Isaiah 33

English Standard Version

O Lord, Be Gracious to Us

33 ^(A)Ah, you destroyer,
    who yourself have not been destroyed,
you traitor,
    whom none has betrayed!
When you have ceased to destroy,
    you will be destroyed;
and when you have finished betraying,
    they will betray you.

²O Lord, be gracious to us; ^(B)we wait for you.
    Be our arm every morning,
    our salvation in the time of trouble.
³^(C)At the tumultuous noise peoples flee;
    when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered,
⁴and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
    ^(D)as locusts leap, it is leapt upon.

⁵^(E)The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
    he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,
⁶^(F)and he will be the stability of your times,
    abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
    the fear of the Lord is Zion's^[a] treasure.

⁷Behold, their heroes cry in the streets;
    ^(G)the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
⁸^(H)The highways lie waste;
    the traveler ceases.
^(I)Covenants are broken;
    cities^[b] are despised;
    there is no regard for man.
⁹^(J)The land mourns and languishes;
    Lebanon is confounded and withers away;
Sharon is like a desert,
    and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

¹⁰^(K)“Now I will arise,” says the Lord,
    “now I will lift myself up;
    now I will be exalted.
¹¹^(L)You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble;
    your breath is ^(M)a fire that will consume you.
¹²And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,
    ^(N)like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”

¹³Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;
    and you who are near, acknowledge my might.
¹⁴The sinners in Zion are afraid;
    trembling has seized the godless:
^(O)“Who among us can dwell ^(P)with the consuming fire?
    Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”
¹⁵^(Q)He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
    who despises the gain of oppressions,
who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
    who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed
    ^(R)and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,
¹⁶he will dwell on the heights;
    his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;
    ^(S)his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.

¹⁷^(T)Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty;
    ^(U)they will see a land that stretches afar.
¹⁸^(V)Your heart will muse on the terror:
    “Where is he who counted, where is ^(W)he who weighed the tribute?
    Where is ^(X)he who counted the towers?”
¹⁹^(Y)You will see no more the insolent people,
    the people ^(Z)of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,
    stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.
²⁰Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!
    ^(AA)Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
    an untroubled habitation, an ^(AB)immovable tent,
whose stakes will never be plucked up,
    nor will any of its cords be broken.
²¹But there the Lord in majesty will be for us
    a place of ^(AC)broad rivers and streams,
^(AD)where no galley with oars can go,
    nor majestic ship can pass.
²²For the Lord is our ^(AE)judge; the Lord is our ^(AF)lawgiver;
    the Lord is our ^(AG)king; he will save us.

²³Your cords hang loose;
    they cannot hold the mast firm in its place
    or keep the sail spread out.
^(AH)Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;
    even ^(AI)the lame will take the prey.
²⁴And no inhabitant will say, ^(AJ)“I am sick”;
    ^(AK)the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.