Chronological Plan

¹The [mournful, inspired] oracle ( a burden to be carried) concerning Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish, For Tyre is destroyed, without house, without harbor; It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus (Kittim).

²Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland, You merchants of Sidon; Your messengers crossed the sea

³And they were on great waters. The grain of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile River, was Tyre's revenue; And she was the market of nations.

⁴Be ashamed, O Sidon [mother-city of Tyre, now like a widow bereaved of her children]; For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying, "I have neither labored nor given birth [to children]; I have neither brought up young men nor reared virgins."

⁵When the report reaches Egypt, They will be in agony at the report about Tyre.

⁶Cross over to Tarshish [to seek safety as exiles]; Wail, O inhabitants of the coastland [of Tyre].

⁷Is this your jubilant city, Whose origin dates back to antiquity, Whose feet used to carry her [far away] to colonize distant places?

⁸Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?

⁹The LORD of hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty, To bring into contempt and humiliation all the honored of the earth.

¹⁰Overflow your land like [the overflow of] the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish; There is no more restraint [on you to make you pay tribute to Tyre].

¹¹He has stretched out His hand over the sea, He has shaken the kingdoms; The LORD has given a command concerning Canaan to destroy her strongholds and her fortresses [like Tyre and Sidon].

¹²He has said, "You shall never again exult [in triumph], O crushed Virgin Daughter of Sidon. Arise, cross over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest."

¹³Now look at the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonia)—this is the people which was not; the Assyrians allocated Tyre for desert creatures—they set up their siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.

¹⁴Wail, O ships of Tarshish, For your stronghold [of Tyre] is destroyed.

¹⁵Now in that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the prostitute's song:

¹⁶Take a harp, walk around the city, O forgotten prostitute; Play the strings skillfully, sing many songs, That you may be remembered.

¹⁷It will come to pass at the end of seventy years that the LORD will remember Tyre. Then she will return to her prostitute's wages and will play the [role of a] prostitute [by trading] with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.

¹⁸But her commercial gain and her prostitute's wages will be dedicated to the LORD; it will not be treasured or stored up, but her commercial gain will become sufficient food and stately clothing for those who dwell (minister) in the presence of the LORD.

¹Behold, the LORD lays waste to the earth, devastates it, twists and distorts its face and scatters its inhabitants.

²And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor [as God's impartial judgment of sin comes on all].

³The earth will be completely laid waste and utterly pillaged, for the LORD has spoken this word.

⁴The earth dries up and crumbles away, the world dries out and crumbles away, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away.

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

⁶Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer the punishment of their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned [under the curse of God's wrath], and few people are left.

⁷The new wine mourns, The vine decays; All the merry-hearted sigh and groan.

⁸The mirth of the timbrels (tambourines) ceases, The noise of those who rejoice ends, The joy of the harp ceases.

⁹They do not drink wine with a song; Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

¹⁰The city of chaos is broken down; Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.

¹¹There is an outcry in the streets concerning the wine; All jubilation is darkened, The joy of the earth is banished.

¹²Horrible desolation is left in the city, And the gate is battered into ruins.

¹³For so it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples, As the shaking of an olive tree, As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over [and only a little of the fruit remains].

¹⁴They [who have escaped and remain] raise their voices, they shout for joy; They rejoice from the [Mediterranean] Sea in the majesty of the LORD.

¹⁵Therefore honor and glorify the LORD in the east [in the region of light], The name of the LORD, the God of Israel [honor His name], In the coastlands and islands of the [Mediterranean] Sea.

¹⁶From the ends of the earth we hear songs, "Glory and honor to the Righteous One," But I say, "I waste away, I waste away. Woe to me! The treacherous deal treacherously, Indeed, the treacherous deal very treacherously."

¹⁷Terror and pit [of destruction] and snare Confront you, O inhabitant of the earth.

¹⁸Then it will be that he who flees at the sound of terror will fall into the pit, And he who comes up out of the pit will be caught in the snare; For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.

¹⁹The earth is broken completely apart, The earth is split apart, The earth is shaken violently.

²⁰The earth reels back and forth like a drunkard And sways like a shack; Its transgression lies heavily upon it, And it will fall and not rise again.

²¹So it will happen in that day That the LORD will visit and punish the host (fallen angels) of heaven on high, And the kings of the earth on the earth.

²²They will be gathered together As prisoners [are gathered] in a dungeon; They will be shut up in prison, And after many days they will be visited and punished.

²³Then the full moon will be embarrassed and the sun ashamed, For the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, And His glory and brilliance will shine before His elders.

¹O LORD, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will praise and give thanks to Your name; For You have done miraculous things, Plans formed long, long ago, [fulfilled] with perfect faithfulness.

²For You have made a city into a heap [of trash], A fortified city into a ruin; A palace of foreigners is no longer a city, It will never be rebuilt.

³Therefore a strong people will honor You; Cities of terrible and violent nations will fear You.

⁴For You have been a stronghold for the helpless, A stronghold for the poor in his distress, A shelter from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of tyrants Is like a rainstorm against a wall.

