Isaiah 33:1-21 ▼

1 Woe 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10 “Now I will be on high,” says Yahweh, “Now I will be lifted up, 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.”

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

15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly; He who rejects greedy gain of oppression, 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;

16 He will dwell on the heights, His refuge will be the strongholds of the cliffs; His bread will be given him, His water will be sure.

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

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

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

20 Behold Zion, the city of our appointed times; Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an abode at ease, A tent which will not be folded; Its stakes will never be pulled up, Nor any of its cords ever be torn apart.

21 But there the Mighty One, Yahweh, 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—