Isaiah 33
1 Woe, spoiler! and thou not spoiled, And treacherous! and they dealt not treacherously with thee, When thou dost finish, O spoiler, thou art spoiled, When thou dost finish dealing treacherously, They deal treacherously with thee.
Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.
2 O Jehovah, favour us, for thee we have waited, Be their arm, in the mornings, Yea, our salvation in time of adversity.
O LORD, be gracious to us! We wait for You. Be our strength every morning and our salvation in time of trouble.
3 From the voice of a multitude fled have peoples, From thine exaltation scattered have been nations.
The peoples flee the thunder of Your voice; the nations scatter when You rise.
4 And gathered hath been your spoil, A gathering of the caterpillar, As a running to and fro of locusts is he running on it.
Your spoil, O nations, is gathered as by locusts; like a swarm of locusts men sweep over it.
5 Set on high is Jehovah, 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 hath been the stedfastness of thy times, The strength of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge, Fear of Jehovah — it [is] His treasure.
He will be the sure foundation for your times, a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.
7 Lo, 'Their Ariel,' they have cried without, Messengers of peace do weep bitterly.
Behold, their valiant ones cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 Desolated have been highways, Ceased hath he who passeth along the path, He hath broken covenant, He hath despised enemies, He hath not esteemed a man.
The highways are deserted; travel has ceased. The treaty has been broken, the witnesses are despised, and human life is disregarded.
9 Mourned, languished hath the land, Confounded hath been Lebanon, Withered hath been Sharon as a wilderness, And shaking are Bashan and Carmel.
The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is ashamed and decayed. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10 Now, do I arise, saith Jehovah, 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 Ye conceive chaff, ye bear stubble, Your spirit! — fire devoureth you.
You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble. Your breath is a fire that will consume you.
12 And peoples have been [as] burnings of lime, Thorns, as sweepings, with fire they burn.
The peoples will be burned to ashes, like thorns cut down and set ablaze.
13 Hear, ye far off, that which I have done, And know, ye near ones, My might.
You who are far off, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge My might.”
14 Afraid in Zion have been sinners, Seized hath trembling the profane: Who doth dwell for us — consuming fire, Who doth dwell for us — burnings of the age?
The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the ungodly: “Who of us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting flames?”
15 Whoso 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 with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—
16 He high places doth inhabit, Strongholds of rock [are] his high tower, His bread hath been given, his waters stedfast.
he will dwell on the heights; the mountain fortress will be his refuge; his food will be provided and his water assured.
17 A king in his beauty, see do thine eyes, They see a land afar off.
Your eyes will see the King in His beauty and behold a land that stretches afar.
18 Thy heart doth meditate terror, Where [is] he who is counting? Where [is] he who is weighing? Where [is] he who is counting the towers?
Your mind will ponder the former terror: “Where is he who tallies? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?”
19 The strong people thou seest not, A people deeper of lip than to be understood, Of a scorned tongue, there is no understanding.
You will no longer see the insolent, a people whose speech is unintelligible, who stammer in a language you cannot understand.
20 See Zion, the city of our meetings, Thine eyes see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, A tent not taken down, Not removed are its pins for ever, And none of its cords are broken.
Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander; its tent pegs will not be pulled up, nor will any of its cords be broken.
21 But there mighty [is] Jehovah for us, A place of rivers — streams broad of sides, No ship with oars doth go into it, And a mighty ship doth not pass over it.
But there the Majestic One, our LORD, will be for us a place of rivers and wide canals, where no galley with oars will row, and no majestic vessel will pass.
22 For Jehovah our judge, Jehovah our lawgiver, Jehovah our king — He doth save us.
For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our King. It is He who will save us.
23 Left have been thy ropes, They strengthen not rightly their mast, They have not spread out a sail, Then apportioned hath been a prey of much spoil, The lame have taken spoil.
Your ropes are slack; they cannot secure the mast or spread the sail. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided, and even the lame will carry off plunder.
24 Nor doth an inhabitant say, 'I was sick,' The people that is dwelling in it, is forgiven of iniquity!
And no resident of Zion will say, “I am sick.” The people who dwell there will be forgiven of iniquity.
