Isaiah 33

1Woe to you, destroyer, though you yourself have not been destroyed, and betrayer, though they have not betrayed you. When you finish destroying, you will be destroyed; when you cease betraying, they will betray you.

2O Yahweh, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, also our salvation in the time of distress.

3At the sound of the tumult, peoples fled; at your rising up, nations were scattered.

4And your spoil will be gathered like the gathering of locusts; like the rushing of swarms, they rush upon it.

5Yahweh 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 Yahweh is his treasure.

7Look, their heroes cry out outside; the messengers of peace weep bitterly.

8The highways lie desolate; the traveler has ceased from the road. He has broken the covenant, despised the cities, and regarded no man.

9The land mourns and withers; Lebanon is ashamed and withers away. Sharon has become like the Arabah, and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

10Now I will arise, says Yahweh; now I will be exalted; now I will lift myself up.

11You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble. Your breath is a fire that will consume you.

12And the peoples will become burnings of lime; like cut thornbushes, they will be burned in the fire.

13Hear, you who are far away, what I have done; and know, you who are near, my might.

14Sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: “Who among us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”

15He who walks in righteousness and speaks what is upright, who despises gain from extortions, who shakes his hands free from taking a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from looking on evil—

16He will dwell on the heights; rocky fortresses will be his refuge; his bread will be given, his water will be sure.

17Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; they will see a far-reaching land.

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

19You will no longer see the insolent people, a people of speech too deep to understand, of a stammering tongue without comprehension.

20Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, and none of its ropes will be torn apart.

21But there the majestic Yahweh will be for us a place of rivers, of broad streams, where no rowing ship can go, and no mighty vessel can pass through.

22For Yahweh is our judge; Yahweh is our lawgiver; Yahweh is our king; he will save us.

23Your ropes hang loose; they cannot hold firm the base of their mast; they cannot spread the sail. Then abundant plunder will be divided; even the lame will carry off the spoil.

24And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”; the people who dwell there are forgiven their iniquity.