Isaiah 33

1 Ho! you who make waste those who did not make you waste; acting falsely to those who were not false to you. When you have come to an end of wasting, you will be made waste, and after your false acts, they will do the same to you.

Woe to thee that wastest, while thou wast not wasted; and traitor, while men dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt have made an end of wasting, thou shalt be wasted, and when thou shalt have finished to deal treacherously, men shall deal treacherously with thee.

2 O Lord, have mercy on us; for we have been waiting for your help: be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of trouble.

O Lord, be gracious; we have waited for thee: be thou their support every morning, also our salvation in the time of trouble.

3 At the loud noise the peoples have gone in flight; at your coming up the nations have gone in all directions.

At the noise of [thy] thunder people fled; when thou liftedst thyself up nations were scattered.

4 And the goods taken in war will be got together like the massing of young locusts; men will be rushing on them like the rushing of locusts.

And your spoil shall be gathered as the cricket gathereth: as locusts run about, so shall people hasten after it.

5 The Lord is lifted up; his place is on high: he has made Zion full of righteousness and true religion.

The Lord is exalted; for he dwelleth on high; he hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

6 And she will have no more fear of change, being full of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is her wealth.

And the stability of thy times and the strength of thy happiness shall be wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

7 See, the men of war are sorrowing outside the town: those who came looking for peace are weeping bitterly.

Behold, their valiant ones cry without: the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.

8 The highways are waste, no man is journeying there: the agreement is broken, he has made sport of the towns, he has no thought for man.

The highways lie waste, ceased hath the wayfaring traveler: he hath broken the covenant, he despiseth cities, he regardeth not man.

9 The earth is sorrowing and wasting away; Lebanon is put to shame and has become waste; Sharon is like the Arabah; and in Bashan and Carmel the leaves are falling.

It mourneth, it languisheth—the land: Lebanon is ashamed, it is withered away; Sharon is become like a wilderness; and bereft of their fruits are Bashan and Carmel.

10 Now will I come forward, says the Lord; now will I be lifted up; now will my power be seen.

Now will I arise, saith the Lord; now will I raise myself; now will I lift myself up.

11 Your designs will be without profit, and their effect will be nothing: you will be burned up by the fire of my breath.

Ye shall be pregnant with hay, [and] ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath is a fire, which shall devour you.

12 And the peoples will be like the burning of chalk: as thorns cut down, which are burned in the fire.

And the people shall be burnt as lime: as cut-off thorns shall they blaze up in fire.

13 Give ear, you who are far off, to what I have done: see my power, you who are near.

Hear, ye distant ones, what I have done; and acknowledge ye that are near my might.

14 The sinners in Zion are full of fear; the haters of God are shaking with wonder. Who among us may keep his place before the burning fire? who among us may see the eternal burnings?

In Zion sinners are in dread; trembling hath seized on hypocrites. “Who among us shall abide with the devouring fire? who among us shall abide with everlasting burnings?”

15 He whose ways are true, and whose words are upright; he who gives no thought to the profits of false acts, whose hands have not taken rewards, who will have no part in putting men to death, and whose eyes are shut against evil;

He that walketh in righteousness, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands against taking hold of bribes, that stoppeth his ears against hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes against looking on evil;

16 He will have a place on high: he will be safely shut in by the high rocks: his bread will be given to him; his waters will be certain.

He shall dwell on high; rocky strongholds shall be his refuge: his bread shall be given him; his water shall be sure.

17 Your eyes will see the king in his glory: they will be looking on a far-stretching land.

The king in his beauty shall thy eyes behold: they shall see a far-off land.

18 Your heart will give thought to the cause of your fear: where is the scribe, where is he who made a record of the payments, where is he by whom the towers were numbered?

Thy heart shall meditate [on past] terror. “Where is who wrote down? where is he that weighed? where is he that counted the towers?”

19 Never again will you see the cruel people, a people whose tongue has no sense for you; whose language is strange to you.

The barbarous people shalt thou not see any more, the people of a speech too obscure to be understood, of a stammering tongue, without meaning.

20 Let your eyes be resting on Zion, the town of our holy feasts: you will see Jerusalem, a quiet resting-place, a tent which will not be moved, whose tent-pins will never be pulled up, and whose cords will never be broken.

Look on Zion, the town of our solemn assemblies; thy eyes shall see Jerusalem as an undisturbed residence, a tent that shall not be struck for removal; not one of the stakes of which shall ever be moved, and all the cords of which shall never be torn loose.

21 But there the Lord will be with us in his glory, ... wide rivers and streams; where no boat will go with blades, and no fair ship will be sailing.

But there will the Lord [show himself] mighty unto us, [in] a place of rivers and streams of ample breadth; wherein no oared galley shall go, and a gallant ship shall not pass thereby.

22 For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our law-giver, the Lord is our king; he will be our saviour.

For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.

23 Your cords have become loose; they were not able to make strong the support of their sails, the sail was not stretched out: then the blind will take much property, the feeble-footed will make division of the goods of war.

Loose hang thy tacklings; they cannot well uphold strongly their mast, they cannot spread the sail. Then are divided booty and spoil in abundance, [even] the lame take the booty.

24 And the men of Zion will not say, I am ill: for its people will have forgiveness for their sin.

And no inhabitant shall say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be one whose iniquity is forgiven.