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God’s Judgment

33 “How terrible it will be for you, destroyer,
    you who have not been destroyed yourself!
And how terrible it will be for you, traitor,
    one whom[a] people have not betrayed!
When you have sunk so low in[b] destroying others,
    you will be destroyed;
and when you have finished betraying,
    they will betray you.”

A Prayer for Grace

Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you;
    and[c] be our strength[d] every morning,
        our salvation in times of trouble.
At the thunder of your voice, the peoples flee;
    at your silence,[e] the nations scatter.
Your plunder is gathered as when grasshoppers gather;
    just like[f] locusts pounce, people have pounced[g] on it.

“The Lord is exalted, for he lives on high;
    he has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
He will be a sure foundation for your times,
    abundance and salvation,[h] wisdom and knowledge —
        the fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.”

Israel’s Unenviable Plight

“Listen! Their brave men cry out in the streets;
    the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
The highways are deserted;
    travelers have quit the road.
The enemy[i] has broken treaties;
    he despises their witnesses,[j]
        and respects no one.
The land mourns and wastes away;
    Lebanon feels ashamed and withers.
Sharon is like a desert;
    Bashan[k] and Carmel shake off their leaves.”

God is Exalted

10 “Now I’ll rise up,” the Lord has said,[l]
    “now I’ll exalt myself;
        now I’ll be lifted up.
11 You conceive dried grass, you give birth to stubble;
    your breath is a fire that will consume you.
12 And the peoples will be burned as if to ashes;
    like cut thorn bushes, they will be set ablaze.

13 “Those who are far away have heard[m] what I’ve done;
    and those that are near have acknowledged[n] my power.
14 The sinners in Zion are terrified;
    trembling grips the godless:
“Who among us can live with the consuming fire?
    Who among us can live with everlasting flames?”
15 The one who walks righteously and has spoken[o] sincere words,
    who rejects gain from extortion
and waves his hand,
    rejecting bribes,
    who blocks his ears from hearing plots of murder
        and shuts his eyes against seeing evil—
16 this is the one who will live on the heights;
    his refuge will be a mountain fortress.
His food will be supplied,
    and his water will be guaranteed.

17 “Your eyes will see the king in his elegance,
    and will view a land that stretches afar.
18 Your mind will ponder at that time of terror:
    ‘Where is the king’s accountant?
Where is the one who weighed the revenue?
    Where is the officer who supervises[p] the towers?’
19 No longer will you[q] see those arrogant people,
    those people with their obscure speech you cannot comprehend,
    stammering in a language you cannot understand.

20 “Look at Zion, city of our festivals![r]
    Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
        an undisturbed abode, an immovable tent;
its stakes will never be pulled up,
    nor will any of its ropes be broken.
21 But there the Lord in majesty will be for us
    our source[s] of broad rivers and streams,
where no galley with oars can go,
    where no stately ship can sail.
22 For the Lord is our judge,
    and the Lord is our lawgiver;
and the Lord is our king,
    and it is he who will save us.

23 “Your rigging hangs loose;
    it cannot reliably[t] hold the mast in its place,
        and the sail cannot spread out.[u]
Then an abundance of spoils will be divided —
    even the lame will carry off plunder.
24 And no one living there will say, ‘I am ill.’
    The people living there will have their sins forgiven.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 33:1 So 1QIsaa MT; MTmss read you whom
  2. Isaiah 33:1 So 1QIsaa; MT reads stopped
  3. Isaiah 33:2 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks and
  4. Isaiah 33:2 Lit. arm
  5. Isaiah 33:3 So 1QIsaa; MT reads when you rise up; LXX reads from fear of you
  6. Isaiah 33:4 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks just like
  7. Isaiah 33:4 So 1QIsaa; MT reads people pounce
  8. Isaiah 33:6 So 1QIsaa; MT reads of salvation
  9. Isaiah 33:8 Lit. He
  10. Isaiah 33:8 So 1QIsaa; MT reads cities
  11. Isaiah 33:9 So 1QIsaa; MT reads and Bashan
  12. Isaiah 33:10 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read says the Lord
  13. Isaiah 33:13 So 1QIsaa; cf. LXX; MT reads You who are far away, hear
  14. Isaiah 33:13 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads you that are near, acknowledge
  15. Isaiah 33:15 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read and who speaks
  16. Isaiah 33:18 Lit. counts
  17. Isaiah 33:19 So 1QIsaa (pl.); MT (sing.)
  18. Isaiah 33:20 So 1QIsaa MTmss; MT reads our festival
  19. Isaiah 33:21 Lit. us a place
  20. Isaiah 33:23 So 1QIsaa; MT reads firmly
  21. Isaiah 33:23 So 1QIsaa; MT reads they cannot spread the sail