Isaiah 33
1 Woe to you, destroyer who has not been destroyed! Woe to the betrayer whom they have not betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed. When you stop betraying, they will betray you.
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.
2 Yahweh, be gracious to us; we wait for you; be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.
O Yahweh! shew us favour, —For thee, have we waited, —Be thou their arm every morning, Yea our salvation in the time of distress.
3 At the loud noise the peoples flee; when you arise, the nations are scattered.
At the noise of a tumult, the peoples retreated, —When thou didst lift thyself up, nations were scattered.
4 Your spoil is gathered as the locusts gather; as locusts leap, men leap on it.
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.
5 Yahweh is exalted. He lives in a high place. He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.
Exalted is Yahweh, for he inhabiteth a height, —He hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6 He will be the stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of Yahweh is his treasure.
So shall a wealth of deliverances, wisdom and knowledge, become the stability of thy times, —the reverence of Yahweh, the same is his treasure.
7 Look, their envoys cry in the streets; the diplomats hoping for peace weep bitterly.
Lo! their heroes, have cried out openly, —the messengers of peace, in bitterness, continue weeping [they say]:
8 The highways are deserted; there are no more travelers. Covenants are broken, witnesses are despised, and mankind is not respected.
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.
9 The land mourns and withers away; Lebanon is ashamed and withers away; Sharon is like a desert plain; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
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.
10 “Now will I arise,” says Yahweh; “now I will be lifted up; now I will be elevated.
Now, will I arise, Saith Yahweh, Now, will I lift myself up, Now, will I be exalted!
11 You conceive chaff, and you give birth to stubble; your breath is a fire that will consume you.
Ye shall conceive chaff Ye shall bring forth stubble, —Your own breath, like fire, shall devour you.
12 The peoples will be burned to lime, as thornbushes are cut down and are burned.
So shall peoples, become, as the burnings of lime, —As thorns lopped off, with fire, shall they be burned.
13 You who are far away, hear what I have done; and, you who are near, acknowledge my might.”
Hear—ye that are far off. what I have done, And know—ye that are near my might:
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless ones. Who among us can sojourn with a raging fire? Who among us can sojourn with everlasting burnings?
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?
15 He who walks righteously and speaks honestly; who despises the gain of oppression, who shakes his hand so that it will not accept a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed, and who shuts his eyes from looking on evil—
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,
16 this is the man who will dwell on the heights, his place of defense will be the fortress among the cliffs, his food will be given, and his water will be in steady supply.
He, the heights, shall inhabit, A stronghold of crags, shall be his refuge, —His bread, hath been delivered, His waters, have been made sure,
17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty; they will see a land off in the distance.
Of a king, in his beauty, shall thine eyes have vision: They shall see a land that stretcheth afar.
18 Your heart will recall the terror; where is the scribe, where is he who weighed the money? Where is he who counted the towers?
Thy heart, may murmur in terror, —Where is the scribe? Where—the receiver? Where—he that maketh a list of the towers?
19 You will no longer see the defiant people, a people of a strange language that you do not understand.
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.
20 Look at Zion, the city of our feasts; your eyes will see Jerusalem as a quiet habitation, a tent that will not be removed, whose stakes will never be pulled up nor will any of its cords be broken.
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.
21 Instead, Yahweh in majesty will be with us, in a place of broad rivers and streams. No warship with oars will travel it, and no large ships will sail by.
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;
22 For Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh is our lawgiver, Yahweh is our king; he will save us.
For, Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh, is our lawgiver, —Yahweh, is our king, He will save us!
23 Your riggings are slack; they cannot hold the mast in place; they cannot spread the sail; when the great spoil is divided, even the lame will drag off the spoil.
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!
24 The inhabitants will not say, “I am sick;” the people who live there will be forgiven for their iniquity.
Neither shall the inhabitant say. I am sick, —the people who dwell therein, have been forgiven iniquity.
