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
English Standard Version
17 (A)Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty;
(B)they will see a land that stretches afar.
18 (C)Your heart will muse on the terror:
“Where is he who counted, where is (D)he who weighed the tribute?
Where is (E)he who counted the towers?”
19 (F)You will see no more the insolent people,
the people (G)of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,
stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.
20 Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!
(H)Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
an untroubled habitation, an (I)immovable tent,
whose stakes will never be plucked up,
nor will any of its cords be broken.
21 But there the Lord in majesty will be for us
a place of (J)broad rivers and streams,
(K)where no galley with oars can go,
nor majestic ship can pass.
22 For the Lord is our (L)judge; the Lord is our (M)lawgiver;
the Lord is our (N)king; he will save us.
23 Your cords hang loose;
they cannot hold the mast firm in its place
or keep the sail spread out.
(O)Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;
even (P)the lame will take the prey.
24 And no inhabitant will say, (Q)“I am sick”;
(R)the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
