ISAIAH 33 [†]  l 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.

2[†] O LORD, be gracious to us;  m we wait for you.

Be our arm every morning,

our salvation in the time of trouble.

3[†]  n At the tumultuous noise peoples flee;

when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered,

4 and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;

 o as locusts leap, it is leapt upon.

5[†]  p The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high;

he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,

6[^]  q and he will be the stability of your times,

abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;

the fear of the LORD is Zion’s [1] treasure.

7[†] Behold, their heroes cry in the streets;

 r the envoys of peace weep bitterly.

8  s The highways lie waste;

the traveler ceases.

 t Covenants are broken;

cities [2] are despised;

there is no regard for man.

9  u 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[†]  v “Now I will arise,” says the LORD,

“now I will lift myself up;

now I will be exalted.

11[†]  w You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble;

your breath is  x a fire that will consume you.

12 And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,

 x like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”

13[†] Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;

and you who are near, acknowledge my might.

14[^] The sinners in Zion are afraid;

trembling has seized the godless:

 y “Who among us can dwell  z with the consuming fire?

Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”

15[†]  a 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

 b and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,

16[†] he will dwell on the heights;

his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;

 c his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.

17[†]  d Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty;

 e they will see a land that stretches afar.

18[†]  f Your heart will muse on the terror:

“Where is he who counted, where is  g he who weighed the tribute?

Where is  h he who counted the towers?”

19  i You will see no more the insolent people,

the people  j of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,

stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.

20[†] Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!

 k Your eyes will see Jerusalem,

an untroubled habitation, an  l immovable tent,

whose stakes will never be plucked up,

nor will any of its cords be broken.

21[†] But there the LORD in majesty will be for us

a place of  m broad rivers and streams,

 n where no galley with oars can go,

nor majestic ship can pass.

22[†] For the LORD is our  o judge; the LORD is our  p lawgiver;

the LORD is our  q king; he will save us.

23[†] Your cords hang loose;

they cannot hold the mast firm in its place

or keep the sail spread out.

 r Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;

even  s the lame will take the prey.

24 And no inhabitant will say,  t “I am sick”;

 u the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.