Isaiah 33
1 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.
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.
2 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.
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.
3 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.
When you roar, the peoples run away; when you prepare for action, the nations scatter!
4 [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.
You plunder defeated enemy armies like caterpillars eating up plants; like an attack of swarming locusts.
5 Yahweh is greater than anyone else, and he lives in heaven, and he will rule justly and righteously in Jerusalem.
The Lord is praised for he lives in highest heaven; he has filled Zion with justice and right.
6 [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.
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.
7 [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].
But look! Even your bravest soldiers are crying loudly in the street; the messengers you sent to ask for peace are weeping bitterly.
8 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.
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.
9 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].
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.
10 Yahweh says, “Now I will begin to show that I am very powerful [DOU].
“But now I'm going to intervene!” says the Lord. “I'm prepared to act! I will show myself to be above all others!
11 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.
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.
12 [Your] people will be burned until only ashes remain [MET] like [SIM] thornbushes are cut down and burned up in a fire.
You people will be burned to ashes like thorns that are cut down and thrown into the fire.
13 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.”
Those of you who are far away, recognize what I have accomplished; those of you who are nearby, recognize how powerful I am.”
14 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!”
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?”
15 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,
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.
16 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.
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.
17 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.
You will see the king in his wonderful appearance, and you will view a land that stretches into the distance.
18 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]!
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?”
19 Those arrogant people who spoke a language that we could not understand are no longer here!”
You won't see these offensive people anymore with their barbaric language that sounds like someone stammering and is impossible to understand.
20 [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.
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.
21 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.
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.
22 Yahweh is our judge; he is the one who gives us laws, and he is our king. He will rescue us.
For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king. He is the one who will save us.
23 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.
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.
24 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.
Nobody in Israel will say, “I'm sick,” and those who live there will have their guilt removed.
