Isaiah 23; Isaiah 24; Titus 2

Isaiah 23

1 A prophecy against Tyre: Wail, you ships of Tarshish! For Tyre is destroyed and left without house or harbor. From the land of Cyprus word has come to them.

2 Be silent, you people of the island and you merchants of Sidon, whom the seafarers have enriched.

3 On the great waters came the grain of the Shihor; the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre, and she became the marketplace of the nations.

4 Be ashamed, Sidon, and you fortress of the sea, for the sea has spoken: “I have neither been in labor nor given birth; I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.”

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

6 Cross over to Tarshish; wail, you people of the island.

7 Is this your city of revelry, 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 are princes, whose traders are renowned in the earth?

9 The LORD Almighty planned it, to bring down her pride in all her splendor and to humble all who are renowned on the earth.

10 Till 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 over the sea and made its kingdoms tremble. He has given an order concerning Phoenicia that her fortresses be destroyed.

12 He said, “No more of your reveling, Virgin Daughter Sidon, now crushed! “Up, cross over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”

13 Look at the land of the Babylonians,this people that is now of no account! The Assyrians have made it a place for desert creatures; they raised up their siege towers, they stripped its fortresses bare and turned it into a ruin.

14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish; your fortress is destroyed!

15 At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, 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; play the harp well, sing many a song, so that you will be remembered.”

17 At the end of seventy years, the LORD will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.

18 Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the LORD; they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the LORD, for abundant food and fine clothes.

Isaiah 24

1 See, the LORD is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it; he will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants—

2 it will be the same for priest as for people, for the master as for his servant, for the mistress as for her servant, for seller as for buyer, for borrower as for lender, for debtor as for creditor.

3 The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered. The LORD has spoken this word.

4 The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the heavens languish with the earth.

5 The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant.

6 Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left.

7 The new wine dries up and the vine withers; all the merrymakers groan.

8 The joyful timbrels are stilled, the noise of the revelers has stopped, the joyful harp is silent.

9 No longer do they drink wine with a song; the beer is bitter to its drinkers.

10 The ruined city lies desolate; the entrance to every house is barred.

11 In the streets they cry out for wine; all joy turns to gloom, all joyful sounds are banished from the earth.

12 The city is left in ruins, its gate is battered to pieces.

13 So will it be on the earth and among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten, or as when gleanings are left after the grape harvest.

14 They raise their voices, they shout for joy; from the west they acclaim the LORD’s majesty.

15 Therefore in the east give glory to the LORD; exalt the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea.

16 From the ends of the earth we hear singing: “Glory to the Righteous One.” But I said, “I waste away, I waste away! Woe to me! The treacherous betray! With treachery the treacherous betray!”

17 Terror and pit and snare await you, people of the earth.

18 Whoever flees at the sound of terror will fall into a pit; whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare. The floodgates of the heavens are opened, the foundations of the earth shake.

19 The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is violently shaken.

20 The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls—never to rise again.

21 In that day the LORD will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below.

22 They will be herded together like prisoners bound in a dungeon; they will be shut up in prison and be punished after many days.

23 The moon will be dismayed, the sun ashamed; for the LORD Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before its elders—with great glory.

Titus 2

1 You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine.

2 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.

4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children,

5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.

7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness

8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them,

10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.

12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,

13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,

14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.