Isaiah 33

Isaiah 32 Isaiah 34

Isaiah 33 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Jerusalem Will Be Safe

33 You defeated my people.

    Now you’re in for trouble!
You’ve never been destroyed,
    but you will be destroyed;
you’ve never been betrayed,
    but you will be betrayed.
When you have finished
    destroying and betraying,
you will be destroyed
    and betrayed in return.

²Please, Lord, be kind to us!
    We depend on you.
Make us strong each morning,
and come to save us
    when we are in trouble.
³Nations scatter when you roar
    and show your greatness.^[a]
⁴We attack our enemies
    like swarms of locusts;^[b]
we take everything
    that belongs to them.^[c]

⁵You, Lord, are above all others,
    and you live in the heavens.
You have brought justice
    and fairness to Jerusalem;
⁶you are the foundation
    on which we stand today.
You always save us and give
    true wisdom and knowledge.
Nothing means more to us^[d]
    than obeying you.

The Lord Will Do Something

⁷Listen! Our bravest soldiers
are running through the streets,
    screaming for help.^[e]
Our messengers hoped for peace,
    but came home crying.
⁸No one travels anymore;
    every road is empty.
Treaties are broken,
and no respect is shown
    to any who keep promises.^[f]
⁹Fields are dry and barren;
Mount Lebanon wilts
    with shame.
Sharon Valley is a desert;
the forests of Bashan and Carmel
    have lost their leaves.

¹⁰But the Lord says,
“Now I will do something
    and be greatly praised.
¹¹Your deeds are straw
that will be set on fire
    by your very own breath.
¹²You will be burned to ashes
    like thorns in a fire.
¹³Everyone, both far and near,
come look at what I have done.
    See my mighty power!”

Punishment and Rewards

¹⁴Those terrible sinners
on Mount Zion tremble
as they ask in fear,
“How can we possibly live
where a raging fire
never stops burning?”

¹⁵But there will be rewards
for those who live right
    and tell the truth,
for those who refuse
    to take money by force
    or accept bribes,
for all who hate murder
    and violent crimes.
¹⁶They will live in a fortress
    high on a rocky cliff,
where they will have food
    and plenty of water.

The Lord Is Our King

¹⁷With your own eyes
you will see the glorious King;
    you will see his kingdom
    reaching far and wide.
¹⁸Then you will ask yourself,
    “Where are those officials
who terrified us and forced us
    to pay such heavy taxes?”
¹⁹You will never again have to see
    the proud people who spoke
a strange and foreign language
    you could not understand.

²⁰Look to Mount Zion
where we celebrate
    our religious festivals.
You will see Jerusalem,
    secure as a tent with pegs
that cannot be pulled up
and fastened with ropes
    that can never be broken.
²¹Our wonderful Lord
    will be with us!
There will be deep rivers
and wide streams
    safe from enemy ships.^[g]

The Lord Is Our Judge

²²The Lord is our judge
    and our ruler;
the Lord is our king
    and will keep us safe.
²³But your nation^[h] is a ship
    with its rigging loose,
its mast shaky,
    and its sail not spread.

Someday even you that are lame
will take everything you want
from your enemies.
²⁴The Lord will forgive your sins,
and none of you will say,
“I feel sick.”

Footnotes:

33.3 greatness: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 3.
33.4 locusts: Insects like grasshoppers that travel in swarms and cause great damage to crops.
33.4 them: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 4.
33.6 Nothing. . . us: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
33.7 Listen. . . help: Or “The Lord heard our shouts and will come to help us.”
33.8 to any. . . promises: The Dead Sea Scrolls; the Standard Hebrew Text “to those in the cities.”
33.21 safe. . . ships: This probably means that Jerusalem will have a lot of water, without the danger of attacks from enemy ships.
33.23 your nation: Possibly Judah or Assyria.