Isaiah 33

The Judgment of God

1 Woe ¹to you, O destroyer, While you were not destroyed; And he ²who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him. As soon as you finish destroying, ³you will be destroyed; As soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will ⁴deal treacherously with you.

2 O LORD, ⁵be gracious to us; we have ⁶waited for You. Be their ⁷strength every morning, Our salvation also in the ⁸time of distress.

3 At the sound of the tumult ⁹peoples flee; At the ¹⁰lifting up of Yourself nations disperse.

4 Your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers; As locusts rushing about men rush about on it.

5 The LORD is ¹¹exalted, for He dwells on high; He has ¹²filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

6 And He will be the ¹³stability of your times, A ¹⁴wealth of salvation, wisdom and ¹⁵knowledge; The ¹⁶fear of the LORD is his treasure.

7 Behold, their brave men cry in the streets, The ¹⁷ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.

8 The highways are desolate, the ¹⁸traveler has ceased, He has ¹⁹broken the covenant, he has despised the cities, He has no regard for man.

9 ²⁰The land mourns and pines away, ²¹Lebanon is shamed and withers; ²²Sharon is like a desert plain, And Bashan and Carmel lose their foliage.

10 "Now ²³I will arise," says the LORD, "Now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up.

11 "You have ²⁴conceived chaff, you will give birth to stubble; My ²⁵breath will consume you like a fire.

12 "The peoples will be burned to lime, ²⁶Like cut thorns which are burned in the fire.

13 "You who are far away, ²⁷hear what I have done; And you who are near, acknowledge My might."

14 ²⁸Sinners in Zion are terrified; ²⁹Trembling has seized the godless. "Who among us can live with ³⁰the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual ³¹burning?"

15 He who ³²walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, He who rejects unjust * gain And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe; He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed And ³³shuts his eyes from looking upon evil;

16 He will dwell on the heights, ³⁴His refuge will be the impregnable rock; ³⁵His bread will be given him, His water will be sure.

17 Your eyes will see ³⁶the King in His beauty; They will behold ³⁷a far-distant land.

18 Your heart will meditate on ³⁸terror: "Where is ³⁹he who counts? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?"

19 You will no longer see a fierce people, A people of ⁴⁰unintelligible speech which no one comprehends, Of a stammering tongue which no one understands.

20 ⁴¹Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an ⁴²undisturbed habitation, ⁴³A tent which will not be folded; Its stakes will never * be pulled up, Nor any of its cords be torn apart.

21 But there the majestic One, the LORD, will be for us A place of ⁴⁴rivers and wide canals On which no boat with oars will go, And on which no mighty ship will pass -

22 For the LORD is our ⁴⁵judge, The LORD is ⁴⁶our lawgiver, The LORD is ⁴⁷our king; ⁴⁸He will save us-

23 Your tackle hangs slack; It cannot hold the base of its mast firmly, Nor spread out the sail. Then the ⁴⁹prey of an abundant spoil will be divided; ⁵⁰The lame will take the plunder.

24 And no resident will say, "I am ⁵¹sick "; The people who dwell there will be ⁵²forgiven their iniquity.

Isaiah 33 Commentary

Chapter 33

God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (1-14) The happiness of his people. (15-24)

Verses 1-14 Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength be. If God leaves us to ourselves any morning, we are undone; we must every morning commit ourselves to him, and go forth in his strength to do the work of the day. When God arises, his enemies are scattered. True wisdom and knowledge lead to strength of salvation, which renders us stedfast in the ways of God; and true piety is the only treasure which can never be plundered or spent. The distress Jerusalem was brought into, is described. God's time to appear for his people, is, when all other helpers fail. Let all who hear what God has done, acknowledge that he can do every thing. Sinners in Zion will have much to answer for, above other sinners. And those that rebel against the commands of the word, cannot take its comforts in time of need. His wrath will burn those everlastingly who make themselves fuel for it. It is a fire that shall never be quenched, nor ever go out of itself; it is the wrath of an ever-living God preying on the conscience of a never-dying soul.

