Isaiah 33

1 Woe to thee that wastest, while thou wast not wasted; and traitor, while men dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt have made an end of wasting, thou shalt be wasted, and when thou shalt have finished to deal treacherously, men shall deal treacherously with thee.

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 finished betrayal, you will be betrayed.

2 O Lord, be gracious; we have waited for thee: be thou their support every morning, also our salvation in the time of trouble.

LORD, be gracious to us. We have waited for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

3 At the noise of [thy] thunder people fled; when thou liftedst thyself up nations were scattered.

At the noise of the thunder, the peoples have fled. When you lift yourself up, the nations are scattered.

4 And your spoil shall be gathered as the cricket gathereth: as locusts run about, so shall people hasten after it.

Your plunder will be gathered as the caterpillar gathers. Men will leap on it as locusts leap.

5 The Lord is exalted; for he dwelleth on high; he hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

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

6 And the stability of thy times and the strength of thy happiness shall be wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

There will be stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD is your treasure.

7 Behold, their valiant ones cry without: the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.

Behold, their valiant ones cry outside; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.

8 The highways lie waste, ceased hath the wayfaring traveler: he hath broken the covenant, he despiseth cities, he regardeth not man.

The highways are desolate. The travelling man ceases. The covenant is broken. He has despised the cities. He doesn’t respect man.

9 It mourneth, it languisheth—the land: Lebanon is ashamed, it is withered away; Sharon is become like a wilderness; and bereft of their fruits are Bashan and Carmel.

The land mourns and languishes. Lebanon is confounded and withers away. Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.

10 Now will I arise, saith the Lord; now will I raise myself; now will I lift myself up.

“Now I will arise,” says the LORD. “Now I will lift myself up. Now I will be exalted.

11 Ye shall be pregnant with hay, [and] ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath is a fire, which shall devour you.

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

12 And the people shall be burnt as lime: as cut-off thorns shall they blaze up in fire.

The peoples will be like the burning of lime, like thorns that are cut down and burnt in the fire.

13 Hear, ye distant ones, what I have done; and acknowledge ye that are near my might.

Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and, you who are near, acknowledge my might.”

14 In Zion sinners are in dread; trembling hath seized on hypocrites. “Who among us shall abide with the devouring fire? who among us shall abide with everlasting burnings?”

The sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling has seized the godless ones. Who amongst us can live with the devouring fire? Who amongst us can live with everlasting burning?

15 He that walketh in righteousness, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands against taking hold of bribes, that stoppeth his ears against hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes against looking on evil;

He 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—

16 He shall dwell on high; rocky strongholds shall be his refuge: his bread shall be given him; his water shall be sure.

he will dwell on high. His place of defence will be the fortress of rocks. His bread will be supplied. His waters will be sure.

17 The king in his beauty shall thy eyes behold: they shall see a far-off land.

Your eyes will see the king in his beauty. They will see a distant land.

18 Thy heart shall meditate [on past] terror. “Where is who wrote down? where is he that weighed? where is he that counted the towers?”

Your heart will meditate on the terror. Where is he who counted? Where is he who weighed? Where is he who counted the towers?

19 The barbarous people shalt thou not see any more, the people of a speech too obscure to be understood, of a stammering tongue, without meaning.

You 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.

20 Look on Zion, the town of our solemn assemblies; thy eyes shall see Jerusalem as an undisturbed residence, a tent that shall not be struck for removal; not one of the stakes of which shall ever be moved, and all the cords of which shall never be torn loose.

Look 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.

21 But there will the Lord [show himself] mighty unto us, [in] a place of rivers and streams of ample breadth; wherein no oared galley shall go, and a gallant ship shall not pass thereby.

But there the LORD 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.

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

For the LORD is our judge. The LORD is our lawgiver. The LORD is our king. He will save us.

23 Loose hang thy tacklings; they cannot well uphold strongly their mast, they cannot spread the sail. Then are divided booty and spoil in abundance, [even] the lame take the booty.

Your 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.

24 And no inhabitant shall say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be one whose iniquity is forgiven.

The inhabitant won’t say, “I am sick.” The people who dwell therein will be forgiven their iniquity.