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 shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal 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 YHWH, 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 people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were 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 shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.
5 The Lord has been magnified, because he has lived on high. He has filled Zion with judgment and justice.
YHWH is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment 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 wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of YHWH is his treasure.
7 Behold, outside, those who see will cry out. The Angels of peace will weep bitterly.
Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall 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 no 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 earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.
10 “Now, I will rise up!” says the Lord. “Now I will be exalted! Now I will lift myself up!”
Now will I rise, saith YHWH; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.
11 You will conceive heat. You will give birth to stubble. Your own spirit will devour you like fire.
Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, 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 people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be 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; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. 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 seeing 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: bread shall be given him; 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 the land that is very far off.
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?
Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? 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 a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst 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 solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, 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 majestic YHWH will be unto us 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 YHWH is our judge, YHWH is our lawgiver, YHWH 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 could not well strengthen their mast, they could 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.
