Isaiah 23:14

THE MESSAGE

Wail, ships of Tarshish, your strong seaports all in ruins!

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Wail, ships of Tarshish,because your fortress is destroyed!

Hebrew Names Version
Howl, you ships of Tarshish; for your stronghold is laid waste.

King James Version
Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.

English Standard Version
Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your stronghold is laid waste.

New American Standard Bible
Wail, you ships of Tarshish, For your stronghold is destroyed.

New Century Version
So be sad, you trading ships, because your strong city is destroyed.

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

World English Bible
Howl, you ships of Tarshish; for your stronghold is laid waste.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Howle yee shippes of Tarshish, for your strength is destroyed.

Legacy Standard Bible
Wail, O ships of Tarshish,For your strong defense is destroyed.

Berean Standard Bible
Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your harbor has been destroyed!

Contemporary English Version
Not a fortress will be left standing, so tell all the seagoing ships to mourn.

Complete Jewish Bible
Howl, you "Tarshish" ships, because your fortress is destroyed.

Darby Translation
Howl, ships of Tarshish! for your fortress is laid waste.

Easy-to-Read Version
So be sad, you ships from Tarshish. Your place of safety has been destroyed.

George Lamsa Translation
Howl, O ships of Tarshish; for your stronghold is plundered.

Good News Translation
Howl with grief, you sailors out on the ocean! The city you relied on has been destroyed.

Lexham English Bible
Wail, ships of Tarshish! For your fortress is destroyed.

Literal Translation
Howl, ships of Tarshish! For your fortress is ruined.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And therfore mourne (ye shippes of the see) for youre power shalbe throwne downe.

American Standard Version
Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for your stronghold is laid waste.

Bible in Basic English
Let a cry of sorrow go up, O ships of Tarshish: because your strong place is made waste.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, for your stronghold is laid waste.

King James Version (1611)
Howle ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Mourne ye shippes of Tharsis, for your strength is brought downe.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Howl, ye ships of Carthage: for your strong hold is destroyed.

English Revised Version
Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strong hold is laid waste.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Yelle, ye schippis of the see, for youre strengthe is distried.

Update Bible Version
Howl, you ships of Tarshish; for your stronghold is laid waste.

Webster's Bible Translation
Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.

New English Translation
Wail, you large ships, for your fortress is destroyed!

New King James Version
Wail, you ships of Tarshish! For your strength is laid waste.

New Living Translation
Wail, you ships of Tarshish, for your harbor is destroyed!

New Life Bible
Cry out in sorrow, O ships of Tarshish, for your strong-place is destroyed.

New Revised Standard
Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your fortress is destroyed.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, - For laid waste is your fortress.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Howl, O ye ships of the sea, for your strength is laid waste.

Revised Standard Version
Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your stronghold is laid waste.

Young's Literal Translation
Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, For your strength hath been destroyed.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Wail, O ships of Tarshish, For your stronghold is destroyed.

Contextual Overview

¹ Wail, ships of Tarshish, your strong seaports all in ruins! When the ships returned from Cyprus, they saw the destruction. Hold your tongue, you who live on the seacoast, merchants of Sidon. Your people sailed the deep seas, buying and selling, Making money on wheat from Shihor, grown along the Nile— multinational broker in grains! Hang your head in shame, Sidon. The Sea speaks up, the powerhouse of the ocean says, "I've never had labor pains, never had a baby, never reared children to adulthood, Never gave life, never worked with life. It was all numbers, dead numbers, profit and loss." ⁵ When Egypt gets the report on Tyre, what wailing! what wringing of hands! ⁶Visit Tarshish, you who live on the seacoast. Take a good, long look and wail—yes, cry buckets of tears! Is this the city you remember as energetic and alive, bustling with activity, this historic old city, Expanding throughout the globe, buying and selling all over the world? And who is behind the collapse of Tyre, the Tyre that controlled the world markets? Tyre's merchants were the business tycoons. Tyre's traders called all the shots. God -of-the-Angel-Armies ordered the crash to show the sordid backside of pride and puncture the inflated reputations. Sail for home, O ships of Tarshish. There are no docks left in this harbor. God reached out to the sea and sea traders, threw the sea kingdoms into turmoil. God ordered the destruction of the seacoast cities, the centers of commerce. God said, "There's nothing left here to be proud of, bankrupt and bereft Sidon. Do you want to make a new start in Cyprus? Don't count on it. Nothing there will work out for you either." ¹³ Look at what happened to Babylon: There's nothing left of it. Assyria turned it into a desert, into a refuge for wild dogs and stray cats. They brought in their big siege engines, tore down the buildings, and left nothing behind but rubble. ¹⁴ Wail, ships of Tarshish, your strong seaports all in ruins!

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Isaiah 23:1, Isaiah 23:6, Ezekiel 27:25-30, Revelation 18:11-19

Reciprocal: Isaiah 23:10 - no more Ezekiel 27:12 - General Revelation 18:17 - And every

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Howl, ye ships of Tarshish,.... As in Isaiah 23:1.

Isaiah 23:1- ::

for your strength is laid waste; meaning Tyre, a strong seaport, where their ships were safe, and always found vent for their goods and merchandise; and so it was the strength and support of their country; but was now destroyed, and therefore was matter of lamentation and mourning.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

“Howl ... Isaiah 23:1.

For your strength - That which has been your support and strength; to wit, Tyre (compare Ezekiel 26:15-18).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 23:14. Howl, ye ships — The Prophet Ezekiel hath enlarged upon this part of the same subject with great force and elegance: -

"Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH concerning Tyre: -

At the sound of thy fall, at the cry of the wounded,

At the great slaughter in the midst of thee, shall

not the islands tremble?

And shall not all the princes of the sea descend from

their thrones,

And lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroidered

garments?

They shall clothe themselves with trembling, they shall

sit on the ground;

They shall tremble every moment, they shall be astonished

at thee.

And they shall utter a lamentation over thee, and shall say

unto thee:

How art thou lost, thou that wast inhabited from the seas!

The renowned city, that was strong in the sea, she and her

inhabitants!

That struck with terror all her neighbours!

Now shall the coasts tremble in the day of thy fall,

And the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy

departure."

Ezekiel 26:15-18.