Isaiah 33

1 Woe to you who destroy, but you weren’t destroyed, and who betray, but nobody betrayed you! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed; and when you have finished betrayal, you will be betrayed.

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 Yahweh, be gracious to us. We have waited for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

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 At the noise of the thunder, the peoples have fled. When you lift yourself up, the nations are scattered.

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 Your plunder will be gathered as the caterpillar gathers. Men will leap on it as locusts leap.

[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 Yahweh is exalted, for he dwells on high. He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

Yahweh is greater than anyone else, and he lives in heaven, and he will rule justly and righteously in Jerusalem.

6 There will be stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of Yahweh is your 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 Behold, their valiant ones cry outside; the ambassadors of peace 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 The highways are desolate. The traveling man ceases. The covenant is broken. He has despised the cities. He doesn’t respect 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 The land mourns and languishes. Lebanon is confounded and withers away. Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.

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 I will arise,” says Yahweh. “Now I will lift myself up. Now I will be exalted.

Yahweh says, “Now I will begin to show that I am very powerful [DOU].

11 You will conceive chaff. You will give birth to stubble. Your breath is a fire that will devour 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 The peoples will be like the burning of lime, like thorns that are cut down and burned in the fire.

[Your] people will be burned until only ashes remain [MET] like [SIM] thornbushes are cut down and burned up in a fire.

13 Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and, you who are near, acknowledge 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 The sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling has seized the godless ones. Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning?

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 He who walks righteously and speaks blamelessly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from looking at 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 will dwell on high. His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks. His bread will be supplied. His waters will be sure.

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 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty. They will see a distant land.

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 Your heart will meditate on the terror. Where is he who counted? Where is he who weighed? Where is he who counted 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 You will no longer see the fierce people, a people of a deep speech that you can’t comprehend, with a strange language that you can’t understand.

Those arrogant people who spoke a language that we could not understand are no longer here!”

20 Look at Zion, the city of our appointed festivals. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that won’t be removed. Its stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be 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 Yahweh will be with us in majesty, a place of wide rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars will go, neither will any gallant ship pass by there.

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 Yahweh is our judge. Yahweh is our lawgiver. Yahweh is our king. He will save us.

Yahweh is our judge; he is the one who gives us laws, and he is our king. He will rescue us.

23 Your rigging is untied. They couldn’t strengthen the foot of their mast. They couldn’t spread the sail. Then the prey of a great plunder was divided. The lame took the prey.

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 The inhabitant won’t say, “I am sick.” The people who dwell therein will be forgiven their 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.