Isaiah 33
1 Woe, spoiler! And you not spoiled, And treacherous! And they did not deal treacherously with you, When you finish, O spoiler, you are spoiled, When you finish dealing treacherously, They deal treacherously with you.
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.
2 O YHWH, favor us, We have waited for You, Be their arm, in the mornings, Indeed, our salvation in time of adversity.
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.
3 From the voice of a multitude peoples have fled, From Your exaltation nations have been scattered.
At the loud noise the peoples have gone in flight; at your coming up the nations have gone in all directions.
4 And Your spoil has been gathered, A gathering of the caterpillar, As a running to and fro of locusts He is running on it.
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.
5 YHWH is set on high, for He is dwelling on high, He filled Zion [with] judgment and righteousness,
The Lord is lifted up; his place is on high: he has made Zion full of righteousness and true religion.
6 And has been the steadfastness of your times, The strength of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge, Fear of YHWH—it [is] His treasure.
And she will have no more fear of change, being full of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is her wealth.
7 Behold, “Their Ariel,” they have cried outside, Messengers of peace weep bitterly.
See, the men of war are sorrowing outside the town: those who came looking for peace are weeping bitterly.
8 Highways have been desolated, He who passes along the path has ceased, He has broken covenant, He has despised enemies, He has not esteemed a man.
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.
9 The land has mourned, languished, Lebanon has been confounded, Sharon has been withered as a wilderness, And Bashan and Carmel are shaking.
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.
10 Now I arise, says YHWH, Now I am exalted, now I am lifted up.
Now will I come forward, says the Lord; now will I be lifted up; now will my power be seen.
11 You conceive chaff, you bear stubble; Your spirit—a fire [that] devours you.
Your designs will be without profit, and their effect will be nothing: you will be burned up by the fire of my breath.
12 And peoples have been [as] burnings of lime, Thorns, as sweepings, they burn with fire.
And the peoples will be like the burning of chalk: as thorns cut down, which are burned in the fire.
13 Hear, you far off, that which I have done, And know, you near ones, My might.
Give ear, you who are far off, to what I have done: see my power, you who are near.
14 Sinners have been afraid in Zion, Trembling has seized the profane: Who dwells for us—consuming fire, Who dwells for us—burnings of the age?
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?
15 Whoever is walking righteously, And is speaking uprightly, Kicking against gain of oppressions, Shaking his hands from taking hold on a bribe, Stopping his ear from hearing of blood, And shutting his eyes from looking on evil,
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;
16 He inhabits high places, Strongholds of rock [are] his high tower, His bread has been given, his waters steadfast.
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.
17 Your eyes see a king in his beauty, They see a far-off land.
Your eyes will see the king in his glory: they will be looking on a far-stretching land.
18 Your heart meditates [on] terror, Where [is] he who is counting? Where [is] he who is weighing? Where [is] he who is counting the towers?
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?
19 You do not see the strong people, A people deeper of lip than to be understood, Of a scorned tongue, there is no understanding.
Never again will you see the cruel people, a people whose tongue has no sense for you; whose language is strange to you.
20 See Zion, the city of our meetings, Your eyes see Jerusalem—a quiet habitation, A tent not taken down, its pins are not removed forever, And none of its cords are broken.
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.
21 But YHWH [is] mighty for us there, A place of rivers—streams of broad sides, No ship with oars goes into it, And a mighty ship does not pass over it.
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.
22 For YHWH, ours who is judging, YHWH our lawgiver, YHWH our King—He saves us.
For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our law-giver, the Lord is our king; he will be our saviour.
23 Your ropes have been left, They do not correctly strengthen their mast, They have not spread out a sail, Then a prey of much spoil has been apportioned, The lame have taken spoil.
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.
24 Nor does an inhabitant say, “I was sick”; The people dwelling in it [are] forgiven of [their] iniquity!
And the men of Zion will not say, I am ill: for its people will have forgiveness for their sin.
