Isaiah 33
1 Alas! thou plunderer when, thou, hadst not been plundered, And thou traitor when they had not betrayed thee: When thou hast ceased plundering, thou shalt be plundered, When thou hast left off betraying, they shall betray thee.
Terrible things will happen to you [people of Assyria]! You have destroyed [others], [but] you have not been destroyed [yet]. You have betrayed/deceived [others], [but] you have not been betrayed/deceived [yet]. When you stop destroying [others], others will destroy you. When you stop betraying/deceiving others, [others] betray you.
2 O Yahweh! shew us favour, —For thee, have we waited, —Be thou their arm every morning, Yea our salvation in the time of distress.
Yahweh, be kind to us, because we have patiently waited for you [to help us]. Enable us to be strong every day, and rescue us when we have troubles.
3 At the noise of a tumult, the peoples retreated, —When thou didst lift thyself up, nations were scattered.
Our enemies run away when they hear your voice. When you stand up and show that you are powerful [IDM], the people of all nations flee.
4 Then shall your spoil be gathered as the gathering of the caterpillar, —As the swift running of locusts, is he about to run upon them.
[And after our enemies have been defeated], we, your people, will take away all our enemies’ possessions like [SIM] caterpillars and locusts strip off all the leaves of plants.
5 Exalted is Yahweh, for he inhabiteth a height, —He hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
Yahweh is greater than anyone else, and he lives in heaven, and he will rule justly and righteously in Jerusalem.
6 So shall a wealth of deliverances, wisdom and knowledge, become the stability of thy times, —the reverence of Yahweh, the same is his treasure.
[When that happens], he will enable you to live securely/safely; he will fully protect your possessions, he will enable you to be wise and to know [all that you need to know]; and revering Yahweh will be [like] [MET] a valuable treasure for you.
7 Lo! their heroes, have cried out openly, —the messengers of peace, in bitterness, continue weeping [they say]:
[But now], look, our brave men are crying out in the streets; our ambassadors [have gone to other countries to make peace treaties], [but they will] cry bitterly [because they will not succeed].
8 The highways are deserted, The passer-by on the path, hath ceased, —He hath broken covenant, He hath despised cities, He hath made no account of men.
No one travels on our roads [DOU]. [The leaders of Assyria] have broken/disregarded their peace treaty [with us]; they despise the people who made those treaties, and they do not respect anyone.
9 The land mourneth, languisheth, Lebanon, displayeth shame, is withered, —Sharon, hath become, as the waste plain, And Bashan and Carmel are shaking off their leaves.
The land [of Judah] is dry and barren. The [cedar trees in] Lebanon are drying up and decaying. The Sharon [Plain along the coast] is now a desert. There are no more leaves on the trees in the Bashan and Carmel [areas].
10 Now, will I arise, Saith Yahweh, Now, will I lift myself up, Now, will I be exalted!
Yahweh says, “Now I will begin to show that I am very powerful [DOU].
11 Ye shall conceive chaff Ye shall bring forth stubble, —Your own breath, like fire, shall devour you.
You [people of Assyria] make plans that are [as useless as] [MET] chaff and straw. Your breath will become a fire that will burn you up.
12 So shall peoples, become, as the burnings of lime, —As thorns lopped off, with fire, shall they be burned.
[Your] people will be burned until only ashes remain [MET] like [SIM] thornbushes are cut down and burned up in a fire.
13 Hear—ye that are far off. what I have done, And know—ye that are near my might:
You people who live far away and you people who live nearby, pay attention to what I have done and realize that I am [very] powerful.”
14 Terror-stricken in Zion, —are sinners, Shuddering hath seized the impious, —Who among us can sojourn with a fire that devoureth? Who among us can sojourn with burnings age-abiding?
The sinners in Jerusalem will tremble because of being very afraid; godless people will be terrified. [They say], “None of us can [RHQ] remain alive because this fire is burning everything; it is like the fire on Yahweh’s altar that will burn forever!”
15 He that walketh righteously, And speaketh uprightly, —He that refuseth the gain of exactions That shaketh his hands free from holding a bribe, That stoppeth his ear from hearkening to deeds of blood, And shutteth his eyes from giving countenance to wrong,
Those who act honestly and say what is right, those who do not try to become rich by (extortion/forcing people to give them money), those who do not try to get bribes, those who refuse to listen to people who are planning to murder someone, those who do not join others who urge them to do what is wrong,
16 He, the heights, shall inhabit, A stronghold of crags, shall be his refuge, —His bread, hath been delivered, His waters, have been made sure,
they are the people who will live safely [MTY]; they will find places to be safe in the caves in the mountains. They will have plenty of food and water.
17 Of a king, in his beauty, shall thine eyes have vision: They shall see a land that stretcheth afar.
You [SYN] [people of Judah] will see the king wearing all his beautiful [robes], and you will see that he rules a land that extends far away.
18 Thy heart, may murmur in terror, —Where is the scribe? Where—the receiver? Where—he that maketh a list of the towers?
When you see that, you will think about when you were previously terrified, [and you will say], “[The officers of Assyria] who counted the tax money that we were forced to pay to them [have disappeared] [RHQ]! Those men who counted our towers [are gone] [RHQ]!
19 The fierce people, shalt thou not see, —The people of too deep a lip to be understood, of too barbarous a tongue for thee to comprehend.
Those arrogant people who spoke a language that we could not understand are no longer here!”
20 Look thou on Zion, the city of our appointed feast, —Thine own eyes, shall see Jerusalem—A home of comfort A tent which shall not be packed up—Whose pins shall not be pulled out, for ever, And none of, whose cords, shall be broken.
[At that time], you will see Zion Hill, the place where we celebrate our festivals; you will see that Jerusalem has become a place that is calm and safe. It will be [secure], [like] [SIM] a tent [that cannot be moved because] its ropes are tight and its stakes are firmly in the ground.
21 But, there shall Yahweh be our majestic one, A place of rivers—streams broad on both hands, Wherein shall go no galley with oars, Neither shall majestic ship traverse it;
Yahweh will be our mighty God; he will be [like] [SIM] a mighty river that will protect us because [our enemies] will not be able to cross it; no one will be able to row across it and no ships will be able to sail across it.
22 For, Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh, is our lawgiver, —Yahweh, is our king, He will save us!
Yahweh is our judge; he is the one who gives us laws, and he is our king. He will rescue us.
23 Loosed are thy ropes, —They cannot strengthen the socket of their mast They have not unfurled a sail Now, can be apportioned spoil, in abundance, The lame, have captured prey!
The ropes on our enemies’ boats will hang loose, their masts will not be fastened firmly, and their sails will not be spread out. The treasures that they have seized will be divided [among us, God’s people], and even lame [people among us] will get some.
24 Neither shall the inhabitant say. I am sick, —the people who dwell therein, have been forgiven iniquity.
And the people in Jerusalem will no [longer] say, “We are sick,” [because Yahweh] will forgive the sins that have been committed by the people who live there.
