Isaiah 33

Chapter 33

¹Woe to you, destroyer,

who yourself have not been destroyed;

you treacherous one,

with whom none has dealt treacherously!

When you have ceased to destroy,

you will be destroyed;

and when you have made an end of dealing treacherously,

you will be dealt with treacherously.

²O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for thee.

Be our arm every morning,

our salvation in the time of trouble.

³At the thunderous noise peoples flee,

at the lifting up of thyself nations are scattered;

⁴and spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;

as locusts leap, men leap upon it.

⁵The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;

he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness;

⁶and he will be the stability of your times,

abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;

the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

⁷Behold, the valiant ones cry without;

the envoys of peace weep bitterly.

⁸The highways lie waste,

the wayfaring man ceases.

Covenants are broken,

witnesses are despised,

there is no regard for man.

⁹The land mourns and languishes;

Lebanon is confounded and withers away;

Sharon is like a desert;

and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

¹⁰“Now I will arise,” says the Lord,

“now I will lift myself up;

now I will be exalted.

¹¹You conceive chaff, you bring forth stubble;

your breath is a fire that will consume you.

¹²And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,

like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”

¹³Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;

and you who are near, acknowledge my might.

¹⁴The sinners in Zion are afraid;

trembling has seized the godless:

“Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire?

Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”

¹⁵He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,

who despises the gain of oppressions,

who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,

who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed

and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil,

¹⁶he will dwell on the heights;

his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;

his bread will be given him, his water will be sure.

¹⁷Your eyes will see the king in his beauty;

they will behold a land that stretches afar.

¹⁸Your mind will muse on the terror:

“Where is he who counted,

where is he who weighed the tribute?

Where is he who counted the towers?”

¹⁹You will see no more the insolent people,

the people of an obscure speech which you cannot comprehend,

stammering in a tongue which you cannot understand.

²⁰Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!

Your eyes will see Jerusalem,

a quiet habitation, an immovable tent,

whose stakes will never be plucked up,

nor will any of its cords be broken.

²¹But there the Lord in majesty will be for us

a place of broad rivers and streams,

where no galley with oars can go,

nor stately ship can pass.

²²For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler,

the Lord is our king; he will save us.

²³Your tackle hangs loose;

it cannot hold the mast firm in its place,

or keep the sail spread out.

Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;

even the lame will take the prey.

²⁴And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”;

the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.