Isaiah 33

1 Woe to you who plunder! Will you yourselves not also be plundered? And woe to you who despise! Will you yourselves not also be despised? When you will have completed your plundering, you will be plundered. When, out of fatigue, you will have ceased acting with contempt, you will be treated with contempt.

Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! When thou hast ceased to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou art weary with dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

2 O Lord, take pity on us. For we have waited for you. Be our arm in the morning and our salvation in the time of tribulation.

O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for Thee; be Thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

3 From the voice of the Angel, the people fled. And from your exultation, the nations were scattered.

At the noise of the tumult the peoples are fled; at the lifting up of Thyself the nations are scattered.

4 And your spoils will be gathered together, just as the locusts are collected when the ditches have become filled with them.

And your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathereth; as locusts leap do they leap upon it.

5 The Lord has been magnified, because he has lived on high. He has filled Zion with judgment and justice.

The LORD is exalted, for He dwelleth on high; He hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

6 And there will be faith in your times: the riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge. For the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

And the stability of thy times shall be a hoard of salvation — wisdom and knowledge, and the fear of the LORD which is His treasure.

7 Behold, outside, those who see will cry out. The Angels of peace will weep bitterly.

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

8 The roads have become desolate. Travelers have ceased along the paths. The covenant has been nullified. He has tossed aside cities. He has disregarded men.

The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth; he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth not man.

9 The earth has mourned and languished. Lebanon has been confounded and desecrated. And Sharon has become like a desert. And Bashan and Carmel have been struck together.

The land mourneth and languisheth; Lebanon is ashamed, it withereth; Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel are clean bare.

10 “Now, I will rise up!” says the Lord. “Now I will be exalted! Now I will lift myself up!”

Now will I arise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift Myself up.

11 You will conceive heat. You will give birth to stubble. Your own spirit will devour you like fire.

Ye conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble; your breath is a fire that shall devour you.

12 And the people will be like the ashes from a fire. They will be consumed by fire like a bundle of thorns.

And the peoples shall be as the burnings of lime; as thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.

13 “You who are far away, listen to what I have done! And you who are near, acknowledge my strength!”

Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge My might.

14 The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling has taken hold of the hypocrites. Who among you is able to live with a devouring fire? Who among you will live with an everlasting flame?

The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling hath seized the ungodly: 'Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?'

15 The one who walks in justice and speaks the truth, who casts out avarice with oppression and shakes all bribes from his hands, who blocks his ears so that he may not listen to blood, and closes his eyes so that he may not see evil.

He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from looking upon evil;

16 Such a one will live on high; the fortification of rocks will be his lofty place. Bread has been given to him; his waters are reliable.

He shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; his bread shall be given, his waters shall be sure.

17 His eyes will see the king in his elegance; they will discern the land from far away.

Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty; they shall behold a land stretching afar.

18 Your heart will meditate on fear. Where are the learned? Where are those who ponder the words of the law? Where are the teachers of little ones?

Thy heart shall muse on the terror: 'Where is he that counted, where is he that weighed? Where is he that counted the towers?'

19 You will not look upon a shameless people, a people of exalted words. For you are not able to understand the dissertation of a tongue in which there is no wisdom.

Thou shalt not see the fierce people; a people of a deep speech that thou canst not perceive, of a stammering tongue that thou canst not understand.

20 Look with favor upon Zion, the city of our solemnity. Your eyes will behold Jerusalem: an opulent habitation, a tabernacle that can never be taken away. Its stakes will not be taken away forever, nor will any of its cords be broken.

Look upon Zion, the city of our solemn gatherings; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a peaceful habitation, a tent that shall not be removed, the stakes whereof shall never be plucked up, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.

21 For only in that place has our Lord been magnified. It is a place of rivers, very broad and open. No ship with oars will cross through it, nor will the great Greek ship pass through it.

But there the LORD will be with us in majesty, in a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

22 For the Lord is our judge. The Lord is our lawgiver. The Lord is our king. He himself will save us.

For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our Lawgiver, the LORD is our King; He will save us.

23 Your ropes have become loose, and they will not prevail. Your mast will be such that you will not be able to unfurl a flag. Then the spoils of much plunder will be divided. The lame will seize the spoils.

Thy tacklings are loosed; they do not hold the stand of their mast, they do not spread the sail; then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

24 He who is nearby will not say: “I am too weak.” The people who live in it will have their iniquity taken away from them.

And the inhabitant shall not say: 'I am sick'; the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.