The Judgment of God

1Woe to you, O destroyer,
         While you were not destroyed;
         And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him.
         As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;
         As soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.

2O LORD, be gracious to us; we have waited for You.
         Be their strength every morning,
         Our salvation also in the time of distress.

3At the sound of the tumult peoples flee;
         At the lifting up of Yourself nations disperse.

4Your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
         As locusts rushing about men rush about on it.

5The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high;
         He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

6And He will be the stability of your times,
         A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge;
         The fear of the LORD is his treasure.

7Behold, their brave men cry in the streets,
         The ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.

8The highways are desolate, the traveler has ceased,
         He has broken the covenant, he has despised the cities,
         He has no regard for man.

9The land mourns and pines away,
         Lebanon is shamed and withers;
         Sharon is like a desert plain,
         And Bashan and Carmel lose their foliage.

10“Now I will arise,” says the LORD,
         “Now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up.

11“You have conceived chaff, you will give birth to stubble;
         My breath will consume you like a fire.

12“The peoples will be burned to lime,
         Like cut thorns which are burned in the fire.

13“You who are far away, hear what I have done;
         And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”

14Sinners in Zion are terrified;
         Trembling has seized the godless.
         “Who among us can live with the consuming fire?
         Who among us can live with continual burning?”

15He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity,
         He who rejects unjust gain
         And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe;
         He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed
         And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil;

16He will dwell on the heights,
         His refuge will be the impregnable rock;
         His bread will be given him,
         His water will be sure.

17Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;
         They will behold a far-distant land.

18Your heart will meditate on terror:
         “Where is he who counts?
         Where is he who weighs?
         Where is he who counts the towers?”

19You will no longer see a fierce people,
         A people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends,
         Of a stammering tongue which no one understands.

20Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts;
         Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an undisturbed habitation,
         A tent which will not be folded;
         Its stakes will never be pulled up,
         Nor any of its cords be torn apart.

21But there the majestic One, the LORD, will be for us
         A place of rivers and wide canals
         On which no boat with oars will go,
         And on which no mighty ship will pass—

22For the LORD is our judge,
         The LORD is our lawgiver,
         The LORD is our king;
         He will save us—

23Your tackle hangs slack;
         It cannot hold the base of its mast firmly,
         Nor spread out the sail.
         Then the prey of an abundant spoil will be divided;
         The lame will take the plunder.

24And no resident will say, “I am sick”;
         The people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
Woe to thee that destroyest, and thou wast not destroyed; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! When thou hast ceased to destroy, thou shalt be destroyed; and when thou hast made an end of dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

Douay-Rheims Bible
WOE to thee that spoilest, shalt not thou thyself also be spoiled? and thou that despisest, shalt not thyself also be despised? when thou shalt have made an end of spoiling, thou shalt be spoiled: when being wearied thou shalt cease to despise, thou shalt be despised.

Darby Bible Translation
Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and that dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! When thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; when thou shalt make an end of dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

English Revised Version
Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! When thou hast ceased to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou hast made an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

Webster's Bible Translation
Woe to thee that layest waste, and thou wast not laid waste; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to lay waste, thou shalt be wasted; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

World English Bible
Woe 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 made an end of betrayal, you will be betrayed.

Young's Literal Translation
Woe, spoiler! and thou not spoiled, And treacherous! and they dealt not treacherously with thee, When thou dost finish, O spoiler, thou art spoiled, When thou dost finish dealing treacherously, They deal treacherously with thee.April 2. "He Shall Dwell on High" (Isa. xxxiii. 16).
"He shall dwell on high" (Isa. xxxiii. 16). It is easier for a consecrated Christian to live an out and out life for God than to live a mixed life. A soul redeemed and sanctified by Christ is too large for the shoals and sands of a selfish, worldly, sinful life. The great steamship, St. Paul, could sail in deep water without an effort, but she could make no progress in the shallow pool, or on the Long Branch sands; the smallest tugboat is worth a dozen of her there; but out in mid-ocean she could …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Fortress of the Faithful
'He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.'--ISAIAH xxxiii. 16. This glowing promise becomes even more striking if we mark its connection with the solemn question in the previous context. 'Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?' is the prophet's question; 'who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?' That question really means, Who is capable 'of communion with God'? The prophet sketches the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Rivers of God
'But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.'--ISAIAH xxxiii. 21. One great peculiarity of Jerusalem, which distinguishes it from almost all other historical cities, is that it has no river. Babylon was on the Euphrates, Nineveh on the Tigris, Thebes on the Nile, Rome on the Tiber; but Jerusalem had nothing but a fountain or two, and a well or two, and a little trickle and an intermittent …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Judge, Lawgiver, King
'For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us.'--ISAIAH xxxiii. 22. There is reference here to the three forms of government in Israel: by Moses, by Judges, by Kings. In all, Israel was a Theocracy. Isaiah looks beyond the human representative to the true divine Reality. I. A truth for us, in both its more specific and its more general forms. (a) Specific. Christ is all these three for us--Authority; His will law; Defender. (b) More general. Everything …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

How to Dwell in the Fire of God
'Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? 15. He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil.'--ISAIAH xxxiii. 14, 15. 'He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God'--1 JOHN iv. 16. I have put these two verses together because, striking as is at first sight the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Border of his Sanctuary
G. W. Is. xxxiii. 17 Glorious and solemn hour, Thus at last to stand, All behind us the great desert, All before, the land! Past the shadow of the valley, Past the weary plain; Past the rugged mountain pathway, Ne'er to be again. And before us, ever stretching In its golden sheen, Lies the fair, the blessed country Where our hearts have been-- Where our hearts have been whilst wandering Through the desert bare; For the soul's adored, beloved One, He abideth there. Clad in love and glory stands …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

April 3 Evening
Ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning.--AMOS 4:11. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?--We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.--The wages of sin is death; but the gift …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Question of the Contemplative Life
I. Is the Contemplative Life wholly confined to the Intellect, or does the Will enter into it? S. Thomas, On the Beatific Vision, I., xii. 7 ad 3m II. Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative Life? S. Augustine, Of the City of God, xix. 19 III. Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human Righteousness, viii. 18 " Ep., cxxx. ad probam IV. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Necessity of Contemplating the Judgment-Seat of God, in Order to be Seriously Convinced of the Doctrine of Gratuitous Justification.
1. Source of error on the subject of Justification. Sophists speak as if the question were to be discussed before some human tribunal. It relates to the majesty and justice of God. Hence nothing accepted without absolute perfection. Passages confirming this doctrine. If we descend to the righteousness of the Law, the curse immediately appears. 2. Source of hypocritical confidence. Illustrated by a simile. Exhortation. Testimony of Job, David, and Paul. 3. Confession of Augustine and Bernard. 4. Another …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

A vision of the King.
ONE of the most blessed occupations for the believer is the prayerful searching of God's holy Word to discover there new glories and fresh beauties of Him, who is altogether lovely. Shall we ever find out all which the written Word reveals of Himself and His worthiness? This wonderful theme can never be exhausted. The heart which is devoted to Him and longs through the presence and indwelling of the Holy Spirit to be closer to the Lord, to hear and know more of Himself, will always find something …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

Visions of Future Glory
In the darkest days of her long conflict with evil, the church of God has been given revelations of the eternal purpose of Jehovah. His people have been permitted to look beyond the trials of the present to the triumphs of the future, when, the warfare having been accomplished, the redeemed will enter into possession of the promised land. These visions of future glory, scenes pictured by the hand of God, should be dear to His church today, when the controversy of the ages is rapidly closing and the …
Ellen Gould White—The Story of Prophets and Kings

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