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Yahweh’s Judgment and Help

33 Ah, destroyer, and yourself not destroyed!
    And treacherous one, and no one has dealt treacherously with him![a]
When you cease[b] destroying, you will be destroyed.
    When you stop dealing treacherously, one will deal treacherously with you.
Yahweh, be gracious to us, we wait for you.
    Be our[c] arm in the mornings,
    indeed our salvation in the time of trouble.
At the sound of tumult, peoples fled;
    because of your exaltation, nations scattered.
And your spoil is gathered,
    as the gathering of the locust,
        as a swarm of locusts storming on it.
Yahweh is exalted, for he dwells on high;
    he filled Zion with justice and righteousness,
and he will be the security of your times,
    an abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.

The fear of Yahweh is his treasure.

Look! Their heroes cry out in the street;
    the messengers of peace weep bitterly.
Highways are deserted;
    the traveler on the road ceases.
One breaks a treaty,
    he rejects the cities,[d]
    he does not hold man in high regard.
The land mourns; it languishes.
    Lebanon feels abashed; it withers.
Sharon is like the desert,
    and Bashan and Carmel are losing their leaves.[e]
10 “Now I will arise,” says Yahweh.
    “Now I will lift myself up proudly;
    now I will raise myself.
11 You conceive dry grass, you bring forth stubble;
    your breath is a fire; it will consume you.
12 And the peoples will be burning to lime—
    they are burned like thorns that have been cut down in the fire.
13 You who are far away, hear what I have done;
    and you who are near, know my might!”
14 Sinners are afraid in Zion;
    trembling has seized the godless:
“Who of us can live[f] with devouring fire?
    Who of us can live[g] with everlasting consuming hearths?”
15 He who walks in righteousness
    and speaks uprightness,
who rejects the gain of extortion,
    who refuses[h] a bribe,
who stops up his ears[i] from hearing bloodshed[j]
    and shuts his eyes from seeing evil.
16 That one will live on the heights;
    the fortresses of rocks will be his refuge.
His food will be given;
    his waters[k] will endure.
17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty;
    they will see a distant land.[l]
18 Your mind[m] will meditate on the terror:
    “Where is the one who counted?
Where is the one who weighed out?
    Where is the one who counted the towers?”
19 You will not see the insolent people,
    the people whose language is too obscure to understand,[n]
        whose stammering of tongue cannot be understood.[o]
20 Look on Zion, the city of our appointed festivals!
    Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
an undisturbed settlement,
    a tent that is not moved.[p]
No one will ever pull out its tent pegs,
    and none of its ropes will be torn in two.
21 Rather, there Yahweh will be mighty for us,
    a place of rivers and broad streams,[q]
a galley ship with[r] oars[s] cannot go in it,
    and a mighty ship cannot pass through it.
22 For Yahweh is our judge; Yahweh is our lawgiver.
    Yahweh is our king; he is the one who will save us.
23 Your riggings hang slack;
    they do not hold the base of their mast firm,
        they do not spread out the sail.
Then the prey of spoil in abundance will be divided;
    the lame will take plunder.
24 And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”;
    the people who live in it, their iniquity will be taken away.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 33:1 Many manuscripts suggest “you” rather than “him”
  2. Isaiah 33:1 Literally “finishing”
  3. Isaiah 33:2 Hebrew “their”
  4. Isaiah 33:8 A Dead Sea Scroll reads “witnesses”
  5. Isaiah 33:9 Literally “shaking off”
  6. Isaiah 33:14 Literally “dwell as an alien”
  7. Isaiah 33:14 Literally “dwell as an alien”
  8. Isaiah 33:15 Literally “shakes his hand from the taking of”
  9. Isaiah 33:15 Hebrew “ear”
  10. Isaiah 33:15 Literally “blood”
  11. Isaiah 33:16 Hebrew “water”
  12. Isaiah 33:17 Literally “land of distance”
  13. Isaiah 33:18 Literally “heart”
  14. Isaiah 33:19 Literally “obscure of lip than to hear”
  15. Isaiah 33:19 Literally “there is no understanding”
  16. Isaiah 33:20 Literally “not he is loaded”
  17. Isaiah 33:21 Literally “streams broad of hands”
  18. Isaiah 33:21 Or “of”
  19. Isaiah 33:21 Hebrew “oar”

