Isaiah

The book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 33, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 33 New English Translation

The LORD Will Restore Zion

   1 The destroyer is as good as dead, you who have not been destroyed! The deceitful one is as good as dead, the one whom others have not deceived! When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed; when you finish deceiving, others will deceive you!
   2 LORD, be merciful to us! We wait for you. Give us strength each morning! Deliver us when distress comes.
   3 The nations run away when they hear a loud noise; the nations scatter when you spring into action!
   4 Your plunder disappears as if locusts were eating it; they swarm over it like locusts!
   5 The LORD is exalted, indeed, he lives in heaven; he fills Zion with justice and fairness.
   6 He is your constant source of stability; he abundantly provides safety and great wisdom; he gives all this to those who fear him.
   7 Look, ambassadors cry out in the streets; messengers sent to make peace weep bitterly.
   8 Highways are empty, there are no travelers. Treaties are broken, witnesses are despised, human life is treated with disrespect.
   9 The land dries up and withers away; the forest of Lebanon shrivels up and decays. Sharon is like the desert; Bashan and Carmel are parched.
   10 "Now I will rise up," says the LORD. "Now I will exalt myself; now I will magnify myself.
   11 You conceive straw, you give birth to chaff; your breath is a fire that destroys you.
   12 The nations will be burned to ashes; like thorn bushes that have been cut down, they will be set on fire.
   13 You who are far away, listen to what I have done! You who are close by, recognize my strength!"
   14 Sinners are afraid in Zion; panic grips the godless. They say, 'Who among us can coexist with destructive fire? Who among us can coexist with unquenchable fire?'
   15 The one who lives uprightly and speaks honestly; the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures and rejects a bribe; the one who does not plot violent crimes and does not seek to harm others -
   16 This is the person who will live in a secure place; he will find safety in the rocky, mountain strongholds; he will have food and a constant supply of water.
   17 You will see a king in his splendor; you will see a wide land.
   18 Your mind will recall the terror you experienced, and you will ask yourselves, "Where is the scribe? Where is the one who weighs the money? Where is the one who counts the towers?"
   19 You will no longer see a defiant people whose language you do not comprehend, whose derisive speech you do not understand.
   20 Look at Zion, the city where we hold religious festivals! You will see Jerusalem, a peaceful settlement, a tent that stays put; its stakes will never be pulled up; none of its ropes will snap in two.
   21 Instead the LORD will rule there as our mighty king. Rivers and wide streams will flow through it; no war galley will enter; no large ships will sail through.
   22 For the LORD, our ruler, the LORD, our commander, the LORD, our king - he will deliver us.
   23 Though at this time your ropes are slack, the mast is not secured, and the sail is not unfurled, at that time you will divide up a great quantity of loot; even the lame will drag off plunder.
   24 No resident of Zion will say, "I am ill"; the people who live there will have their sin forgiven.

King James Version

   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 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 noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.
   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 The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.
   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 Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.
   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 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 will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.
   11 Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
   12 And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.
   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 afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
   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 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 Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.
   18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
   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 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 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 the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.
   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 the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.