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The Land of the Majestic King

17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty;
    they will behold a land that stretches far away.
18 Your mind will muse on the terror:
    “Where is the one who counted?
    Where is the one who weighed the tribute?
    Where is the one who counted the towers?”(A)
19 No longer will you see the insolent people,
    the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,
    stammering in a language that you cannot understand.(B)
20 Look on Zion, the city of our appointed festivals!
    Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
    a quiet habitation, an immovable tent
whose stakes will never be pulled up
    and none of whose ropes will be broken.(C)
21 But there the Lord in majesty will be for us
    a place of broad rivers and streams
where no galley with oars can go
    nor stately ship can pass.(D)
22 For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our ruler;
    the Lord is our king; he will save us.(E)

23 Your rigging hangs loose;
    it cannot hold the mast firm in its place
    or keep the sail spread out.

Then the blind will divide abundant spoil,[a]
    and the lame will take plunder.(F)
24 And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”;
    the people who live there will be forgiven their iniquity.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. 33.23 Cn: Heb Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided

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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