Isaiah 33
1 Woe to thee, thou spoiler, who hast not been spoiled! Thou plunderer, who hast not been plundered! When thou hast ceased to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; When thou hast finished plundering, they shall plunder thee.
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 Jehovah, have mercy upon us! in thee do we trust; Be thou our strength every morning, Our salvation in the time of trouble.
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 At the voice of thy thunder the people flee; When thou dost arise, the nations are scattered.
At the loud noise the peoples have gone in flight; at your coming up the nations have gone in all directions.
4 Your spoil shall be gathered, as the locust gathereth; As the locust runneth, so shall they run upon 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 Jehovah is exalted; Yea, he dwelleth on high; He filleth Zion with justice and righteousness.
The Lord is lifted up; his place is on high: he has made Zion full of righteousness and true religion.
6 There shall be security in thy times; Wisdom and knowledge shall be thy store of prosperity, And the fear of Jehovah, this shall be thy 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, the mighty men cry without: The ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
See, the men of war are sorrowing outside the town: those who came looking for peace are weeping bitterly.
8 The highways are desolate; The traveller ceaseth; He breaketh the covenant; he despiseth the cities; Of men he maketh no account.
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 mourneth and languisheth; Lebanon is put to shame, and withered away; Sharon is like a desert, And Bashan and Carmel are stripped of their leaves.
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 will I arise, saith Jehovah, Now will I exalt myself, Now will I lift myself up.
Now will I come forward, says the Lord; now will I be lifted up; now will my power be seen.
11 Ye shall conceive chaff, and bring forth stubble; Your own wrath is the fire which shall devour 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 The nations shall be burnt into lime; Like thorns cut down, they shall be consumed with fire.
And the peoples will be like the burning of chalk: as thorns cut down, which are burned in the fire.
13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; Mark, ye that are near, my power!
Give ear, you who are far off, to what I have done: see my power, you who are near.
14 The sinners in Zion are struck with dread; Terror hath seized upon the unrighteous: “Who among us can dwell in devouring fire? Who among us can dwell in everlasting flames?”
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 He that walketh in righteousness, And speaketh that which is right, That despiseth the gain of oppression, And shaketh his hands from bribery, That stoppeth his ears, so as not to hear of blood, And shutteth his eyes, so as not to behold iniquity.
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 shall dwell on high; The strongholds of rocks shall be his defence; His bread shall be given him; His water shall not fail.
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 Thine eyes shall see the king in his glory They shall survey a wide-extended land.
Your eyes will see the king in his glory: they will be looking on a far-stretching land.
18 Thy heart shall meditate on the past terror: “Where now is the scribe? Where the weigher of tribute? Where he that numbered 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 Thou shalt see no more a fierce people, A people of a dark language, which thou couldst not hear, And of a barbarous tongue, which thou couldst not understand;
Never again will you see the cruel people, a people whose tongue has no sense for you; whose language is strange to you.
20 Thou shalt see Zion, the city of our solemn feasts; Thine eyes shall behold Jerusalem, as a quiet habitation. A tent that shall never be moved, Whose stakes shall never be taken away, And whose cords shall never be 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 For there the glorious Jehovah will be to us Instead of rivers and broad streams, Which no oared galley shall pass, And no gallant ship go through.
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 Jehovah is our judge; Jehovah is our lawgiver; Jehovah is our king; it is he that will save us.
For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our law-giver, the Lord is our king; he will be our saviour.
23 Thy ropes hang loose; They cannot hold the mast-socket, Nor can they spread the sail. Then shall a great spoil be divided; Even the lame shall take the prey.
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 No inhabitant shall say, I am sick; The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.
And the men of Zion will not say, I am ill: for its people will have forgiveness for their sin.
