Isaiah 33
New International Reader's Version
Trouble for Assyria and Help for God’s People
33 How terrible it will be for you, you who destroy others!
Assyria, you haven’t been destroyed yet.
How terrible for you, you who turn against others!
Others haven’t turned against you yet.
When you stop destroying,
you will be destroyed.
When you stop turning against others,
others will turn against you.
2 Lord, have mercy on us.
We long for you to help us.
Make us strong every morning.
Save us when we’re in trouble.
3 At the roar of your army, the nations run away.
When you rise up against them, they scatter.
4 Nations, what you have taken in battle is destroyed.
It’s as if young locusts had eaten it up.
Like large numbers of locusts,
people rush to get it.
5 The Lord is honored. He lives in heaven.
He will make sure Zion’s people only do what is fair and right.
6 He will be the firm foundation for their entire lives.
He will give them all the wisdom, knowledge and saving power they will ever need.
Respect for the Lord is the key to that treasure.
7 Look! Judah’s brave men cry out loud in the streets.
The messengers who were sent to bring peace weep bitter tears.
8 The wide roads are deserted.
No one travels on them.
Our peace treaty with Assyria is broken.
Those who witnessed it are looked down on.
No one is respected.
9 The land dries up and wastes away.
Lebanon is full of shame and dries up.
The rich land of Sharon is like the Arabah Desert.
The trees of Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.
10 “Now I will take action,” says the Lord.
“Now I will be honored.
Now I will be respected.
11 Assyria, your plans and actions are like straw.
Your anger is a fire that will destroy you.
12 The nations will be burned to ashes.
They will be like bushes that are cut down and set on fire.
13 “You nations far away, listen to what I have done!
My people who are near, recognize how powerful I am!
14 The sinners in Zion are terrified.
They tremble with fear.
They say, ‘Who of us can live through the Lord’s destroying fire?
Who of us can live through the fire that burns forever?’
15 People must do what is right.
They must be honest and tell the truth.
They must not get rich by cheating others.
Their hands must not receive money from those who want special favors.
They must not let their ears listen to plans to commit murder.
They must close their eyes to even thinking about doing what is evil.
16 People like that will be kept safe.
It will be as if they were living on high mountains.
It will be as if they were living in a mountain fort.
They will have all the food they need.
And they will never run out of water.”
17 People of Judah, you will see the king in all his glory and majesty.
You will view his kingdom spreading far and wide.
18 You will think about what used to terrify you.
You will say to yourself,
“Where is that chief officer of Assyria?
Where is the one who forced us to send gifts to his king?
Where is the officer in charge of the towers
that were used when we were attacked?”
19 You won’t see those proud people anymore.
They spoke a strange language.
None of us could understand it.
20 Just look at Zion! It’s the city
where we celebrate our regular feasts.
Turn your eyes toward Jerusalem.
It will be a peaceful place to live in.
It will be like a tent that will never be moved.
Its stakes will never be pulled up.
None of its ropes will be broken.
21 There the Lord will be our Mighty One.
It will be like a place of wide rivers and streams.
No boat with oars will travel on them.
No mighty ship will sail on them.
22 That’s because the Lord is our judge.
The Lord gives us our law.
The Lord is our king.
He will save us.
23 The ropes on your ship hang loose.
The mast isn’t very secure.
The sail isn’t spread out.
But the Lord will strike down the Assyrians.
Then a large amount of goods will be taken from them and divided up.
Even people who are disabled will carry off some of it.
24 No one living in Zion will ever say again, “I’m sick.”
And the sins of those who live there will be forgiven.
Isaiah 33
Expanded Bible
Warnings to Assyria and Promises to God’s People
33 ·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] you who destroy others
but have not been destroyed yet.
·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] you, traitor,
whom no one has ·turned against yet [betrayed].
When you stop destroying,
others will destroy you.
When you stop ·turning against others [betraying],
they will ·turn against [betray] you.
2 Lord, be ·kind [gracious; merciful] to us.
We have waited for your help.
·Give us strength [L Be our arm] every morning.
·Save us [L …our salvation] ·when we are in [L in times of] trouble.
