Isaiah, 33

1. Woe to you, destroying though not yourself destroyed, betraying though not yourself betrayed; when you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed, when you have stopped betraying, you will be betrayed.

1. Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou [wast] not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; [and] when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

2. Yahweh, show us your mercy, we hope in you. Be our arm every morning and our salvation in time of distress.

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

3. At the sound of tumult the peoples flee, when you stand up the nations scatter.

3. At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.

4. Your spoil is gathered in as a grasshopper gathers in, like a swarm of locusts people descend on it.

4. And your spoil shall be gathered [like] the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.

5. Yahweh is exalted, for he is enthroned above, he has filled Zion with fair judgement and saving justice.

5. The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.

6. You can count on this all your days: wisdom and knowledge are the riches that save, the fear of Yahweh is his treasure.

6. And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, [and] strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD [is] his treasure.

7. Look, Ariel is lamenting in the streets, the ambassadors of peace are weeping bitterly.

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

8. The highways are deserted, no travellers any more on the roads. Agreements are broken, witnesses held in contempt, there is respect for no one.

8. The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.

9. The land pines away in mourning, the Lebanon is withering with shame, Sharon has become like the wasteland, Bashan and Carmel are shuddering.

9. The earth mourneth [and] languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed [and] hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off [their fruits].

10. 'Now I shall stand up,' says Yahweh, 'now I shall rise, now draw myself up.

10. Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.

11. You conceive chaff, you give birth to straw: like fire, my breath will devour you.

11. Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, [as] fire, shall devour you.

12. The peoples will be burnt up as though by quicklime, like cut thorns they will be burnt on the fire.

12. And the people shall be [as] the burnings of lime: [as] thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.

13. You who are far away, listen to what I have done, and you who are near, realise my strength.'

13. Hear, ye [that are] far off, what I have done; and, ye [that are] near, acknowledge my might.

14. The sinners in Zion are panic-stricken and fear seizes on the godless, 'Which of us can survive the devouring fire, which of us survive everlasting burning?'

14. 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?

15. The one who acts uprightly and speaks honestly, who scorns to get rich by extortion, who rejects bribes out of hand, who refuses to listen to plans involving bloodshed and shuts his eyes rather than countenance crime:

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;

16. such a man will live on the heights, the craggy rocks will be his refuge, he will be fed, he will not want for water.

16. 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.

17. Your eyes will gaze on the king in his beauty, they will look on a country stretching far and wide.

17. Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.

18. Your heart will meditate on past terrors, 'Where is the man who did the counting? Where is the man who did the weighing? Where is the man who counted off the towers?'

18. Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where [is] the scribe? where [is] the receiver? where [is] he that counted the towers?

19. No more will you see that insolent people, that people of unintelligible speech, of barbarous and meaningless tongue.

19. Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, [that thou canst] not understand.

20. Gaze at Zion, city of our feasts; your eyes will see Jerusalem as a home that is secure, a tent not to be moved, none of its tent-pegs ever to be pulled out, none of its guy-ropes ever to be broken.

20. Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle [that] shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.

21. There it is that Yahweh shows us his power, like a place of rivers and very wide canals on which will row no galley, over which will pass no majestic ship.

21. 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.

22. (For Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh our lawgiver, Yahweh is our king and our Saviour.)

22. For the LORD [is] our judge, the LORD [is] our lawgiver, the LORD [is] our king; he will save us.

23. Your tackle has given way, it cannot support the mast, it cannot hoist the pennon. And so there is much booty to be shared out; the lame fall to plundering,

23. Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

24. and no one living there will say, 'I am sickly'; the people living there will find their guilt forgiven.

24. And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein [shall be] forgiven [their] iniquity.