Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
Isaiah 33
The LORD Is Exalted in Zion
Woe, destroyer who has not been destroyed,
betrayer whom no one has betrayed!
When you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;
when you end your betrayal, they will betray you.
LORD, show us favor; we wait for you.
Be their arm each morning,
our salvation in a time of distress.
At the sound of tumult peoples flee;
when you rise, nations scatter.
Your plunder is gathered as the locust gathers;
as locusts rush, people rush upon it.
The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he fills Zion with justice and righteousness.
He will be the stability of your times,
a wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
The fear of the LORD is his treasure.
Look, their valiant ones cry outside;
messengers of peace weep bitterly.
Highways lie desolate; travelers have stopped.
He has broken the covenant, despised cities,
and has no regard for anyone.
The land mourns and droops;
Lebanon is ashamed and withers.
Sharon has become like the Arabah;
Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
“Now I will rise,” says the LORD.
“Now I will be exalted; now I will be lifted high.
You conceive dry grass and give birth to stubble;
your breath is a fire that consumes you.
Peoples will be burned to lime,
like cut thorns set ablaze.
You far away, hear what I have done!
You nearby, acknowledge my might!”
Sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling grips the godless:
“Who among us can live with devouring fire?
Who among us can live with everlasting burning?”
The one who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
rejects profit from oppression,
shakes off a bribe from his hands,
stops his ears against talk of bloodshed,
and closes his eyes against evil—
that person will dwell on high;
rocky strongholds will be his refuge.
His bread will be supplied; his water will be secure.
Your eyes will see a king in his beauty;
they will see a land stretching far away.
Your heart will recall the terror:
“Where is the one who counted? Where is the one who weighed?
Where is the one who counted the towers?”
You will no longer see the insolent people,
the people whose speech is too obscure to understand,
whose stammering tongue makes no sense.
Look at Zion, city of our appointed festivals!
Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful home,
a tent that will not be moved,
whose stakes will never be pulled up,
whose ropes will never be snapped.
There the majestic LORD will be for us
a place of rivers, broad waterways,
where no rowing ship goes
and no mighty vessel passes.
For the LORD is our judge,
the LORD our lawgiver,
the LORD our king;
he will save us.
Your ropes hang loose;
they do not hold the mast firm or spread the sail.
Then abundant plunder will be divided;
even the lame will take the spoil.
No inhabitant will say, “I am sick.”
The people living there will have their guilt forgiven.