Isaiah 33

¹Woe to you who plunder! Will you yourselves not also be plundered? And woe to you who despise! Will you yourselves not also be despised? When you will have completed your plundering, you will be plundered. When, out of fatigue, you will have ceased acting with contempt, you will be treated with contempt.

²O Lord, take pity on us. For we have waited for you. Be our arm in the morning and our salvation in the time of tribulation.

³From the voice of the Angel, the people fled. And from your exultation, the nations were scattered.

⁴And your spoils will be gathered together, just as the locusts are collected when the ditches have become filled with them.

⁵The Lord has been magnified, because he has lived on high. He has filled Zion with judgment and justice.

⁶And there will be faith in your times: the riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge. For the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

⁷Behold, outside, those who see will cry out. The Angels of peace will weep bitterly.

⁸The roads have become desolate. Travelers have ceased along the paths. The covenant has been nullified. He has tossed aside cities. He has disregarded men.

⁹The earth has mourned and languished. Lebanon has been confounded and desecrated. And Sharon has become like a desert. And Bashan and Carmel have been struck together.

¹⁰“Now, I will rise up!” says the Lord. “Now I will be exalted! Now I will lift myself up!”

¹¹You will conceive heat. You will give birth to stubble. Your own spirit will devour you like fire.

¹²And the people will be like the ashes from a fire. They will be consumed by fire like a bundle of thorns.

¹³“You who are far away, listen to what I have done! And you who are near, acknowledge my strength!”

¹⁴The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling has taken hold of the hypocrites. Who among you is able to live with a devouring fire? Who among you will live with an everlasting flame?

¹⁵The one who walks in justice and speaks the truth, who casts out avarice with oppression and shakes all bribes from his hands, who blocks his ears so that he may not listen to blood, and closes his eyes so that he may not see evil.

¹⁶Such a one will live on high; the fortification of rocks will be his lofty place. Bread has been given to him; his waters are reliable.

¹⁷His eyes will see the king in his elegance; they will discern the land from far away.

¹⁸Your heart will meditate on fear. Where are the learned? Where are those who ponder the words of the law? Where are the teachers of little ones?

¹⁹You will not look upon a shameless people, a people of exalted words. For you are not able to understand the dissertation of a tongue in which there is no wisdom.

²⁰Look with favor upon Zion, the city of our solemnity. Your eyes will behold Jerusalem: an opulent habitation, a tabernacle that can never be taken away. Its stakes will not be taken away forever, nor will any of its cords be broken.

²¹For only in that place has our Lord been magnified. It is a place of rivers, very broad and open. No ship with oars will cross through it, nor will the great Greek ship pass through it.

²²For the Lord is our judge. The Lord is our lawgiver. The Lord is our king. He himself will save us.

²³Your ropes have become loose, and they will not prevail. Your mast will be such that you will not be able to unfurl a flag. Then the spoils of much plunder will be divided. The lame will seize the spoils.

²⁴He who is nearby will not say: “I am too weak.” The people who live in it will have their iniquity taken away from them.

Isaiah 33

¹Woe 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.

²O Lord, have mercy on us: for we have waited for thee: be thou our arm in the morning, and our salvation in the time of trouble.

³At the voice of the angel the people fled, and at the lifting up thyself the nations are scattered.

⁴And your spoils shall be gathered together as the locusts are gathered, as when the ditches are full of them.

⁵The Lord is magnified, for he hath dwelt on high: he hath filled Sion with judgment and justice.

⁶And there shall be faith in thy times: riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

⁷Behold they that see shall cry without, the angels of peace shall weep bitterly.

⁸The ways are made desolate, no one passeth by the road, the covenant is made void, he hath rejected the cities, he hath not regarded the men.

⁹The land hath mourned, and languished: Libanus is confounded, and become foul, and Saron is become as a desert: and Basan and Carmel are shaken.

¹⁰Now will I rise up, saith the Lord: now will I be exalted, now will I lift up myself.

¹¹You shall conceive heat, you shall bring forth stubble: your breath as fire shall devour you.

¹²And the people shall be as ashes after a fire, as a bundle of thorns they shall be burnt with fire.

¹³Hear, you that are far off, what I have done, and you that are near know my strength.

¹⁴The sinners in Sion are afraid, trembling hath seized upon the hypocrites. Which of you can dwell with devouring fire? which of you shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

¹⁵He that walketh in justices, and speaketh truth, that casteth away avarice by oppression, and shaketh his hands from all bribes, that stoppeth his ears lest he hear blood, and shutteth his eyes that he may see no evil.

¹⁶He shall dwell on high, the fortifications of rocks shall be his highness: bread is given him, his waters are sure.

¹⁷His eyes shall see the king in his beauty, they shall see the land far off.

¹⁸Thy heart shall meditate fear: where is the learned? where is he that pondered the words of the law? where is the teacher of little ones?

¹⁹The shameless people thou shalt not see, the people of profound speech: so that thou canst not understand the eloquence of his tongue, in whom there is no wisdom.

²⁰Look upon Sion the city of our solemnity: thy eyes shall see Jerusalem, a rich habitation, a tabernacle that cannot be removed: neither shall the nails thereof be taken away for ever, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.

²¹Because only there our Lord is magnificent: a place of rivers, very broad and spacious streams: no ship with oars shall pass by it, neither shall the great galley pass through it.

²²For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king: he will save us.

²³Thy tacklings are loosed, and they shall be of no strength: thy mast shall be in such condition, that thou shalt not be able to spread the flag. Then shall the spoils of much prey be divided: the lame shall take the spoil.

²⁴Neither shall he that is near, say: I am feeble. The people that dwell therein, shall have their iniquity taken away from them.