3 ·Your powerful voice makes [or At the sound of tumult] ·people [the peoples/nations] run away;
your ·greatness [majesty; or rising up] causes the nations to run away.
4 Like ·locusts [or the caterpillar], your enemies will ·take away [gather; harvest] ·the things you stole in war [your plunder].
Like locusts ·rushing about [swarming], they will take your wealth.
5 The Lord is ·very great [exalted], and he ·lives in a high place [T dwells on high].
He fills ·Jerusalem [L Zion; 1:27] with ·fairness [justice; judgment] and ·justice [righteousness].
6 He will ·always be your safety [be the foundation/stability of your time].
He is ·full [a rich store/abundance] of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
·Respect for [The fear of] the Lord is the greatest treasure [Prov. 1:7].
7 See, ·brave people [heroes; valiant ones] are crying out in the streets;
·those who tried to bring [envoys/ambassadors of] peace are weeping ·loudly [bitterly].
8 ·There is no one on the roads [L Highways lie desolate/deserted],
no ·one walking [travelers] in the ·paths [roads; way].
People have broken the ·agreements [treaties; covenants] they made.
They ·refuse to believe the proof from [L despise its] witnesses.
No one ·respects [cares about; regards] other people.
9 The land ·is sick and dying [dries up and withers; or mourns and languishes];
Lebanon is ashamed and ·dying [shrivels; withers].
Sharon [C a fertile plain along the Mediterranean coast] is like the desert,
and ·the trees of Bashan and Carmel are dying [L Bashan and Carmel shake off; C their leaves; these places were known for their lush trees and vegetation; 2:13; 35:2].
10 The Lord says, “Now, I will ·stand [rise] up
and ·show my greatness [L be exalted].
Now, I will ·become important to the people [L be lifted up].
11 You people ·do useless things [produce nothing; L conceive chaff/straw]
·that are like hay and straw [L you give birth to straw/stubble].
·A destructive wind [or Your breath] will ·burn [consume; devour] you like fire.
12 ·People [or The nations] will be burned ·until their bones become like lime [to ashes/lime];
they will burn quickly like ·dry [cut] thornbushes.”
13 You people in faraway lands, hear what I have done.
You people who are near me, ·learn about [or acknowledge] my ·power [might].
14 The sinners in ·Jerusalem [L Zion; 1:27] are afraid;
those who are ·separated from God [godless] shake with fear.
They say, “·Can any of us [L Who can] live through this fire that ·destroys [consumes; devours]?
Who can live near this ·fire that burns on and on [unquenchable/everlasting burning]?”
15 A person who ·does what is right [walks righteously; Ps. 15]
and speaks ·what is right [truthfully; uprightly],
who ·refuses to take [rejects; despises] ·money unfairly [profit from oppression/extortion],
who ·refuses to take money to hurt others [L shakes off his hands from grabbing a bribe],
who ·does not listen [closes his ears] to plans of murder,
who ·refuses to think about [closes his eyes to looking on] evil—
16 this is the kind of person who will ·be safe [L dwell on high/the heights].
He will ·be protected as he would be [find refuge] in a ·high, walled city [rock stronghold/fortress].
He will always have ·bread [food],
and he will not run out of water.
17 Your eyes will see the king in his ·beauty [splendor].
You will see the land that stretches far away.
18 ·You [L Your heart] will ·think about the terror of the past [L meditate on terror]:
“Where is that ·officer [scribe; taxation officer; L counter]?
Where is the ·one who collected the taxes [L weigher]?
Where is the ·officer in charge of our defense towers [one who counts the towers; C for taxation purposes]?”
19 No longer will you see those ·proud [defiant; or fierce; or barbaric] people,
whose ·strange [obscure] ·language [speech; lip] you don’t know [C the Assyrians].
whose stammering ·speech [tongue] you cannot understand.
God Will Protect Jerusalem
20 Look at ·Jerusalem [L Zion], the city of our festivals.
·Look at [L Your eyes will see] Jerusalem, that ·beautiful place of rest [quiet dwelling].
It is like a tent that will never be moved;
·the pegs that hold her in place [L its stakes] will never be pulled up,
and her ropes will never be broken.
