Isaiah 33

1 Tragedy is coming to you, you destroyer who has not experienced destruction yourself, you deceiver who has not experienced deception yourself! When you have finished with your destroying, you will be destroyed yourself. Then you are finished with your deceiving, you will be deceived yourselves.

Woe to thee that wastest, while thou wast not wasted; and traitor, while men dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt have made an end of wasting, thou shalt be wasted, and when thou shalt have finished to deal treacherously, men shall deal treacherously with thee.

2 Lord, please be kind to us; we put our confidence in you. Be the strength we rely on every morning; be our salvation in times of trouble.

O Lord, be gracious; we have waited for thee: be thou their support every morning, also our salvation in the time of trouble.

3 When you roar, the peoples run away; when you prepare for action, the nations scatter!

At the noise of [thy] thunder people fled; when thou liftedst thyself up nations were scattered.

4 You plunder defeated enemy armies like caterpillars eating up plants; like an attack of swarming locusts.

And your spoil shall be gathered as the cricket gathereth: as locusts run about, so shall people hasten after it.

5 The Lord is praised for he lives in highest heaven; he has filled Zion with justice and right.

The Lord is exalted; for he dwelleth on high; he hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

6 He will be your constant support throughout your lives an abundant source of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. Reverence for the Lord is what makes Zion rich.

And the stability of thy times and the strength of thy happiness shall be wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

7 But look! Even your bravest soldiers are crying loudly in the street; the messengers you sent to ask for peace are weeping bitterly.

Behold, their valiant ones cry without: the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.

8 Your highways are deserted; nobody's traveling on your roads anymore. He breaks the treaty; he despises the witnesses; he doesn't care about anybody.

The highways lie waste, ceased hath the wayfaring traveler: he hath broken the covenant, he despiseth cities, he regardeth not man.

9 Israel is in mourning and fades away; Lebanon withers in shame; the fields of Sharon have become a desert; the forests of Bashan and Carmel have shed their leaves.

It mourneth, it languisheth—the land: Lebanon is ashamed, it is withered away; Sharon is become like a wilderness; and bereft of their fruits are Bashan and Carmel.

10 “But now I'm going to intervene!” says the Lord. “I'm prepared to act! I will show myself to be above all others!

Now will I arise, saith the Lord; now will I raise myself; now will I lift myself up.

11 All you give birth to is only dry grass, all you deliver is just stubble. Your breath is a fire that will burn you up.

Ye shall be pregnant with hay, [and] ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath is a fire, which shall devour you.

12 You people will be burned to ashes like thorns that are cut down and thrown into the fire.

And the people shall be burnt as lime: as cut-off thorns shall they blaze up in fire.

13 Those of you who are far away, recognize what I have accomplished; those of you who are nearby, recognize how powerful I am.”

Hear, ye distant ones, what I have done; and acknowledge ye that are near my might.

14 The sinners who live in Zion tremble with fear; those who are irreligious are overcome with terror. They ask, “Who can live with this fire that consumes everything? Who can live among such everlasting burning?”

In Zion sinners are in dread; trembling hath seized on hypocrites. “Who among us shall abide with the devouring fire? who among us shall abide with everlasting burnings?”

15 Those who live right and speak the truth, those who refuse to profit from extortion and refuse to take bribes, who don't listen to plots to kill people, who close their eyes rather than look at evil.

He that walketh in righteousness, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands against taking hold of bribes, that stoppeth his ears against hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes against looking on evil;

16 They will live on high; they will be protected by the mountain fortresses; they will always be provided with food and will always have water.

He shall dwell on high; rocky strongholds shall be his refuge: his bread shall be given him; his water shall be sure.

17 You will see the king in his wonderful appearance, and you will view a land that stretches into the distance.

The king in his beauty shall thy eyes behold: they shall see a far-off land.

18 In your mind you will think about the terrifying things that were expected, and then ask yourself, “Where are the enemy officials—the scribes who were to record events, the treasurers who were to weigh the looted money, the surveyors who were to count and destroy the towers?”

Thy heart shall meditate [on past] terror. “Where is who wrote down? where is he that weighed? where is he that counted the towers?”

19 You won't see these offensive people anymore with their barbaric language that sounds like someone stammering and is impossible to understand.

The barbarous people shalt thou not see any more, the people of a speech too obscure to be understood, of a stammering tongue, without meaning.

20 On the contrary, you'll see Zion as a festival city. You will view Jerusalem as a quiet and peaceful place. It will be like a tent that's never taken down, whose tent-pegs are never pulled up, whose guy ropes never snap.

Look on Zion, the town of our solemn assemblies; thy eyes shall see Jerusalem as an undisturbed residence, a tent that shall not be struck for removal; not one of the stakes of which shall ever be moved, and all the cords of which shall never be torn loose.

21 Right here our majestic Lord will be like a place of broad rivers and waters that no enemy ship with oars can cross—no great ship can pass.

But there will the Lord [show himself] mighty unto us, [in] a place of rivers and streams of ample breadth; wherein no oared galley shall go, and a gallant ship shall not pass thereby.

22 For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king. He is the one who will save us.

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

23 The rigging on your ship hangs loose so the mast isn't secure and the sail can't be spread. Then all the looted treasure you're carrying will be divided among the victors—even those who are lame will have their share.

Loose hang thy tacklings; they cannot well uphold strongly their mast, they cannot spread the sail. Then are divided booty and spoil in abundance, [even] the lame take the booty.

24 Nobody in Israel will say, “I'm sick,” and those who live there will have their guilt removed.

And no inhabitant shall say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be one whose iniquity is forgiven.