Distress and Help

33 Woe(A) to you, destroyer,
    you who have not been destroyed!
Woe to you, betrayer,
    you who have not been betrayed!
When you stop destroying,
    you will be destroyed;(B)
when you stop betraying,
    you will be betrayed.(C)

Lord, be gracious(D) to us;
    we long for you.
Be our strength(E) every morning,
    our salvation(F) in time of distress.(G)
At the uproar of your army,(H) the peoples flee;(I)
    when you rise up,(J) the nations scatter.
Your plunder,(K) O nations, is harvested(L) as by young locusts;(M)
    like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.

The Lord is exalted,(N) for he dwells on high;(O)
    he will fill Zion with his justice(P) and righteousness.(Q)
He will be the sure foundation for your times,
    a rich store of salvation(R) and wisdom and knowledge;
    the fear(S) of the Lord is the key to this treasure.[a](T)

Look, their brave men(U) cry aloud in the streets;
    the envoys(V) of peace weep bitterly.
The highways are deserted,
    no travelers(W) are on the roads.(X)
The treaty is broken,(Y)
    its witnesses[b] are despised,
    no one is respected.
The land dries up(Z) and wastes away,
    Lebanon(AA) is ashamed and withers;(AB)
Sharon(AC) is like the Arabah,
    and Bashan(AD) and Carmel(AE) drop their leaves.

10 “Now will I arise,(AF)” says the Lord.
    “Now will I be exalted;(AG)
    now will I be lifted up.
11 You conceive(AH) chaff,
    you give birth(AI) to straw;
    your breath is a fire(AJ) that consumes you.
12 The peoples will be burned to ashes;(AK)
    like cut thornbushes(AL) they will be set ablaze.(AM)

13 You who are far away,(AN) hear(AO) what I have done;
    you who are near, acknowledge my power!
14 The sinners(AP) in Zion are terrified;
    trembling(AQ) grips the godless:
“Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire?(AR)
    Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?”
15 Those who walk righteously(AS)
    and speak what is right,(AT)
who reject gain from extortion(AU)
    and keep their hands from accepting bribes,(AV)
who stop their ears against plots of murder
    and shut their eyes(AW) against contemplating evil—
16 they are the ones who will dwell on the heights,(AX)
    whose refuge(AY) will be the mountain fortress.(AZ)
Their bread will be supplied,
    and water will not fail(BA) them.

17 Your eyes will see the king(BB) in his beauty(BC)
    and view a land that stretches afar.(BD)
18 In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror:(BE)
    “Where is that chief officer?
Where is the one who took the revenue?
    Where is the officer in charge of the towers?(BF)
19 You will see those arrogant people(BG) no more,
    people whose speech is obscure,
    whose language is strange and incomprehensible.(BH)

20 Look on Zion,(BI) the city of our festivals;
    your eyes will see Jerusalem,
    a peaceful abode,(BJ) a tent(BK) that will not be moved;(BL)
its stakes will never be pulled up,
    nor any of its ropes broken.
21 There the Lord will be our Mighty(BM) One.
    It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams.(BN)
No galley with oars will ride them,
    no mighty ship(BO) will sail them.
22 For the Lord is our judge,(BP)
    the Lord is our lawgiver,(BQ)
the Lord is our king;(BR)
    it is he who will save(BS) us.

23 Your rigging hangs loose:
    The mast is not held secure,
    the sail is not spread.
Then an abundance of spoils will be divided
    and even the lame(BT) will carry off plunder.(BU)
24 No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”;(BV)
    and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.(BW)

Judgment Against the Nations

34 Come near, you nations, and listen;(BX)
    pay attention, you peoples!(BY)
Let the earth(BZ) hear, and all that is in it,
    the world, and all that comes out of it!(CA)
The Lord is angry with all nations;
    his wrath(CB) is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy[c](CC) them,
    he will give them over to slaughter.(CD)
Their slain(CE) will be thrown out,
    their dead bodies(CF) will stink;(CG)
    the mountains will be soaked with their blood.(CH)
All the stars in the sky will be dissolved(CI)
    and the heavens rolled up(CJ) like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall(CK)
    like withered(CL) leaves from the vine,
    like shriveled figs from the fig tree.

My sword(CM) has drunk its fill in the heavens;
    see, it descends in judgment on Edom,(CN)
    the people I have totally destroyed.(CO)
The sword(CP) of the Lord is bathed in blood,
    it is covered with fat—
the blood of lambs and goats,
    fat from the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice(CQ) in Bozrah(CR)
    and a great slaughter(CS) in the land of Edom.
And the wild oxen(CT) will fall with them,
    the bull calves and the great bulls.(CU)
Their land will be drenched with blood,(CV)
    and the dust will be soaked with fat.

For the Lord has a day(CW) of vengeance,(CX)
    a year of retribution,(CY) to uphold Zion’s cause.
Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
    her dust into burning sulfur;(CZ)
    her land will become blazing pitch!
10 It will not be quenched(DA) night or day;
    its smoke will rise forever.(DB)
From generation to generation(DC) it will lie desolate;(DD)
    no one will ever pass through it again.
11 The desert owl[d](DE) and screech owl[e] will possess it;
    the great owl[f] and the raven(DF) will nest there.
God will stretch out over Edom(DG)
    the measuring line of chaos(DH)
    and the plumb line(DI) of desolation.
12 Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,
    all her princes(DJ) will vanish(DK) away.
13 Thorns(DL) will overrun her citadels,
    nettles and brambles her strongholds.(DM)
She will become a haunt for jackals,(DN)
    a home for owls.(DO)
14 Desert creatures(DP) will meet with hyenas,(DQ)
    and wild goats will bleat to each other;
there the night creatures(DR) will also lie down
    and find for themselves places of rest.
15 The owl will nest there and lay eggs,
    she will hatch them, and care for her young
    under the shadow of her wings;(DS)
there also the falcons(DT) will gather,
    each with its mate.

16 Look in the scroll(DU) of the Lord and read:

None of these will be missing,(DV)
    not one will lack her mate.
For it is his mouth(DW) that has given the order,(DX)
    and his Spirit will gather them together.
17 He allots their portions;(DY)
    his hand distributes them by measure.
They will possess it forever
    and dwell there from generation to generation.(DZ)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 33:6 Or is a treasure from him
  2. Isaiah 33:8 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text / the cities
  3. Isaiah 34:2 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 5.
  4. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
  5. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
  6. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.

25 Like cold water to a weary soul
    is good news from a distant land.(A)
26 Like a muddied spring or a polluted well
    are the righteous who give way to the wicked.

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