Isaiah 33
33
A Prayer for Help
1Our enemies are doomed! They have robbed and betrayed, although no one has robbed them or betrayed them. But their time to rob and betray will end, and they themselves will become victims of robbery and treachery.
2 LORD, have mercy on us. We have put our hope in you. Protect us day by day and save us in times of trouble. 3When you fight for us, nations run away from the noise of battle. 4Their belongings are pounced upon and taken as loot.
5How great the LORD is! He rules over everything. He will fill Jerusalem with justice and integrity 6and give stability to the nation. He always protects his people and gives them wisdom and knowledge. Their greatest treasure is their reverence for the LORD.
7The brave are calling for help. The ambassadors who tried to bring about peace are crying bitterly. 8The highways are so dangerous that no one travels on them. Treaties are broken and agreements are violated. No one is respected any more. 9The land lies idle and deserted. The forests of Lebanon have withered, the fertile valley of Sharon is like a desert, and in Bashan and on Mount Carmel the leaves are falling from the trees.
The LORD Warns his Enemies
10The LORD says to the nations, “Now I will act. I will show how powerful I am. 11You make worthless plans and everything you do is useless. My spirit is like a fire that will destroy you.#33.11 One ancient translation My spirit… you; Hebrew You are destroying yourselves. 12You will crumble like rocks burnt to make lime, like thorns burnt to ashes. 13Let everyone near and far hear what I have done and acknowledge my power.”
14The sinful people of Zion are trembling with fright. They say, “God's judgement is like a fire that burns for ever. Can any of us survive a fire like that?” 15You can survive if you say and do what is right. Don't use your power to cheat the poor and don't accept bribes. Don't join with those who plan to commit murder or to do other evil things. 16Then you will be safe; you will be as secure as if you were in a strong fortress. You will have food to eat and water to drink.
The Glorious Future
17Once again you will see a king ruling in splendour over a land that stretches in all directions. 18Your old fears of foreign tax collectors and spies will be only a memory. 19You will no longer see any arrogant foreigners who speak a language that you can't understand. 20Look at Zion, the city where we celebrate our religious festivals. Look at Jerusalem! What a safe place it will be to live in! It will be like a tent that is never moved, whose pegs are never pulled up and whose ropes never break. 21The LORD will show us his glory. We will live beside broad rivers and streams, but hostile ships will not sail on them.#33.21 Verse 21 in Hebrew is unclear. 22-23All the rigging on those ships is useless; the sails cannot be spread! We will seize all the wealth of enemy armies, and there will be so much that even the lame can have a share. The LORD himself will be our king; he will rule over us and protect us. 24No one who lives in our land will ever again complain of being ill, and all sins will be forgiven.
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Isaiah 33: GNBUK
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Isaiah 33
33
1Woe to you who destroy, but you weren’t destroyed,
and who betray, but nobody betrayed you!
When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed;
and when you have finished betrayal, you will be betrayed.
2Yahweh, be gracious to us. We have waited for you.
Be our strength every morning,
our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3At the noise of the thunder, the peoples have fled.
When you lift yourself up, the nations are scattered.
4Your plunder will be gathered as the caterpillar gathers.
Men will leap on it as locusts leap.
5Yahweh is exalted, for he dwells on high.
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6There will be stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
The fear of Yahweh is your treasure.
7Behold, their valiant ones cry outside;
the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
8The highways are desolate.
The traveling man ceases.
The covenant is broken.
He has despised the cities.
He doesn’t respect man.
9The land mourns and languishes.
Lebanon is confounded and withers away.
Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.
10“Now I will arise,” says Yahweh.
“Now I will lift myself up.
Now I will be exalted.
11You will conceive chaff.
You will give birth to stubble.
Your breath is a fire that will devour you.
12The peoples will be like the burning of lime,
like thorns that are cut down and 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 ones.
Who among us can live with the devouring fire?
Who among us can live with everlasting burning?
15He who walks righteously
and speaks blamelessly,
he who despises the gain of oppressions,
who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe,
who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed,
and shuts his eyes from looking at evil—
16he will dwell on high.
His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks.
His bread will be supplied.
His waters will be sure.
17Your eyes will see the king in his beauty.
They will see a distant land.
18Your heart will meditate on the terror.
Where is he who counted?
Where is he who weighed?
Where is he who counted the towers?
19You will no longer see the fierce people,
a people of a deep speech that you can’t comprehend,
with a strange language that you can’t understand.
20Look at Zion, the city of our appointed festivals.
Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation,
a tent that won’t be removed.
Its stakes will never be plucked up,
nor will any of its cords be broken.
21But there Yahweh will be with us in majesty,
a place of wide rivers and streams,
in which no galley with oars will go,
neither will any gallant ship pass by there.
22For Yahweh is our judge.
Yahweh is our lawgiver.
Yahweh is our king.
He will save us.
23Your rigging is untied.
They couldn’t strengthen the foot of their mast.
They couldn’t spread the sail.
Then the prey of a great plunder was divided.
The lame took the prey.
24The inhabitant won’t say, “I am sick.”
The people who dwell therein will be forgiven their iniquity.
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