Isaiah 33:17-24
New English Translation
17 You will see a king in his splendor;[a]
you will see a wide land.[b]
18 Your mind will recall the terror you experienced,[c]
and you will ask yourselves,[d] “Where is the scribe?
Where is the one who weighs the money?
Where is the one who counts the towers?”[e]
19 You will no longer see a defiant[f] people
whose language you do not comprehend,[g]
whose derisive speech you do not understand.[h]
20 Look at Zion, the city where we hold religious festivals!
You[i] will see Jerusalem,
a peaceful settlement,
a tent that stays put;[j]
its stakes will never be pulled up;
none of its ropes will snap in two.
21 Instead the Lord will rule there as our mighty king.[k]
Rivers and wide streams will flow through it;[l]
no war galley will enter;[m]
no large ships will sail through.[n]
22 For the Lord, our ruler,
the Lord, our commander,
the Lord, our king—
he will deliver us.
23 Though at this time your ropes are slack,[o]
the mast is not secured,[p]
and the sail[q] is not unfurled,
at that time you will divide up a great quantity of loot;[r]
even the lame will drag off plunder.[s]
24 No resident of Zion[t] will say, “I am ill”;
the people who live there will have their sin forgiven.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 33:17 tn Heb “your eyes will see a king in his beauty”; NIV, NRSV “the king.”
- Isaiah 33:17 tn Heb “a land of distances,” i.e., an extensive land.
- Isaiah 33:18 tn Heb “your heart will meditate on terror.”
- Isaiah 33:18 tn The words “and you will ask yourselves” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.
- Isaiah 33:18 sn The people refer to various Assyrian officials who were responsible for determining the amount of taxation or tribute Judah must pay to the Assyrian king.
- Isaiah 33:19 tn The Hebrew form נוֹעָז (noʿaz) is a Niphal participle derived from יָעַז (yaʿaz, an otherwise unattested verb) or from עָזָז (ʿazaz, “be strong,” unattested elsewhere in the Niphal). Some prefer to emend the form to לוֹעֵז (loʿez) which occurs in Ps 114:1 with the meaning “speak a foreign language.” See HALOT 809 s.v. עזז, 533 s.v. לעז. In this case, one might translate “people who speak a foreign language.”
- Isaiah 33:19 tn Heb “a people too deep of lip to hear.” The phrase “deep of lip” must be an idiom meaning “lips that speak words that are unfathomable [i.e., incomprehensible].”
- Isaiah 33:19 tn Heb “derision of tongue there is no understanding.” The Niphal of לָעַג (laʿag) occurs only here. In the Qal and Hiphil the verb means “to deride, mock.” A related noun is used in 28:11.
- Isaiah 33:20 tn Heb “your eyes” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
- Isaiah 33:20 tn Or “that does not travel”; NASB “which shall not be folded.”
- Isaiah 33:21 tn Heb “But there [as] a mighty one [will be] the Lord for us.”
- Isaiah 33:21 tn Heb “a place of rivers, streams wide of hands [i.e., on both sides].”
- Isaiah 33:21 tn Heb “a ship of rowing will not go into it.”
- Isaiah 33:21 tn Heb “and a mighty ship will not pass through it.”
- Isaiah 33:23 tn The words “though at this time” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The first half of the verse is addressed to Judah and contrasts the nation’s present weakness with its future prosperity. Judah is compared to a ship that is incapable of sailing.
- Isaiah 33:23 tn Heb “they do not fasten the base of their mast.” On כֵּן (ken, “base”) see BDB 487 s.v. III כֵּן and HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן.
- Isaiah 33:23 tn Or perhaps, “flag.”
- Isaiah 33:23 tn Heb “then there will be divided up loot of plunder [in] abundance.”
- Isaiah 33:23 sn Judah’s victory over its enemies will be so thorough there will be more than enough plunder for everyone, even slow-moving lame men who would normally get left out in the rush to gather the loot.
- Isaiah 33:24 tn The words “of Zion” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
Isaiah 33:17-24
Legacy Standard Bible
17 Your eyes will behold (A)the King in His beauty;
They will see (B)a far-distant land.
18 Your heart will meditate on (C)terror:
“Where is (D)he who counts?
Where is he who weighs?
Where is he 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)Behold Zion, the city of our appointed times;
Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an (G)abode at ease,
(H)A tent which will not be folded;
Its stakes will never be pulled up,
Nor any of its cords ever be torn apart.
21 But there the Mighty One, Yahweh, 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 Yahweh is our (J)judge,
Yahweh is (K)our lawgiver,
Yahweh is (L)our king;
(M)He will save us—
23 Your cords hang slack;
They cannot hold the base of their mast firmly,
Nor spread out the sail.
Then the (N)prey of an abundant spoil will be divided;
(O)The lame will take the plunder.
24 And no one who dwells there will say, “I am (P)sick”;
The people who inhabit [d]there will be (Q)forgiven their iniquity.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 33:19 Lit deepness of lip
- Isaiah 33:19 Lit from hearing
- Isaiah 33:19 Lit there is no understanding
- Isaiah 33:24 Lit in it
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