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.
Woe to you who destroy, but you weren’t destroyed, and who betray, but nobody betrayed you! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed; and when you have finished betrayal, you will be betrayed.
2 O YHWH, favor us, We have waited for You, Be their arm, in the mornings, Indeed, our salvation in time of adversity.
LORD, be gracious to us. We have waited for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3 From the voice of a multitude peoples have fled, From Your exaltation nations have been scattered.
At the noise of the thunder, the peoples have fled. When you lift yourself up, the nations are scattered.
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.
Your plunder will be gathered as the caterpillar gathers. Men will leap on it as locusts leap.
5 YHWH is set on high, for He is dwelling on high, He filled Zion [with] judgment and righteousness,
The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high. He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6 And has been the steadfastness of your times, The strength of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge, Fear of YHWH—it [is] His treasure.
There will be stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD is your treasure.
7 Behold, “Their Ariel,” they have cried outside, Messengers of peace weep bitterly.
Behold, their valiant ones cry outside; the ambassadors of peace weep 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 desolate. The travelling man ceases. The covenant is broken. He has despised the cities. He doesn’t respect 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 land mourns and languishes. Lebanon is confounded and withers away. Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.
10 Now I arise, says YHWH, Now I am exalted, now I am lifted up.
“Now I will arise,” says the LORD. “Now I will lift myself up. Now I will be exalted.
11 You conceive chaff, you bear stubble; Your spirit—a fire [that] devours you.
You will conceive chaff. You will give birth to stubble. Your breath is a fire that will devour you.
12 And peoples have been [as] burnings of lime, Thorns, as sweepings, they burn with fire.
The peoples will be like the burning of lime, like thorns that are cut down and burnt in the fire.
13 Hear, you far off, that which I have done, And know, you near ones, My might.
Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and, you who are near, acknowledge my might.”
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 afraid. Trembling has seized the godless ones. Who amongst us can live with the devouring fire? Who amongst us can live with everlasting burning?
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 who walks righteously and speaks blamelessly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil—
16 He inhabits high places, Strongholds of rock [are] his high tower, His bread has been given, his waters steadfast.
he will dwell on high. His place of defence will be the fortress of rocks. His bread will be supplied. His waters will be sure.
17 Your eyes see a king in his beauty, They see a far-off land.
Your eyes will see the king in his beauty. They will see a distant 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 meditate on the terror. Where is he who counted? Where is he who weighed? Where is he who counted the towers?
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.
You will no longer see the fierce people, a people of a deep speech that you can’t comprehend, with a strange language that you can’t understand.
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.
Look at Zion, the city of our appointed festivals. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that won’t be removed. Its stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords 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 majesty, a place of wide rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars will go, neither will any gallant ship pass by there.
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 lawgiver. The LORD is our king. He will save us.
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 rigging is untied. They couldn’t strengthen the foot of their mast. They couldn’t spread the sail. Then the prey of a great plunder was divided. The lame took the prey.
24 Nor does an inhabitant say, “I was sick”; The people dwelling in it [are] forgiven of [their] iniquity!
The inhabitant won’t say, “I am sick.” The people who dwell therein will be forgiven their iniquity.
