who decided to destroy it, and why.

9 Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, decided to destroy it.

He did that to show that people should not have considered Tyre

to be so great that it was almost a god.

He did that to show that the leaders of Tyre, whom people honored so greatly,

were only human beings.

10 The people who formerly made their living from the sea trade

should now spread out over the land and farm it,

just as the Nile floods over its banks.

They should do this because they no longer have a reason

to keep living by the sea.

11 Yahweh used his power to destroy this great city by the sea,

and that has made the people of other kingdoms afraid.

He decided that enemies would destroy the fortresses

of this great merchant city.

12 Yahweh said to the people of Tyre, who came from Sidon,

“Now that enemies have destroyed your city,

you will no longer be happy.

Even if you leave and resettle on the island of Cyprus,

where the Kittim people live,

you will not have a peaceful life there either.”

13 Consider what happened to the land of the Chaldeans!

It is as if those people are not even a nation anymore.

The Assyrians turned their land into a place where wild desert animals live.

They set up siege towers to conquer their capital city of Babylon.

When they captured it, they took away the valuable things from its palaces,

and then they destroyed it completely.

14 Sailors on ships that can sail long distances should weep

because enemies have destroyed the city of Tyre,

the place that was once a secure harbor for them.

15 Now that enemies have destroyed it,

people will not use Tyre as a trading port

for 70 years, about as long as a king lives.

By the end of those 70 years,

Tyre will be like the prostitute in this song:

16 “You prostitute whom people have forgotten,

pick up your harp and walk through the city.

Play skillfully and sing many songs

so that people will remember you.”

17 After those 70 years end,

Yahweh will restore Tyre.

Then Tyre will once again earn money

by trading with kingdoms throughout the world,

just as a prostitute earns money from her clients.

18 However, the people of Tyre will dedicate what they earn to Yahweh.

They will not store it up or save it for themselves.

Instead, their trading profits will belong to those who worship Yahweh,

so that they can have the food they need

and buy good clothing.