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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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
1 WOE TO you, O destroyer, you who were not yourself destroyed, who deal treacherously though they [your victims] did not deal treacherously with you! When you have ceased to destroy, you will be destroyed; and when you have stopped dealing treacherously, they will deal treacherously with you.
2 O Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited [expectantly] for You. Be the arm [of Your servants–their strength and defense] every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.
3 At the noise of the tumult [caused by Your voice at which the enemy is overthrown], the peoples flee; at the lifting up of Yourself, nations are scattered.
4 And the spoil [of the Assyrians] is gathered [by the inhabitants of Jerusalem] as the caterpillar gathers; as locusts leap and run to and fro, so [the Jews spoil the Assyrians' forsaken camp as they] leap upon it.
5 The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness (moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation).
6 And there shall be stability in your times, an abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the reverent fear and worship of the Lord is your treasure and His.
7 Behold, their valiant ones cry without; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceases. The enemy has broken the covenant, he has despised the cities and the witnesses, he regards no man.
9 The land mourns and languishes, Lebanon is confounded and [its luxuriant verdure] withers away; Sharon [a fertile pasture region south of Mount Carmel] is like a desert, and Bashan [a broad, fertile plateau east of the Jordan River] and [Mount] Carmel shake off their leaves.
10 Now will I arise, says the Lord. Now will I lift up Myself; now will I be exalted.
11 You conceive chaff, you bring forth stubble; your breath is a fire that consumes you.
12 And the people will be burned as if to lime, like thorns cut down that are burned in the fire.
13 Hear, you who are far off [says the Lord], what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge My might!
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling seizes the godless ones. [They cry] Who among us can dwell with that devouring fire? Who among us can dwell with those everlasting burnings?
15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises gain from fraud and from oppression, who shakes his hand free from the taking of bribes, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes to avoid looking upon evil.
16 [Such a man] will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; water for him will be sure.
17 Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; [your eyes] will behold a land of wide distances that stretches afar.
18 Your mind will meditate on the terror: [asking] Where is he who counted? Where is he who weighed the tribute? Where is he who counted the towers?
19 You will see no more the fierce and insolent people, a people of a speech too deep and obscure to be comprehended, of a strange and stammering tongue that you cannot understand.
20 Look upon Zion, the city of our set feasts and solemnities! Your eyes shall see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be taken down; not one of its stakes shall ever be pulled up, neither shall any of its cords be broken.
21 But there the Lord will be for us in majesty and splendor a place of broad rivers and streams, where no oar-propelled boat can go, and no mighty and stately ship can pass.
22 For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us. [Isa. 2:3-4; 11:4; 32:1; James 4:12.]
23 Your hoisting ropes hang loose; they cannot strengthen and hold firm the foot of their mast or keep the sail spread out. Then will prey and spoil in abundance be divided; even the lame will take the prey.
24 And no inhabitant [of Zion] will say, I am sick; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity and guilt.
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation