17 Your eyes will see (A)the King in His beauty;
They will see (B)a distant land.
18 Your heart will meditate on (C)terror:
“Where is (D)one who counts?
Where is one who weighs?
Where is one who counts the towers?”
19 You will no longer see a fierce people,
A people of [a](E)unintelligible speech [b]which no one comprehends,
Of a stammering tongue [c]which no one understands.
20 (F)Look at Zion, the city of our appointed feasts;
Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an (G)undisturbed settlement,
(H)A tent which will not be folded;
Its stakes will never be pulled up,
Nor any of its ropes be torn apart.
21 But there the majestic One, the Lord, will be for us
A place of (I)rivers and wide canals
On which no boat with oars will go,
And on which no mighty ship will pass—
22 For the Lord is our (J)judge,
The Lord is (K)our lawgiver,
The Lord is (L)our king;
(M)He will save us—
23 Your ship’s tackle hangs slack;
It cannot hold the base of its mast firmly,
Nor spread out the sail.
Then the (N)prey of an abundant spoil will be divided;
(O)Those who limp will take the plunder.
24 And no resident will say, “I am (P)sick”;
The people who live [d]there will be (Q)forgiven their wrongdoing.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 33:19 Lit deepness of lip
  2. Isaiah 33:19 Lit from hearing
  3. Isaiah 33:19 Lit there is no understanding
  4. Isaiah 33:24 Lit in it

17 Your eyes will see the king in all his splendor,
    and you will see a land that stretches into the distance.
18 You will think back to this time of terror, asking,
“Where are the Assyrian officers
    who counted our towers?
Where are the bookkeepers
    who recorded the plunder taken from our fallen city?”
19 You will no longer see these fierce, violent people
    with their strange, unknown language.

20 Instead, you will see Zion as a place of holy festivals.
    You will see Jerusalem, a city quiet and secure.
It will be like a tent whose ropes are taut
    and whose stakes are firmly fixed.
21 The Lord will be our Mighty One.
    He will be like a wide river of protection
that no enemy can cross,
    that no enemy ship can sail upon.
22 For the Lord is our judge,
    our lawgiver, and our king.
    He will care for us and save us.
23 The enemies’ sails hang loose
    on broken masts with useless tackle.
Their treasure will be divided by the people of God.
    Even the lame will take their share!
24 The people of Israel will no longer say,
    “We are sick and helpless,”
    for the Lord will forgive their sins.

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