Isaiah 23-27

English Standard Version

Wail, O ^(C)ships of Tarshish,
    for Tyre is laid waste, ^(D)without house or harbor!
From ^(E)the land of Cyprus^[a]
    it is revealed to them.
² Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;
    the merchants of ^(F)Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.
³ And on many waters
your revenue was the grain of Shihor,
    the harvest of the Nile;
    you were ^(G)the merchant of the nations.
⁴ Be ashamed, O ^(H)Sidon, for the sea has spoken,
    the stronghold of the sea, saying:
“I have neither labored nor given birth,
    I have neither reared young men
    nor brought up young women.”
⁵ When the report comes to Egypt,
    they will be in anguish^[b] over the report about Tyre.
^6 (I)Cross over to Tarshish;
    wail, O inhabitants of the coast!
⁷ Is this your exultant city
    ^(J)whose origin is from days of old,
whose feet carried her
    to settle far away?
⁸ Who has purposed this
    against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants were princes,
    whose traders were the honored of the earth?
⁹ The Lord of hosts has purposed it,
    ^(K)to defile the pompous pride of all glory,^[c]
    to dishonor all the honored of the earth.
¹⁰ Cross over your land like the Nile,
    O daughter of Tarshish;
    there is no restraint anymore.
^11 (L)He has stretched out his hand over the sea;
    he has shaken the kingdoms;
the Lord has given command concerning Canaan
    to destroy its strongholds.
¹² And he said:
“You will no more exult,
    O oppressed virgin daughter of ^(M)Sidon;
arise, ^(N)cross over to ^(O)Cyprus,
    even there you will have no rest.”

^14 (R)Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
    for your stronghold is laid waste.

¹⁶ “Take a harp;
    go about the city,
    O forgotten prostitute!
Make sweet melody;
    sing many songs,
    that you may be remembered.”

^4 (AC)The earth mourns and withers;
    the world languishes and withers;
    the highest people of the earth languish.
⁵ The earth lies ^(AD)defiled
    under its inhabitants;
for ^(AE)they have transgressed the laws,
    violated the statutes,
    broken the everlasting covenant.
⁶ Therefore ^(AF)a curse devours the earth,
    and its inhabitants ^(AG)suffer for their guilt;
therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,
    and few men are left.
^7 (AH)The wine mourns,
    the vine languishes,
    all the merry-hearted sigh.
^8 (AI)The mirth of the tambourines is stilled,
    the noise of the jubilant has ceased,
    the mirth of the lyre is stilled.
⁹ No more do they drink wine ^(AJ)with singing;
    strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
^10 (AK)The wasted city is broken down;
    ^(AL)every house is shut up so that none can enter.
^11 (AM)There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;
    ^(AN)all joy has grown dark;
    the gladness of the earth is banished.
¹² Desolation is left in the city;
    the gates are battered into ruins.
¹³ For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth
    among the nations,
^(AO)as when an olive tree is beaten,
    as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.

¹⁴ They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;
    over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west.^[g]
15 (AP)Therefore in the east^[h] give glory to the Lord;
    in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
^16 (AQ)From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,
    of glory to ^(AR)the Righteous One.
But I say, “I waste away,
    I waste away. Woe is me!
For ^(AS)the traitors have betrayed,
    with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”

^17 (AT)Terror and the pit and the snare^[i]
    are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!
^18 (AU)He who flees at the sound of the terror
    shall fall into the pit,
and he who climbs out of the pit
    shall be caught in the snare.
For ^(AV)the windows of heaven are opened,
    and ^(AW)the foundations of the earth tremble.
¹⁹ The earth is utterly broken,
    the earth is split apart,
    the earth is violently shaken.
²⁰ The earth ^(AX)staggers like a drunken man;
    it sways like a hut;
^(AY)its transgression lies heavy upon it,
    and it falls, and will not rise again.

²¹ On that day the Lord will punish
    the host of heaven, in heaven,
    and ^(AZ)the kings of the earth, on the earth.
^22 (BA)They will be gathered together
    as prisoners in a pit;
they will be shut up in a prison,
    and after many days ^(BB)they will be punished.
^23 (BC)Then the moon will be confounded
    and the sun ashamed,
for ^(BD)the Lord of hosts reigns
    on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and his glory will be before his elders.

