Isaiah 33

Listen to Isaiah 33

O Lord, Be Gracious to Us

1 1Ah, 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; 2we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.
3 3At the tumultuous noise peoples flee; when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered,
4 and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers; 4as locusts leap, it is leapt upon.
5 5The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,
6 6and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is Zion's[a] treasure.
7 Behold, their heroes cry in the streets; 7the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 8The highways lie waste; the traveler ceases. 9Covenants are broken; cities[b] are despised; there is no regard for man.
9 10The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is confounded and withers away; Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10 11"Now I will arise," says the LORD, "now I will lift myself up; now I will be exalted.
11 12You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble; your breath is 13a fire that will consume you.
12 And the peoples will be as if burned to lime, 14like 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: 15"Who among us can dwell 16with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?"
15 17He 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 18and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,
16 he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; 19his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.
17 20Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; 21they will see a land that stretches afar.
18 22Your heart will muse on the terror: "Where is he who counted, where is 23he who weighed the tribute? Where is 24he who counted the towers?"
19 25You will see no more the insolent people, the people 26of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend, stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.
20 Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! 27Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an 28immovable 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 29broad rivers and streams, 30where no galley with oars can go, nor majestic ship can pass.
22 For the LORD is our 31judge; the LORD is our 32lawgiver; the LORD is our 33king; he will save us.
23 Your cords hang loose; they cannot hold the mast firm in its place or keep the sail spread out. 34Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided; even 35the lame will take the prey.
24 And no inhabitant will say, 36"I am sick"; 37the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.

Images for Isaiah 33

Cross References 37

  • 1. Isaiah 21:2; [Isaiah 17:14]
  • 2. Isaiah 25:9; Isaiah 26:8
  • 3. Isaiah 17:13; [2 Kings 19:7]
  • 4. [Joel 2:4, 5]
  • 5. Isaiah 2:17; Isaiah 5:15, 16
  • 6. [Isaiah 39:8]
  • 7. [Isaiah 36:22; 2 Kings 18:37]
  • 8. [Judges 5:6]
  • 9. [ver. 1]; See 2 Kings 18:14-17
  • 10. Isaiah 24:4; [Nahum 1:4]
  • 11. Psalms 12:5; Psalms 68:1; [Isaiah 10:26]
  • 12. [Isaiah 59:4; Psalms 7:14]
  • 13. Isaiah 10:16, 17; [Psalms 80:16]
  • 14. [See ver. 11 above]
  • 15. [Psalms 15:1; Psalms 24:3]
  • 16. Isaiah 66:15; Hebrews 12:29
  • 17. [Psalms 15:2; Psalms 24:4]
  • 18. Psalms 119:37
  • 19. Isaiah 30:23, 25
  • 20. Isaiah 6:5; [Zechariah 9:9]
  • 21. [Isaiah 54:2, 3]
  • 22. [Psalms 37:10]
  • 23. [2 Kings 18:14]
  • 24. [Psalms 48:12]
  • 25. [2 Kings 19:32, 33]
  • 26. Isaiah 28:11; Deuteronomy 28:49, 50
  • 27. Isaiah 32:18
  • 28. ver. 6
  • 29. Psalms 46:4, 5
  • 30. [Isaiah 2:16; Psalms 48:7]
  • 31. [Judges 2:16]
  • 32. James 4:12
  • 33. [1 Samuel 12:13]
  • 34. [Genesis 49:27]
  • 35. [Psalms 68:12]
  • 36. [Isaiah 1:5, 6]
  • 37. Isaiah 1:25, 26; Jeremiah 50:20

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Hebrew his
  • [b]. Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll witnesses

Isaiah 33 Commentaries

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.