Isaiah 33

1 Ho! you who make waste those who did not make you waste; acting falsely to those who were not false to you. When you have come to an end of wasting, you will be made waste, and after your false acts, they will do the same to you.

Woe to you, destroyer who has not been destroyed! Woe to the betrayer whom they have not betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed. When you stop betraying, they will betray you.

2 O Lord, have mercy on us; for we have been waiting for your help: be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of trouble.

Yahweh, be gracious to us; we wait for you; be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.

3 At the loud noise the peoples have gone in flight; at your coming up the nations have gone in all directions.

At the loud noise the peoples flee; when you arise, the nations are scattered.

4 And the goods taken in war will be got together like the massing of young locusts; men will be rushing on them like the rushing of locusts.

Your spoil is gathered as the locusts gather; as locusts leap, men leap on it.

5 The Lord is lifted up; his place is on high: he has made Zion full of righteousness and true religion.

Yahweh is exalted. He lives in a high place. He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.

6 And she will have no more fear of change, being full of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is her wealth.

He will be the stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of Yahweh is his treasure.

7 See, the men of war are sorrowing outside the town: those who came looking for peace are weeping bitterly.

Look, their envoys cry in the streets; the diplomats hoping for peace weep bitterly.

8 The highways are waste, no man is journeying there: the agreement is broken, he has made sport of the towns, he has no thought for man.

The highways are deserted; there are no more travelers. Covenants are broken, witnesses are despised, and mankind is not respected.

9 The earth is sorrowing and wasting away; Lebanon is put to shame and has become waste; Sharon is like the Arabah; and in Bashan and Carmel the leaves are falling.

The land mourns and withers away; Lebanon is ashamed and withers away; Sharon is like a desert plain; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

10 Now will I come forward, says the Lord; now will I be lifted up; now will my power be seen.

“Now will I arise,” says Yahweh; “now I will be lifted up; now I will be elevated.

11 Your designs will be without profit, and their effect will be nothing: you will be burned up by the fire of my breath.

You conceive chaff, and you give birth to stubble; your breath is a fire that will consume you.

12 And the peoples will be like the burning of chalk: as thorns cut down, which are burned in the fire.

The peoples will be burned to lime, as thornbushes are cut down and are burned.

13 Give ear, you who are far off, to what I have done: see my power, you who are near.

You who are far away, hear what I have done; and, you who are near, acknowledge my might.”

14 The sinners in Zion are full of fear; the haters of God are shaking with wonder. Who among us may keep his place before the burning fire? who among us may see the eternal burnings?

The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless ones. Who among us can sojourn with a raging fire? Who among us can sojourn with everlasting burnings?

15 He whose ways are true, and whose words are upright; he who gives no thought to the profits of false acts, whose hands have not taken rewards, who will have no part in putting men to death, and whose eyes are shut against evil;

He who walks righteously and speaks honestly; who despises the gain of oppression, who shakes his hand so that it will not accept a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed, and who shuts his eyes from looking on evil—

16 He will have a place on high: he will be safely shut in by the high rocks: his bread will be given to him; his waters will be certain.

this is the man who will dwell on the heights, his place of defense will be the fortress among the cliffs, his food will be given, and his water will be in steady supply.

17 Your eyes will see the king in his glory: they will be looking on a far-stretching land.

Your eyes will see the king in his beauty; they will see a land off in the distance.

18 Your heart will give thought to the cause of your fear: where is the scribe, where is he who made a record of the payments, where is he by whom the towers were numbered?

Your heart will recall the terror; where is the scribe, where is he who weighed the money? Where is he who counted the towers?

19 Never again will you see the cruel people, a people whose tongue has no sense for you; whose language is strange to you.

You will no longer see the defiant people, a people of a strange language that you do not understand.

20 Let your eyes be resting on Zion, the town of our holy feasts: you will see Jerusalem, a quiet resting-place, a tent which will not be moved, whose tent-pins will never be pulled up, and whose cords will never be broken.

Look at Zion, the city of our feasts; your eyes will see Jerusalem as a quiet habitation, a tent that will not be removed, whose stakes will never be pulled up nor will any of its cords be broken.

21 But there the Lord will be with us in his glory, ... wide rivers and streams; where no boat will go with blades, and no fair ship will be sailing.

Instead, Yahweh in majesty will be with us, in a place of broad rivers and streams. No warship with oars will travel it, and no large ships will sail by.

22 For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our law-giver, the Lord is our king; he will be our saviour.

For Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh is our lawgiver, Yahweh is our king; he will save us.

23 Your cords have become loose; they were not able to make strong the support of their sails, the sail was not stretched out: then the blind will take much property, the feeble-footed will make division of the goods of war.

Your riggings are slack; they cannot hold the mast in place; they cannot spread the sail; when the great spoil is divided, even the lame will drag off the spoil.

24 And the men of Zion will not say, I am ill: for its people will have forgiveness for their sin.

The inhabitants will not say, “I am sick;” the people who live there will be forgiven for their iniquity.