Isaiah 33:13-24
New English Translation
13 You who are far away, listen to what I have done!
You who are close by, recognize my strength.”
14 Sinners are afraid in Zion;
panic[a] grips the godless.[b]
They say,[c] “Who among us can coexist with destructive fire?
Who among us can coexist with unquenchable[d] fire?”
15 The one who lives[e] uprightly[f]
and speaks honestly;
the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures
and rejects a bribe;[g]
the one who does not plot violent crimes[h]
and does not seek to harm others[i]—
16 this is the person who will live in a secure place;[j]
he will find safety in the rocky, mountain strongholds;[k]
he will have food
and a constant supply of water.
17 You will see a king in his splendor;[l]
you will see a wide land.[m]
18 Your mind will recall the terror you experienced,[n]
and you will ask yourselves,[o] “Where is the scribe?
Where is the one who weighs the money?
Where is the one who counts the towers?”[p]
19 You will no longer see a defiant[q] people
whose language you do not comprehend,[r]
whose derisive speech you do not understand.[s]
20 Look at Zion, the city where we hold religious festivals!
You[t] will see Jerusalem,
a peaceful settlement,
a tent that stays put;[u]
its stakes will never be pulled up;
none of its ropes will snap in two.
21 Instead the Lord will rule there as our mighty king.[v]
Rivers and wide streams will flow through it;[w]
no war galley will enter;[x]
no large ships will sail through.[y]
22 For the Lord, our ruler,
the Lord, our commander,
the Lord, our king—
he will deliver us.
23 Though at this time your ropes are slack,[z]
the mast is not secured,[aa]
and the sail[ab] is not unfurled,
at that time you will divide up a great quantity of loot;[ac]
even the lame will drag off plunder.[ad]
24 No resident of Zion[ae] will say, “I am ill”;
the people who live there will have their sin forgiven.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 33:14 tn Or “trembling” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “shake with fear.”
- Isaiah 33:14 tn Or “the defiled”; TEV “The sinful people of Zion”; NLT “The sinners in Jerusalem.”
- Isaiah 33:14 tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Isaiah 33:14 tn Or “perpetual”; or “everlasting” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
- Isaiah 33:15 tn Heb “walks” (so NASB, NIV).
- Isaiah 33:15 tn Or, possibly, “justly”; NAB “who practices virtue.”
- Isaiah 33:15 tn Heb “[who] shakes off his hands from grabbing hold of a bribe.”
- Isaiah 33:15 tn Heb “[who] shuts his ear from listening to bloodshed.”
- Isaiah 33:15 tn Heb “[who] closes his eyes from seeing evil.”
- Isaiah 33:16 tn Heb “he [in the] exalted places will live.”
- Isaiah 33:16 tn Heb “mountain strongholds, cliffs [will be] his elevated place.”
- Isaiah 33:17 tn Heb “your eyes will see a king in his beauty”; NIV, NRSV “the king.”
- Isaiah 33:17 tn Heb “a land of distances,” i.e., an extensive land.
- Isaiah 33:18 tn Heb “your heart will meditate on terror.”
- Isaiah 33:18 tn The words “and you will ask yourselves” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.
- Isaiah 33:18 sn The people refer to various Assyrian officials who were responsible for determining the amount of taxation or tribute Judah must pay to the Assyrian king.
- Isaiah 33:19 tn The Hebrew form נוֹעָז (noʿaz) is a Niphal participle derived from יָעַז (yaʿaz, an otherwise unattested verb) or from עָזָז (ʿazaz, “be strong,” unattested elsewhere in the Niphal). Some prefer to emend the form to לוֹעֵז (loʿez) which occurs in Ps 114:1 with the meaning “speak a foreign language.” See HALOT 809 s.v. עזז, 533 s.v. לעז. In this case, one might translate “people who speak a foreign language.”
- Isaiah 33:19 tn Heb “a people too deep of lip to hear.” The phrase “deep of lip” must be an idiom meaning “lips that speak words that are unfathomable [i.e., incomprehensible].”
- Isaiah 33:19 tn Heb “derision of tongue there is no understanding.” The Niphal of לָעַג (laʿag) occurs only here. In the Qal and Hiphil the verb means “to deride, mock.” A related noun is used in 28:11.
- Isaiah 33:20 tn Heb “your eyes” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
- Isaiah 33:20 tn Or “that does not travel”; NASB “which shall not be folded.”
- Isaiah 33:21 tn Heb “But there [as] a mighty one [will be] the Lord for us.”
- Isaiah 33:21 tn Heb “a place of rivers, streams wide of hands [i.e., on both sides].”
- Isaiah 33:21 tn Heb “a ship of rowing will not go into it.”
- Isaiah 33:21 tn Heb “and a mighty ship will not pass through it.”
- Isaiah 33:23 tn The words “though at this time” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The first half of the verse is addressed to Judah and contrasts the nation’s present weakness with its future prosperity. Judah is compared to a ship that is incapable of sailing.
- Isaiah 33:23 tn Heb “they do not fasten the base of their mast.” On כֵּן (ken, “base”) see BDB 487 s.v. III כֵּן and HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן.
- Isaiah 33:23 tn Or perhaps, “flag.”
- Isaiah 33:23 tn Heb “then there will be divided up loot of plunder [in] abundance.”
- Isaiah 33:23 sn Judah’s victory over its enemies will be so thorough there will be more than enough plunder for everyone, even slow-moving lame men who would normally get left out in the rush to gather the loot.
- Isaiah 33:24 tn The words “of Zion” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
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