⁵Like heat in a dry land, You will subdue the noise of foreigners [rejoicing over their enemies]; Like heat in the shadow of a cloud, the song of the tyrants is silenced.

⁶On this mountain [Zion] the LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples [to welcome His reign on earth], A banquet of aged wines—choice pieces [flavored] with marrow, Of refined, aged wines.

⁷And on this mountain He will destroy the covering that is [cast] over all peoples, And the veil [of death] that is woven and spread over all the nations.

⁸He will swallow up death [and abolish it] for all time. And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, And He will take away the disgrace of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.

⁹It will be said in that day, "Indeed, this is our God for whom we have waited that He would save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; Let us shout for joy and rejoice in His salvation."

¹⁰For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain [Zion], And Moab will be trampled down in his place As straw is trampled down in the [filthy] water of a manure pile.

¹¹And Moab will spread out his hands in the middle of the filth As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim, But the Lord will humiliate his pride in spite of the [skillful] movements of his hands.

¹²The high fortifications of your walls He will bring down, Lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

¹In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city; He sets up salvation as walls and ramparts.

²"Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter, The one that remains faithful and trustworthy.

³"You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character], Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].

⁴"Trust [confidently] in the LORD forever [He is your fortress, your shield, your banner], For the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].

⁵"For He has thrown down the [arrogant] ones who dwell on high, the lofty and inaccessible city; He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He hurls it to the dust.

⁶"The foot will trample it, Even the feet of the suffering, and the steps of the helpless."

⁷The way of the righteous [those in right-standing with God—living in moral and spiritual integrity] is smooth and level; O Upright One, make a level path for the just and righteous.

⁸Indeed, in the path of Your judgments, O LORD, We have waited expectantly for You; Your name, even Your memory, is the desire and deep longing of our souls.

⁹In the night my soul longs for You [O LORD], Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; For [only] when Your judgments are experienced on the earth Will the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

¹⁰Though the wicked is shown compassion and favor, He does not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he deals unjustly, And refuses to see the majesty of the LORD.

¹¹Though Your hand is lifted up [to strike], O LORD, the wicked do not see it. Let them see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame; Indeed, let the fire reserved for Your enemies consume them.

¹²LORD, You will establish peace for us, Since You have also performed for us all that we have done.

¹³O LORD our God, other masters besides You have ruled over us; But through You alone we confess Your name.

¹⁴The [wicked] dead will not live [again], the spirits of the dead will not rise and return; Therefore You have punished and destroyed them, And You have wiped out every memory of them [every trace of them].

¹⁵You have increased the nation, O LORD; You have increased the nation, You are glorified; You have extended all the borders of the land.

¹⁶O LORD, they sought You in distress; They managed only a prayerful whisper When Your discipline was upon them.

¹⁷As a woman with child approaches the time to give birth, She is in pain and struggles and cries out in her labor, So we were before You, O LORD.

¹⁸We have been with child, we have twisted and struggled in labor; We gave birth, as it seems, only to wind. We could not accomplish salvation for the earth, Nor were inhabitants of the world born.

¹⁹Your dead will live; Their dead bodies will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy! For your dew is a dew of [celestial] light [heavenly, supernatural], And the earth will give birth to the spirits of the dead.

²⁰Come, my people, enter your chambers And shut your doors behind you; Hide for a little while Until the [Lord's] wrath is past.

²¹Listen carefully, the LORD is about to come out of His [heavenly] place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing]; The earth will reveal the [innocent] blood shed upon her And will no longer cover her slain.

¹In that day the Lord will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent With His fierce and great and mighty sword [rescuing Israel from her enemy], Even Leviathan the twisted serpent; And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.

²In that day [it will be said of the redeemed nation of Israel], "A vineyard of wine, sing in praise of it!

³"I, the LORD, am its Keeper; I water it every moment. So that no one will harm it, I guard it night and day.

⁴"I have no wrath. Should anyone give Me briars and thorns in battle, I would step on them, I would set them all on fire.

⁵"Or let him (Israel) cling to My strength and rely on My protection [My stronghold], Let him make peace with Me, Let him make peace with Me."

⁶In the generations to come Jacob will take root; Israel will blossom and sprout, And they will fill the surface of the world with fruit.

⁷Like the striking by Him who has struck them, has He struck them? Or like the slaughter of His slain, have they been slain?

⁸You contended with them by exile, by driving them away [from Canaan]; He has expelled them with His fierce wind on the day of the east wind.

⁹Therefore through this the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of Jacob (Israel) will be atoned for and forgiven; And this will be the full price [that God requires] for taking away his sin: When Israel makes all the stones of the [pagan] altars like crushed chalk stones; When the Asherim and the incense altars will not stand.

¹⁰For the fortified city is isolated, A settlement deserted and abandoned like the desert; There the calf will graze, And there it will lie down and feed on its branches.

¹¹When its branches are dry, they are broken off; The women come and make a fire with them. For they are not a people of understanding, Therefore He who made them will not have compassion on them, And He who created them will not be gracious to them.

¹²In that day the LORD will thresh [out His grain] from the flowing stream of the River [Euphrates] to the Brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel.

¹³It will come to pass in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost and perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.