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.
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 Jehovah, favour us, for thee we have waited, Be their arm, in the mornings, Yea, our salvation in time of adversity.
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 From the voice of a multitude fled have peoples, From thine exaltation scattered have been nations.
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 And gathered hath been your spoil, A gathering of the caterpillar, As a running to and fro of locusts is he running on it.
[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 Set on high is Jehovah, for He is dwelling on high, He filled Zion [with] judgment and righteousness,
Yahweh is greater than anyone else, and he lives in heaven, and he will rule justly and righteously in Jerusalem.
6 And hath been the stedfastness of thy times, The strength of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge, Fear of Jehovah — it [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 Ariel,' they have cried without, Messengers of peace do weep bitterly.
[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 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.
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 Mourned, languished hath the land, Confounded hath been Lebanon, Withered hath been Sharon as a wilderness, And shaking are Bashan and Carmel.
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, do I arise, saith Jehovah, Now I am exalted, now I am lifted up.
Yahweh says, “Now I will begin to show that I am very powerful [DOU].
11 Ye conceive chaff, ye bear stubble, Your spirit! — fire devoureth 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 And peoples have been [as] burnings of lime, Thorns, as sweepings, with fire they burn.
[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 far off, that which I have done, And know, ye near ones, 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 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 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 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,
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 high places doth inhabit, Strongholds of rock [are] his high tower, His bread hath been given, his waters stedfast.
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 A king in his beauty, see do thine eyes, They see a land afar off.
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 doth meditate terror, Where [is] he who is counting? Where [is] he who is weighing? Where [is] he who is counting 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 strong people thou seest not, A people deeper of lip than to be understood, Of a scorned tongue, there is no understanding.
Those arrogant people who spoke a language that we could not understand are no longer here!”
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.
[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 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.
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 Jehovah our judge, Jehovah our lawgiver, Jehovah our king — He doth save us.
Yahweh is our judge; he is the one who gives us laws, and he is our king. He will rescue 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.
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 Nor doth an inhabitant say, 'I was sick,' The people that is dwelling in it, is forgiven of 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.