21 There the Lord will be our Mighty One.
That land is a place with streams and wide rivers,
·but there will be no enemy boats on those rivers [L no galley with oars will go];
no ·powerful [majestic] ship will sail on them.
22 This is because the Lord is our judge.
The Lord ·makes our laws [is our lawgiver].
The Lord is our king.
He will ·save [rescue; T deliver] us.
23 The ·ropes on your boats [L ropes; cords] hang loose [C perhaps referring to the enemy ships or metaphorically to Judah].
The mast is not held firm.
The sails are not spread open.
Then ·your great wealth [an abundance of plunder] will be divided.
·There will be so much wealth that even the crippled people will carry off a share [L Even the lame will take the prey].
24 No one living in ·Jerusalem [L Zion; 1:27] will say, “I am sick.”
The people who live there will have their sins forgiven.
Isaiah 33
New King James Version
A Prayer in Deep Distress
33 Woe to you (A)who plunder, though you have not been plundered;
And you who deal treacherously, though they have not dealt treacherously with you!
(B)When you cease plundering,
You will be (C)plundered;
When you make an end of dealing treacherously,
They will deal treacherously with you.
2 O Lord, be gracious to us;
(D)We have waited for You.
Be [a]their arm every morning,
Our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3 At the noise of the tumult the people (E)shall flee;
When You lift Yourself up, the nations shall be scattered;
4 And Your plunder shall be gathered
Like the gathering of the caterpillar;
As the running to and fro of locusts,
He shall run upon them.
5 (F)The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6 Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times,
And the strength of salvation;
The fear of the Lord is His treasure.
7 Surely their valiant ones shall cry outside,
(G)The ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.
8 (H)The highways lie waste,
The traveling man ceases.
(I)He has broken the covenant,
[b]He has despised the [c]cities,
He regards no man.
9 (J)The earth mourns and languishes,
Lebanon is shamed and shriveled;
Sharon is like a wilderness,
And Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.
Impending Judgment on Zion
10 “Now(K) I will rise,” says the Lord;
“Now I will be exalted,
Now I will lift Myself up.
11 (L)You shall conceive chaff,
You shall bring forth stubble;
Your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
12 And the people shall be like the burnings of lime;
(M)Like thorns cut up they shall be burned in the fire.
13 Hear, (N)you who are afar off, what I have done;
And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites:
“Who among us shall dwell with the devouring (O)fire?
Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”
15 He who (P)walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
He who despises the gain of oppressions,
Who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes,
Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed,
And (Q)shuts his eyes from seeing evil:
16 He will dwell on [d]high;
His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks;
Bread will be given him,
His water will be sure.
The Land of the Majestic King
17 Your eyes will see the King in His (R)beauty;
They will see the land that is very far off.
18 Your heart will meditate on terror:
(S)“Where is the scribe?
Where is he who weighs?
Where is he who counts the towers?”
19 (T)You will not see a fierce people,
(U)A people of obscure speech, beyond perception,
Of a [e]stammering tongue that you cannot understand.
20 (V)Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts;
Your eyes will see (W)Jerusalem, a quiet home,
A tabernacle that will not be taken down;
(X)Not one of (Y)its stakes will ever be removed,
Nor will any of its cords be broken.
21 But there the majestic Lord will be for us
A place of broad rivers and streams,
In which no [f]galley with oars will sail,
Nor majestic ships pass by
22 (For the Lord is our (Z)Judge,
The Lord is our (AA)Lawgiver,
(AB)The Lord is our King;
He will save us);
23 Your tackle is loosed,
They could not strengthen their mast,
They could not spread the sail.
Then the prey of great plunder is divided;
The lame take the prey.
24 And the inhabitant will not say, “I am sick”;
(AC)The people who dwell in it will be forgiven their iniquity.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 33:2 LXX omits their; Syr., Tg., Vg. our
- Isaiah 33:8 Tg. They have been removed from their cities
- Isaiah 33:8 So with MT, Vg.; DSS witnesses; LXX omits cities
- Isaiah 33:16 Lit. heights
- Isaiah 33:19 Unintelligible speech
- Isaiah 33:21 ship
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The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
