Isaiah 23 is a prophetic oracle against Tyre, the wealthy Phoenician port city, and it also speaks to Sidon, Egypt and Tarshish. This page gives you ready-made questions and leader’s notes for a whole chapter, whether you are leading a small group, teaching a Sunday class, or studying on your own. Each set of questions moves from what the text says, to what it means, to how it shapes daily life.
Isaiah 23 at a Glance
The chapter opens with a funeral-style lament: ships from Tarshish are told to wail because Tyre, the great trading center, has been laid waste. Verses 2 to 5 show the wider world, Sidon and Egypt, reeling at the news. Verses 6 to 14 explain that this judgment was planned by the LORD of Armies to humble human pride and wealth, and that even distant lands will find no rest.
The final section, verses 15 to 18, looks ahead to a seventy-year period of being forgotten, after which Tyre returns to commerce. Her profits, however, are then dedicated to the LORD and to those who serve him, which is a surprising ending to a chapter full of judgment.
Observation Questions
Use these first to ground the group in the text itself. Ask people to point to specific words and phrases before anyone offers an explanation. Keep the pace slow and let silence sit.
Isaiah 23:1
The burden of Tyre. Howl, you ships of Tarshish! For it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in. From the land of Kittim it is revealed to them.
(WEB)
Read this opening to set the mood of mourning. It introduces the burden and tells the ships of Tarshish to howl, which frames everything that follows.
Isaiah 23:9
The LORD of Armies has planned it, to stain the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.
(WEB)
This verse names the LORD of Armies as the one who planned the judgment. Reading it aloud helps the group see the cause behind the event.
Isaiah 23:11
He has stretched out his hand over the sea. He has shaken the kingdoms. The LORD has ordered the destruction of Canaan’s strongholds.
(WEB)
Here God’s hand is stretched out over the sea and the kingdoms, which underlines his sovereignty over all nations. It is worth pausing on this verse together.
Isaiah 23:15-17
15 It will come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. After the end of seventy years it will be to Tyre like in the song of the prostitute. 16 Take a harp; go about the city, you prostitute that has been forgotten. Make sweet melody. Sing many songs, that you may be remembered. 17 It will happen after the end of seventy years that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her wages, and will play the prostitute with all the kingdoms of the world on the surface of the earth.
(WEB)
This passage describes the seventy years of being forgotten and the return to trade. Reading the full range aloud lets the group hear the cycle of judgment and restoration.
Isaiah 23:18
Her merchandise and her wages will be holiness to the LORD. It will not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise will be for those who dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.
(WEB)
The chapter ends with wealth dedicated to the LORD. Reading this last verse aloud gives the group a hopeful and challenging closing image.
Memory Verse for Isaiah 23
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come before you as people who often trust in what we can build, earn and secure. Thank you that you are the LORD of Armies, the one who rules over every kingdom and every sea. Humble us where we have grown proud, and show us where our resources and skills should be offered back to you for holy purposes. Give us grace to grieve with those who suffer loss, and to hold our possessions with open hands. Teach each of us to walk in humility this week, trusting in your faithfulness rather than in our own strength. Amen.