^6 (BN)On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
    ^(BO)of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
⁷ And he will swallow up ^(BP)on this mountain
    the covering that is cast over all peoples,
    ^(BQ)the veil that is spread over all nations.
^{8     (BR)}He will swallow up death forever;
and ^(BS)the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
    and ^(BT)the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
    ^(BU)for the Lord has spoken.
⁹ It will be said on that day,
    “Behold, this is our God; ^(BV)we have waited for him, that he might save us.
    This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
    ^(BW)let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
¹⁰ For the hand of the Lord will rest ^(BX)on this mountain,
    and ^(BY)Moab shall be trampled down in his place,
    as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.^[j]
11 (BZ)And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it
    as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,
    but the Lord ^(CA)will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill^[k] of his hands.
¹² And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down,
    lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

“We have a strong city;
    he sets up ^(CC)salvation
    as walls and bulwarks.
^2 (CD)Open the gates,
    that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
^3 (CE)You keep him in perfect peace
    whose mind is stayed on you,
    because he trusts in you.
⁴ Trust in the Lord forever,
    for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
^5 (CF)For he has humbled
    the inhabitants of the height,
    the lofty city.
He lays it low, lays it low to the ground,
    casts it to the dust.
⁶ The foot tramples it,
    the feet of ^(CG)the poor,
    the steps of ^(CH)the needy.”

⁷ The path of the righteous is level;
    ^(CI)you make level the way of the righteous.
⁸ In the path of your judgments,
    O Lord, we wait for you;
^(CJ)your name and ^(CK)remembrance
    are the desire of our soul.
⁹ My soul yearns for you in the night;
    my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
^(CL)For when your judgments are in the earth,
    the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
^10 (CM)If favor is shown to the wicked,
    he does not learn righteousness;
in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly
    and does not see the majesty of the Lord.
¹¹ O Lord, ^(CN)your hand is lifted up,
    but ^(CO)they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.
    Let ^(CP)the fire for your adversaries consume them.
¹² O Lord, you will ordain ^(CQ)peace for us,
    for you have indeed done for us all our works.
¹³ O Lord our God,
    ^(CR)other lords besides you have ruled over us,
    ^(CS)but your name alone we bring to remembrance.
¹⁴ They are dead, they will not live;
    they are shades, they will not arise;
to that end you have visited them with destruction
    and wiped out all remembrance of them.
^15 (CT)But you have increased the nation, O Lord,
    you have increased the nation; you are glorified;
    ^(CU)you have enlarged all the borders of the land.

¹⁶ O Lord, ^(CV)in distress they sought you;
    they poured out a whispered prayer
    when your discipline was upon them.
^17 (CW)Like a pregnant woman
    who writhes and cries out in her pangs
    when she is near to giving birth,
so were we because of you, O Lord;
^{18     (CX)}we were pregnant, we writhed,
    but we have given birth to wind.
We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,
    and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
^19 (CY)Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
    You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For ^(CZ)your dew is a dew of light,
    and the earth will give birth to the dead.

²⁰ Come, my people, enter your chambers,
    and shut your doors behind you;
hide yourselves ^(DA)for a little while
    until the fury has passed by.
^21 (DB)For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place
    to punish the inhabitants of ^(DC)the earth for their iniquity,
and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,
    and will no more cover its slain.

² In that day,
^(DH)“A pleasant vineyard,^{[l] (DI)}sing of it!
³     I, the Lord, am its keeper;
    every moment I water it.
    Lest anyone punish it,
I keep it night and day;
⁴     I have no wrath.
^(DJ)Would that I had thorns and briers to battle!
    I would march against them,
    I would burn them up together.
⁵ Or let them lay hold of my protection,
    let them make peace with me,
    let them make peace with me.”

^6 (DK)In days to come^[m] Jacob shall take root,
    Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots
    and fill the whole world with fruit.

^7 (DL)Has he struck them ^(DM)as he struck those who struck them?
    Or have they been slain ^(DN)as their slayers were slain?
^8 (DO)Measure by measure,^[n] by exile you contended with them;
    ^(DP)he removed them with his fierce breath^[o] in the day of the east wind.
⁹ Therefore by this ^(DQ)the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for,
    and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:^[p]
(DR)when he makes all the stones of the altars
    like chalkstones crushed to pieces,
    no ^(DS)Asherim or incense altars will remain standing.
^10 (DT)For the fortified city is solitary,
    a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness;
there the calf grazes;
    there it lies down and strips its branches.
¹¹ When its boughs are dry, they are broken;
    women come and make a fire of them.
^(DU)For this is a people without discernment;
    therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them;
    he who formed them will show them no favor.