Isaiah 33

1 Woe to you who plunder! Will you yourselves not also be plundered? And woe to you who despise! Will you yourselves not also be despised? When you will have completed your plundering, you will be plundered. When, out of fatigue, you will have ceased acting with contempt, you will be treated with contempt.

Woe to thee, thou spoiler, who hast not been spoiled! Thou plunderer, who hast not been plundered! When thou hast ceased to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; When thou hast finished plundering, they shall plunder thee.

2 O Lord, take pity on us. For we have waited for you. Be our arm in the morning and our salvation in the time of tribulation.

O Jehovah, have mercy upon us! in thee do we trust; Be thou our strength every morning, Our salvation in the time of trouble.

3 From the voice of the Angel, the people fled. And from your exultation, the nations were scattered.

At the voice of thy thunder the people flee; When thou dost arise, the nations are scattered.

4 And your spoils will be gathered together, just as the locusts are collected when the ditches have become filled with them.

Your spoil shall be gathered, as the locust gathereth; As the locust runneth, so shall they run upon it.

5 The Lord has been magnified, because he has lived on high. He has filled Zion with judgment and justice.

Jehovah is exalted; Yea, he dwelleth on high; He filleth Zion with justice and righteousness.

6 And there will be faith in your times: the riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge. For the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

There shall be security in thy times; Wisdom and knowledge shall be thy store of prosperity, And the fear of Jehovah, this shall be thy treasure!

7 Behold, outside, those who see will cry out. The Angels of peace will weep bitterly.

Behold, the mighty men cry without: The ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.

8 The roads have become desolate. Travelers have ceased along the paths. The covenant has been nullified. He has tossed aside cities. He has disregarded men.

The highways are desolate; The traveller ceaseth; He breaketh the covenant; he despiseth the cities; Of men he maketh no account.

9 The earth has mourned and languished. Lebanon has been confounded and desecrated. And Sharon has become like a desert. And Bashan and Carmel have been struck together.

The land mourneth and languisheth; Lebanon is put to shame, and withered away; Sharon is like a desert, And Bashan and Carmel are stripped of their leaves.

10 “Now, I will rise up!” says the Lord. “Now I will be exalted! Now I will lift myself up!”

Now will I arise, saith Jehovah, Now will I exalt myself, Now will I lift myself up.

11 You will conceive heat. You will give birth to stubble. Your own spirit will devour you like fire.

Ye shall conceive chaff, and bring forth stubble; Your own wrath is the fire which shall devour you.

12 And the people will be like the ashes from a fire. They will be consumed by fire like a bundle of thorns.

The nations shall be burnt into lime; Like thorns cut down, they shall be consumed with fire.

13 “You who are far away, listen to what I have done! And you who are near, acknowledge my strength!”

Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; Mark, ye that are near, my power!

14 The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling has taken hold of the hypocrites. Who among you is able to live with a devouring fire? Who among you will live with an everlasting flame?

The sinners in Zion are struck with dread; Terror hath seized upon the unrighteous: “Who among us can dwell in devouring fire? Who among us can dwell in everlasting flames?”

15 The one who walks in justice and speaks the truth, who casts out avarice with oppression and shakes all bribes from his hands, who blocks his ears so that he may not listen to blood, and closes his eyes so that he may not see evil.

He that walketh in righteousness, And speaketh that which is right, That despiseth the gain of oppression, And shaketh his hands from bribery, That stoppeth his ears, so as not to hear of blood, And shutteth his eyes, so as not to behold iniquity.

16 Such a one will live on high; the fortification of rocks will be his lofty place. Bread has been given to him; his waters are reliable.

He shall dwell on high; The strongholds of rocks shall be his defence; His bread shall be given him; His water shall not fail.

17 His eyes will see the king in his elegance; they will discern the land from far away.

Thine eyes shall see the king in his glory They shall survey a wide-extended land.

18 Your heart will meditate on fear. Where are the learned? Where are those who ponder the words of the law? Where are the teachers of little ones?

Thy heart shall meditate on the past terror: “Where now is the scribe? Where the weigher of tribute? Where he that numbered the towers?”

19 You will not look upon a shameless people, a people of exalted words. For you are not able to understand the dissertation of a tongue in which there is no wisdom.

Thou shalt see no more a fierce people, A people of a dark language, which thou couldst not hear, And of a barbarous tongue, which thou couldst not understand;

20 Look with favor upon Zion, the city of our solemnity. Your eyes will behold Jerusalem: an opulent habitation, a tabernacle that can never be taken away. Its stakes will not be taken away forever, nor will any of its cords be broken.

Thou shalt see Zion, the city of our solemn feasts; Thine eyes shall behold Jerusalem, as a quiet habitation. A tent that shall never be moved, Whose stakes shall never be taken away, And whose cords shall never be broken.

21 For only in that place has our Lord been magnified. It is a place of rivers, very broad and open. No ship with oars will cross through it, nor will the great Greek ship pass through it.

For there the glorious Jehovah will be to us Instead of rivers and broad streams, Which no oared galley shall pass, And no gallant ship go through.

22 For the Lord is our judge. The Lord is our lawgiver. The Lord is our king. He himself will save us.

For Jehovah is our judge; Jehovah is our lawgiver; Jehovah is our king; it is he that will save us.

23 Your ropes have become loose, and they will not prevail. Your mast will be such that you will not be able to unfurl a flag. Then the spoils of much plunder will be divided. The lame will seize the spoils.

Thy ropes hang loose; They cannot hold the mast-socket, Nor can they spread the sail. Then shall a great spoil be divided; Even the lame shall take the prey.

24 He who is nearby will not say: “I am too weak.” The people who live in it will have their iniquity taken away from them.

No inhabitant shall say, I am sick; The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.