Distress and Help

33 Woe(A) to you, destroyer,
    you who have not been destroyed!
Woe to you, betrayer,
    you who have not been betrayed!
When you stop destroying,
    you will be destroyed;(B)
when you stop betraying,
    you will be betrayed.(C)

Lord, be gracious(D) to us;
    we long for you.
Be our strength(E) every morning,
    our salvation(F) in time of distress.(G)
At the uproar of your army,(H) the peoples flee;(I)
    when you rise up,(J) the nations scatter.
Your plunder,(K) O nations, is harvested(L) as by young locusts;(M)
    like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.

The Lord is exalted,(N) for he dwells on high;(O)
    he will fill Zion with his justice(P) and righteousness.(Q)
He will be the sure foundation for your times,
    a rich store of salvation(R) and wisdom and knowledge;
    the fear(S) of the Lord is the key to this treasure.[a](T)

Look, their brave men(U) cry aloud in the streets;
    the envoys(V) of peace weep bitterly.
The highways are deserted,
    no travelers(W) are on the roads.(X)
The treaty is broken,(Y)
    its witnesses[b] are despised,
    no one is respected.
The land dries up(Z) and wastes away,
    Lebanon(AA) is ashamed and withers;(AB)
Sharon(AC) is like the Arabah,
    and Bashan(AD) and Carmel(AE) drop their leaves.

10 “Now will I arise,(AF)” says the Lord.
    “Now will I be exalted;(AG)
    now will I be lifted up.
11 You conceive(AH) chaff,
    you give birth(AI) to straw;
    your breath is a fire(AJ) that consumes you.
12 The peoples will be burned to ashes;(AK)
    like cut thornbushes(AL) they will be set ablaze.(AM)

13 You who are far away,(AN) hear(AO) what I have done;
    you who are near, acknowledge my power!
14 The sinners(AP) in Zion are terrified;
    trembling(AQ) grips the godless:
“Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire?(AR)
    Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?”
15 Those who walk righteously(AS)
    and speak what is right,(AT)
who reject gain from extortion(AU)
    and keep their hands from accepting bribes,(AV)
who stop their ears against plots of murder
    and shut their eyes(AW) against contemplating evil—
16 they are the ones who will dwell on the heights,(AX)
    whose refuge(AY) will be the mountain fortress.(AZ)
Their bread will be supplied,
    and water will not fail(BA) them.

17 Your eyes will see the king(BB) in his beauty(BC)
    and view a land that stretches afar.(BD)
18 In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror:(BE)
    “Where is that chief officer?
Where is the one who took the revenue?
    Where is the officer in charge of the towers?(BF)
19 You will see those arrogant people(BG) no more,
    people whose speech is obscure,
    whose language is strange and incomprehensible.(BH)

20 Look on Zion,(BI) the city of our festivals;
    your eyes will see Jerusalem,
    a peaceful abode,(BJ) a tent(BK) that will not be moved;(BL)
its stakes will never be pulled up,
    nor any of its ropes broken.
21 There the Lord will be our Mighty(BM) One.
    It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams.(BN)
No galley with oars will ride them,
    no mighty ship(BO) will sail them.
22 For the Lord is our judge,(BP)
    the Lord is our lawgiver,(BQ)
the Lord is our king;(BR)
    it is he who will save(BS) us.

23 Your rigging hangs loose:
    The mast is not held secure,
    the sail is not spread.
Then an abundance of spoils will be divided
    and even the lame(BT) will carry off plunder.(BU)
24 No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”;(BV)
    and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.(BW)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 33:6 Or is a treasure from him
  2. Isaiah 33:8 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text / the cities