Isaiah 33

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The King in His Beauty

Woe to you, O destroyer,

While you were not destroyed;

And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him.

As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;

As soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.

O Yahweh, be gracious to us; we have hoped in You.

Be their strength every morning,

Our salvation also in the time of distress.

At the sound of the tumult peoples flee;

At the lifting up of Yourself nations scatter.

Your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;

As locusts rushing about men rush about on it.

Yahweh is exalted, for He dwells on high;

He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

And He will be the stability of your times,

A wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;

The fear of Yahweh is his treasure.

Behold, their brave men cry in the streets;

The messengers of peace weep bitterly.

The highways are desolate, the traveler has ceased;

He has broken the covenant, he has rejected the cities;

He has no regard for man.

The land mourns and languishes,

Lebanon is humiliated and withers;

Sharon is like a desert plain,

And Bashan and Carmel lose their foliage.

“Now I will be on high,” says Yahweh,

“Now I will be lifted up, now I will be lifted up.

You have conceived chaff, you will give birth to stubble;

My breath will consume you like a fire.

The peoples will be burned to lime,

Like cut thorns which are burned in the fire.

“You who are far away, hear what I have done;

And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”

Sinners in Zion are in dread;

Trembling has seized the godless.

“Who among us can sojourn with the consuming fire?

Who among us can sojourn with continual burning?”

He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly;

He who rejects greedy gain of oppression,

And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe;

He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed

And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil;

He will dwell on the heights,

His refuge will be the strongholds of the cliffs;

His bread will be given him,

His water will be sure.

Your eyes will behold the King in His beauty;

They will see a far‑distant land.

Your heart will meditate on terror:

“Where is he who counts?

Where is he who weighs?

Where is he who counts the towers?”

You will no longer see a fierce people,

A people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends,

Of a stammering tongue which no one understands.

Behold Zion, the city of our appointed times;

Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an abode at ease,

A tent which will not be folded;

Its stakes will never be pulled up,

Nor any of its cords ever be torn apart.

But there the Mighty One, Yahweh, will be for us

A place of rivers and wide canals

On which no boat with oars will go,

And on which no mighty ship will pass—

For Yahweh is our judge,

Yahweh is our lawgiver,

Yahweh is our king;

He will save us—

Your cords hang slack;

They cannot hold the base of their mast firmly,

Nor spread out the sail.

Then the prey of an abundant spoil will be divided;

The lame will take the plunder.

And no one who dwells there will say, “I am sick”;

The people who inhabit there will be forgiven their iniquity.

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