Isaiah 33
33
1Tragedy is coming to you, you destroyer who has not experienced destruction yourself, you deceiver who has not experienced deception yourself! When you have finished with your destroying, you will be destroyed yourself. When you are finished with your deceiving, you will be deceived yourselves.
2Lord, please be kind to us; we put our confidence in you. Be the strength we rely on every morning; be our salvation in times of trouble. 3When you roar, the peoples run away; when you prepare for action, the nations scatter! 4You plunder defeated enemy armies#33:4. “Defeated enemy armies”: supplied for clarity. This is usually taken to refer to the defeat of the Assyrians under Sennacherib. like caterpillars eating up plants; like an attack of swarming locusts.
5The Lord is praised for he lives in highest heaven; he has filled Zion with justice and right. 6He will be your constant support throughout your lives an abundant source of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. Reverence for the Lord is what makes Zion rich.
7But look! Even your bravest soldiers are crying loudly in the street; the messengers you sent to ask for peace are weeping bitterly. 8Your highways are deserted; nobody's traveling on your roads anymore. He breaks the treaty;#33:8. “Treaty”: or “covenant.” In the context here it probably refers to a treaty between Israel and Assyria that the Assyrians have broken, not caring what anybody thinks. he despises the witnesses;#33:8. “Witnesses”: Dead Sea Scrolls reading. Hebrew MT reads “cities.” he doesn't care about anybody. 9Israel#33:9. “Israel”: literally, “The land.” is in mourning and fades away; Lebanon withers in shame; the fields of Sharon have become a desert; the forests of Bashan and Carmel have shed their leaves.
10“But now I'm going to intervene!” says the Lord. “I'm prepared to act! I will show myself to be above all others! 11All you give birth to is only dry grass, all you deliver is just stubble. Your breath is a fire that will burn you up. 12You people will be burned to ashes like thorns that are cut down and thrown into the fire. 13Those of you who are far away, recognize what I have accomplished; those of you who are nearby, recognize how powerful I am.”
14The sinners who live in Zion tremble with fear; those who are irreligious are overcome with terror. They ask,#33:14. “They ask”: supplied for clarity. “Who can live with this fire that consumes everything? Who can live among such everlasting burning?”
15Those who live right and speak the truth, those who refuse to profit from extortion and refuse to take bribes, who don't listen to plots to kill people, who close their eyes rather than look at evil. 16They will live on high; they will be protected by the mountain fortresses; they will always be provided with food and will always have water.
17You will see the king in his wonderful appearance, and you will view a land that stretches into the distance. 18In your mind you will think about the terrifying things that were expected, and then ask yourself, “Where are the enemy officials—the scribes who were to record events, the treasurers who were to weigh the looted money, the surveyors who were to count and destroy the towers?”#33:18. This verse has been expanded to supply clarity to what seems to be the intended meaning—that the Assyrian officials who had been brought in expectation of a victory over Jerusalem have all disappeared. 19You won't see these offensive people anymore with their barbaric language that sounds like someone stammering and is impossible to understand.
20On the contrary, you'll see Zion as a festival city. You will view Jerusalem as a quiet and peaceful place. It will be like a tent that's never taken down, whose tent-pegs are never pulled up, whose guy ropes never snap. 21Right here our majestic Lord will be like a place of broad rivers and waters that no enemy ship with oars can cross—no great ship can pass. 22For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king. He is the one who will save us. 23The rigging on your ship hangs loose so the mast isn't secure and the sail can't be spread. Then all the looted treasure you're carrying will be divided among the victors#33:23. “Among the victors”: supplied for clarity.—even those who are lame will have their share. 24Nobody in Israel will say, “I'm sick,” and those who live there will have their guilt removed.
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Isaiah 33: FBV
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Isaiah 33
33
O Lord, Be Gracious to Us
1 # ch. 21:2; [ch. 17:14] Ah, you destroyer,
who yourself have not been destroyed,
you traitor,
whom none has betrayed!
When you have ceased to destroy,
you will be destroyed;
and when you have finished betraying,
they will betray you.
2O Lord, be gracious to us; #ch. 25:9; 26:8we wait for you.
Be our arm every morning,
our salvation in the time of trouble.
3 # ch. 17:13; [2 Kgs. 19:7] At the tumultuous noise peoples flee;
when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered,
4and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
# [Joel 2:4, 5] as locusts leap, it is leapt upon.
5 # ch. 2:17; 5:15, 16 The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,
6 # [ch. 39:8] and he will be the stability of your times,
abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
the fear of the Lord is Zion’s#33:6 Hebrew his treasure.
7Behold, their heroes cry in the streets;
# [ch. 36:22; 2 Kgs. 18:37] the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 # [Judg. 5:6] The highways lie waste;
the traveler ceases.
# [ver. 1]; See 2 Kgs. 18:14-17 Covenants are broken;
cities#33:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll witnesses are despised;
there is no regard for man.
9 # ch. 24:4; [Nah. 1:4] The land mourns and languishes;
Lebanon is confounded and withers away;
Sharon is like a desert,
and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10 #
Ps. 12:5; 68:1; [ch. 10:26] “Now I will arise,” says the Lord,
“now I will lift myself up;
now I will be exalted.
11 # [ch. 59:4; Ps. 7:14] You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble;
your breath is #ch. 10:16, 17; [Ps. 80:16]a fire that will consume you.
12And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,
# [See ver. 11 above] like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”
13Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;
and you who are near, acknowledge my might.
14The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling has seized the godless:
# [Ps. 15:1; 24:3] “Who among us can dwell #ch. 66:15; Heb. 12:29with the consuming fire?
Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”
15 # [Ps. 15:2; 24:4] He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
who despises the gain of oppressions,
who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed
#
Ps. 119:37
and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,
16he will dwell on the heights;
his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;
# ch. 30:23, 25 his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.
17 # ch. 6:5; [Zech. 9:9] Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty;
# [ch. 54:2, 3] they will see a land that stretches afar.
18 # [Ps. 37:10] Your heart will muse on the terror:
“Where is he who counted, where is #[2 Kgs. 18:14] he who weighed the tribute?
Where is #[Ps. 48:12]he who counted the towers?”
19 # [2 Kgs. 19:32, 33] You will see no more the insolent people,
the people #ch. 28:11; Deut. 28:49, 50of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,
stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.
20Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!
# ch. 32:18 Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
an untroubled habitation, an #ver. 6immovable tent,
whose stakes will never be plucked up,
nor will any of its cords be broken.
21But there the Lord in majesty will be for us
a place of #Ps. 46:4, 5 broad rivers and streams,
# [ch. 2:16; Ps. 48:7] where no galley with oars can go,
nor majestic ship can pass.
22For the Lord is our #[Judg. 2:16] judge; the Lord is our #James 4:12 lawgiver;
the Lord is our #[1 Sam. 12:13]king; he will save us.
23Your cords hang loose;
they cannot hold the mast firm in its place
or keep the sail spread out.
# [Gen. 49:27] Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;
even #[Ps. 68:12]the lame will take the prey.
24And no inhabitant will say, #[ch. 1:5, 6] “I am sick”;
# ch. 1:25, 26; Jer. 50:20 the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.
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