Isaiah 23:16
ESV
"Take a harp; go about the city, O forgotten prostitute! Make sweet melody; sing many songs, that you may be remembered."
NIV
"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."
NASB
Take your harp, wander around the city, You forgotten prostitute; Pluck the strings skillfully, sing many songs, That you may be remembered.
CSB
Pick up your lyre, stroll through the city, you forgotten prostitute. Play skillfully, sing many a song so that you will be remembered.
NLT
Take a harp and walk the streets, you forgotten harlot. Make sweet melody and sing your songs so you will be remembered again.
KJV
Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
NKJV
“Take a harp, go about the city, You forgotten harlot; Make sweet melody, sing many songs, That you may be remembered.”
What does Isaiah 23:16 mean?
Isaiah's prophecy from the Lord against the city of Tyre progresses like this: She will be ruined and put out of commission by the Lord (Isaiah 23:1–12). She will be forgotten for seventy years as the premier place to ship goods into and out of Phoenicia and Syria. Then the city will begin a return to its former status as a center of business, trade, and prosperity (Isaiah 23:15).However, this return is not described as a triumphant victory. Isaiah has depicted Tyre as a prostitute stepping out of retirement. He quotes lyrics from a song to show that Tyre will be like a prostitute drumming up business again after an absence. These lyrics could have been from a song that was known in the prophets time.
The singer urges the prostitute to take a harp and walk around the city singing songs to remind her former customers that she is back in business. Tyre will do the same, once more attracting shipping business from around the ancient world. It is not a flattering comparison. Nor does this image cast the business of profit in an honorable light.
Isaiah 23:13–18 completes predictions about the future of Tyre and Sidon. Previous verses indicated the city would be destroyed. Here, Isaiah offers other examples of God's judgment. He then indicates that Tyre's ruin will last seventy years. After comes a form of restoration. However, this will not be the proud status of the past. Instead, the city will be like a prostitute returning to that role. In some way, the profit of Tyre's return will help God's people.
Isaiah's final oracle against the nations describes the aftermath of God's judgment on the port city of Tyre. This city was a great center of trade and shipping in the world. The sailors returning will mourn when they get the news the city and its port is wiped out. The mourning will extend to the Phoenician people, the sea itself, the Egyptian grain industry, and the people of Tarshish. The prophet is clear that the Lord has done this in judgment against Tyre's pride. After 70 years of being forgotten, Tyre will thrive again as a prostitute to the nations. The Lord's people will receive her wages.
