Isaiah 33
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Lord Rises Up
33 Woe, you destroyer never destroyed,
you traitor never betrayed!
When you have finished destroying,
you will be destroyed.
When you have finished betraying,
they will betray you.(A)
2 Lord, be gracious to us! We wait for You.(B)
Be our strength every morning
and our salvation in time of trouble.(C)
3 The peoples flee at the thunderous noise;(D)
the nations scatter when You rise in Your majesty.
4 Your spoil will be gathered as locusts are gathered;
people will swarm over it like an infestation of locusts.
5 The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6 There will be times of security for you—
a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.(E)
7 Listen! Their warriors cry loudly in the streets;
the messengers of peace weep bitterly.(F)
8 The highways are deserted;
travel has ceased.
An agreement has been broken,(G)
cities[a] despised,
and human life disregarded.
9 The land mourns and withers;(H)
Lebanon is ashamed and decayed.
Sharon is like a desert;
Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10 “Now I will rise up,”(I) says the Lord.
“Now I will lift Myself up.
Now I will be exalted.
11 You will conceive chaff;(J)
you will give birth to stubble.
Your breath is fire that will consume you.
12 The peoples will be burned to ashes,
like thorns cut down and burned in a fire.
13 You who are far off, hear what I have done;
you who are near,(K) know My strength.”
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling seizes the ungodly:
“Who among us can dwell with a consuming fire?(L)
Who among us can dwell with ever-burning flames?”
15 The one who lives righteously
and speaks rightly,(M)
who refuses gain from extortion,
whose hand never takes a bribe,
who stops his ears from listening to murderous plots[b]
and shuts his eyes to avoid endorsing evil[c](N)—
16 he will dwell on the heights;
his refuge will be the rocky fortresses,
his food provided, his water assured.
17 Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;(O)
you will see a vast land.(P)
18 Your mind will meditate on the past terror:
“Where is the accountant?[d]
Where is the tribute collector?[e]
Where is the one who spied out our defenses?”[f]
19 You will no longer see the barbarians,
a people whose speech is difficult to comprehend—
who stammer in a language that is not understood.(Q)
20 Look at Zion, the city of our festival times.
Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
a peaceful pasture,(R) a tent that does not wander;
its tent pegs will not be pulled up
nor will any of its cords be loosened.(S)
21 For the majestic One, our Lord, will be there,(T)
a place of rivers and broad streams
where ships that are rowed will not go,
and majestic vessels will not pass.(U)
22 For the Lord is our Judge,
the Lord is our lawgiver,(V)
the Lord is our King.
He will save us.(W)
23 Your ropes are slack;
they cannot hold the base of the mast
or spread out the flag.
Then abundant spoil will be divided,
the lame will plunder it,
24 and none there will say, “I am sick.”
The people who dwell there
will be forgiven(X) their iniquity.(Y)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 33:8 DSS read witnesses
- Isaiah 33:15 Lit to bloods
- Isaiah 33:15 Lit eyes from seeing evil
- Isaiah 33:18 Lit counter
- Isaiah 33:18 Lit weigher
- Isaiah 33:18 Lit who counts towers
Isaiah 33
Amplified Bible
The Judgment of God
33 Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O destroyer,
You who were not destroyed,
And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him.
As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;
As soon as you stop dealing treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.
2
O Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited [expectantly] for You.
Be the arm of Your servants every morning [that is, their strength and their defense],
Our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3
At the sound of the tumult, the peoples flee;
At the lifting up of Yourself nations scatter.
4
Your spoil [of Israel’s foe] is gathered [by the people of Jerusalem] as the caterpillar gathers;
As locusts swarming so people swarm on it.
5
The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6
And He will be the security and stability of your times,
A treasure of salvation, wisdom and knowledge;
The fear of the Lord is your treasure.
7
Now look, their brave men shout outside;
The ambassadors [seeking a treaty] of peace weep bitterly.
8
The highways are deserted, the traveler has ceased [to appear].
The enemy has broken the covenant, he has rejected the [a]cities,
He has no regard for [any] man.
9
The land mourns and dries out,
Lebanon is shamed and [its lush foliage] withers;
[b]Sharon is like a desert plain,
And [c]Bashan and [Mount] Carmel shake off their leaves.
10
“Now I will arise,” says the Lord.
“Now I will be exalted; now I will be lifted up.
11
“You have conceived dried grass, you will give birth to stubble;
My breath is a fire that will consume you.
12
“The peoples will be burned to lime,
Like thorns cut down which are burned in the fire.
13
“You who are far away, hear what I have done;
And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”
14
The sinners in Zion are terrified;
Trembling has seized the godless.
[They cry] “Who among us can live with the consuming fire?
Who among us can live with everlasting burning?”
15
He who walks righteously and speaks with integrity,
Who rejects gain from fraud and from oppression,
Who shakes his hand free from the taking of bribes,
Who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed
And shuts his eyes to avoid looking upon evil;
16
He will dwell on the heights,
His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks,
His bread will be given him;
His water will be permanent.
17
Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;
They will see a far-distant land.
18
Your mind will meditate on the terror [asking]:
“Where is he who counts?
Where is he who weighs [the tribute]?
Where is he who counts the towers?”
19
You will no longer see the fierce and insolent people,
A people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends,
Of a strange and stammering tongue which no one understands.
20
Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts and observances;
Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a undisturbed settlement,
A tent which will not be taken down;
Not one of its stakes will ever be pulled up,
Nor any of its ropes be severed.
21
But there the mighty and magnificent Lord will be for us
A place of broad rivers and streams,
Where no oar-driven boat will go,
And on which no mighty and stately ship will pass.
22
For the Lord is our Judge,
The Lord is our Ruler,
The Lord is our King;
He will save us.(A)
23
Your ship’s ropes (tackle) hang loose;
They cannot hold the base of their mast firmly,
Nor spread out the sail.
Then an abundance of spoil and plunder will be divided;
Even the lame will take the plunder.
24
And no inhabitant [of Zion] will say, “I am sick”;
The people who dwell there will be forgiven their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing].
Footnotes
- Isaiah 33:8 The DSS read witnesses.
- Isaiah 33:9 The fertile pasture region south of Mt. Carmel.
- Isaiah 33:9 The fertile plateau east of the Jordan River.
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