Isaiah 23

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In this chapter, I used the KJV and NLT to study.  The summary of this chapter leaves me with a renewed mind.  I learned that God cares about every part of us.  God cares about how we spend our money and how we represent him in business.  The marketplaces in this chapter were on a ship that was for people who had money to spend.  It did not matter if they did what was right as long as they had merchandise and money to pay.  Other countries around the world traveled far to purchase from this marketplace on an island.

This marketplace on an island was extremely expensive.

God wants us to have businesses.  However, how you run your business must be governed by God.  We can be in business for years and many people will know our reputation: if God is misrepresented in the business, God will destroy it.

We cannot take the position to show partiality.  We must treat people right.  We must make sure our babies are taught how to treat people in business so that they will develop the habit of knowing how to serve people in a godly manner in business.  

We must not have respect of person in business and we. seek God's Word when we establish our business.  Any business is God's business and He will not be left out.

God had a planned date to put this market out of business.  After it was out of the minds of the people, God allowed it to reestablish itself.  For 70 years no one shopped and some never heard of this marketplace.   After 70 years passed,   God allowed the marketplace to become a marketplace again.  Because they refused to honor God again after reopening, God said you will make the profit and I will take the gain.  If you do not change your ways, I will let you work and I will see to it that all your wages are given to people who will do what is right.

All money belongs to God and it is God's idea.  If we do not manage it right, God will manage it for us.

Isaiah 23:1-18 (KJV) 1 The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to  them.

Isaiah 23:1 (NLT) This message came to me concerning Tyre: Weep, O ships of Tarshish, for the harbor and houses of Tyre are gone! The rumors you heard in Cyprus are all true.

Isaiah 23:1 (NLT) This message came to me concerning Tyre: Weep, O ships of Tarshish, for the harbor and houses of Tyre are gone! The rumors you heard in Cyprus are all true.

2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. 

Isaiah 23:1 (NLT) This me

Isaiah 23:2 (NLT) Mourn in silence, you people of the coast and you merchants of Sidon. Your traders crossed the sea,

3 And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, [is] her revenue; and she is a mart of nations. 

Isaiah 23:3 (NLT) sailing over deep waters. They brought you grain from Egypt and harvests from along the Nile. You were the marketplace of the world.

4 Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, [even] the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, [nor] bring up virgins. 

Isaiah 23:4 (NLT) But now you are put to shame, city of Sidon, for Tyre, the fortress of the sea, says, “Now I am childless; I have no sons or daughters.

5 As at the report concerning Egypt, [so] shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. 

Isaiah 23:5 (NLT) When Egypt hears the news about Tyre, there will be great sorrow.

6 Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle. 

Isaiah 23:6 (NLT) Send word now to Tarshish! Wail, you people who live in distant lands!

7 [Is] this your joyous [city], whose antiquity [is] of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. 

Isaiah 23:7 (NLT) Is this silent ruin all that is left of your once joyous city? What a long history was yours! Think of all the colonists you sent to distant places.

8 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning [city], whose merchants [are] princes, whose traffickers [are] the honourable of the earth?

Isaiah 23:8 (NLT) Who has brought this disaster on Tyre, that great creator of kingdoms? Her traders were all princes, her merchants were nobles.

9 The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, [and] to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth. 

Isaiah 23:9 (NLT) The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has done it to destroy your pride and bring low all earth’s nobility.

10 Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: [there is] no more strength. 

Isaiah 23:10 (NLT) Come, people of Tarshish, sweep over the land like the flooding Nile, for Tyre is defenseless.

11 He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant [city], to destroy the strong holds thereof. 

Isaiah 23:11 (NLT) The LORD held out his hand over the sea and shook the kingdoms of the earth. He has spoken out against Phoenicia, ordering that her fortresses be destroyed.

12 And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest. 

Isaiah 23:12 (NLT) He says, “Never again will you rejoice, O daughter of Sidon, for you have been crushed. Even if you flee to Cyprus, you will find no rest.”

13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, [till] the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; [and] he brought it to ruin. 

Isaiah 23:13 (NLT) Look at the land of Babylonia-- the people of that land are gone! The Assyrians have handed Babylon over to the wild animals of the desert. They have built siege ramps against its walls, torn down its palaces, and turned it to a heap of rubble.

14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste. 

Isaiah 23:14 (NLT) Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your harbor is destroyed!

15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. 

Isaiah 23:15 (NLT) For seventy years, the length of a king’s life, Tyre will be forgotten. But then the city will come back to life as in the song about the prostitute:

16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be What:

Isaiah 23:16 (NLT) Take a harp and walk the streets, you forgotten harlot. Make sweet melody and sing your songs so you will be remembered again.

17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the   Earth 

Isaiah 23:17 (NLT) Yes, after seventy years the LORD will revive Tyre. But she will be no different than she was before. She will again be a prostitute to all kingdoms around the world.

18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

Isaiah 23:18 (NLT) But in the end her profits will be given to the LORD. Her wealth will not be hoarded but will provide good food and fine clothing for the LORD’s priests.