Verses 15-24 The true believer watches against all occasions of sin. The Divine power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him easy. He shall want nothing needful for him. Every blessing of salvation is freely bestowed on all that ask with humble, believing prayer; and the believer is safe in time and for ever. Those that walk uprightly shall not only have bread given, and their water sure, but they shall, by faith, see the King of kings in his beauty, the beauty of holiness. The remembrance of the terror they were in, shall add to the pleasure of their deliverance. It is desirable to be quiet in our own houses, but much more so to be quiet in God's house; and in every age Christ will have a seed to serve him. Jerusalem had no large river running by it, but the presence and power of God make up all wants. We have all in God, all we need, or can desire. By faith we take Christ for our Prince and Saviour; he reigns over his redeemed people. All that refuse to have Him to reign over them, make shipwreck of their souls. Sickness is taken away in mercy, when the fruit of it is the taking away of sin. If iniquity be taken away, we have little reason to complain of outward affliction. This last verse leads our thoughts, not only to the most glorious state of the gospel church on earth, but to heaven, where no sickness or trouble can enter. He that blotteth out our transgressions, will heal our souls.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 10:6; Isaiah 21:2
• 2. Isaiah 24:16; Isaiah 48:8
• 3. Isaiah 10:12; Isaiah 14:25; Isaiah 31:8; Habakkuk 2:8
• 4. Jeremiah 25:12-14; Matthew 7:2
• 5. Isaiah 30:18, 19
• 6. Isaiah 25:9
• 7. Isaiah 40:10; Isaiah 51:5; Isaiah 59:16
• 8. Isaiah 37:3
• 9. Isaiah 17:13; Isaiah 21:15
• 10. Isaiah 10:33; Isaiah 17:13; Isaiah 59:16-18; Jeremiah 25:30, 31
• 11. Psalms 97:9
• 12. Isaiah 1:26; Isaiah 28:6; Isaiah 32:16
• 13. Isaiah 33:20
• 14. Isaiah 45:17; Isaiah 51:6
• 15. Isaiah 11:9
• 16. 2 Kings 18:7; Psalms 112:1-3; Isaiah 11:3; Matthew 6:33
• 17. 2 Kings 18:18, 37
• 18. Isaiah 35:8
• 19. Isaiah 24:5
• 20. Isaiah 3:26; Isaiah 24:4; Isaiah 29:2
• 21. Isaiah 2:13; Isaiah 10:34
• 22. Isaiah 35:2; Isaiah 65:10
• 23. Psalms 12:5; Isaiah 2:19, 21
• 24. Psalms 7:14; Isaiah 26:18; Isaiah 59:4; James 1:15
• 25. Isaiah 1:31
• 26. 2 Samuel 23:6, 7; Isaiah 10:17; Isaiah 27:4
• 27. Psalms 48:10; Isaiah 49:1
• 28. Isaiah 1:28
• 29. Isaiah 32:11
• 30. Isaiah 30:27, 30; Hebrews 12:29
• 31. Isaiah 9:18, 19; Isaiah 10:16; Isaiah 47:14
• 32. Psalms 15:2; Psalms 24:4; Isaiah 58:6-11
• 33. Psalms 119:37
• 34. Isaiah 25:4
• 35. Isaiah 49:10
• 36. Isaiah 6:5; Isaiah 24:23; Isaiah 33:21, 22
• 37. Isaiah 26:15
• 38. Isaiah 17:14
• 39. 1 Corinthians 1:20
• 40. Deuteronomy 28:49, 50; Isaiah 28:11; Jeremiah 5:15
• 41. Psalms 48:12
• 42. Psalms 46:5; Psalms 125:1, 2; Isaiah 32:18
• 43. Isaiah 54:2
• 44. Isaiah 41:18; Isaiah 43:19, 20; Isaiah 48:18; Isaiah 66:12
• 45. Isaiah 2:4; Isaiah 11:4; Isaiah 16:5; Isaiah 51:5
• 46. Isaiah 1:10; Isaiah 51:4, 7; James 4:12
• 47. Psalms 89:18; Isaiah 33:17; Zechariah 9:9
• 48. Isaiah 25:9; Isaiah 35:4; Isaiah 49:25, 26; Isaiah 60:16
• 49. 2 Kings 7:16
• 50. 2 Kings 7:8; Isaiah 35:6
• 51. Isaiah 30:26; Isaiah 58:8; Jeremiah 30:17
• 52. Isaiah 40:2; Isaiah 44:22; Jeremiah 50:20; Micah 7:18, 19; 1 John 1:7-9

Footnotes

• [a]. Some versions read "our"
• [b]. Lit "arm"
• [c]. Or "faithfulness"
• [d]. Lit "the outside"
• [e]. Lit "messengers"
• [f]. Lit "he who passes along the way"
• [g]. Lit "shake off"
• [h]. Lit "dry grass"
• [i]. So one ancient version; M.T. reads "Your breath will"
• [j]. Lit "know"
• [k]. Lit "everlasting"
• [l]. Lit "gain of extortioners"
• [m]. Lit "stronghold of rock"
• [n]. Lit "deepness of lip"
• [o]. Lit "from hearing"
• [p]. Lit "there is no understanding"
• [q]. Lit "in it"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 33

This chapter contains an account of God's judgments upon the enemies of his people, and of the peaceable, comfortable, and happy state of the church in the latter day. The judgment denounced, Isa 33:1 a prayer of the church for safety and protection, which it promises itself from what God had heretofore done, Isa 33:2,3 an answer to it, declaring the spoil of the enemy, and the happy times the people of God should enjoy through his appearance for them, Isa 33:4-6 though previous thereunto there would be very distressing ones, Isa 33:7-9 when the Lord resolves to arise and exert his power in the destruction of the people, who should be burnt up like stubble, thorns, and lime, Isa 33:10-12 persons far and near are called upon to take notice of this, Isa 33:13 which would issue in a different manner, in the surprise and terror of hypocrites, and in the safety and plenty of provisions for good men, who are described, Isa 33:14-16 and then follow promises to them, of seeing the King in his beauty, and beholding a distant country of reflecting on past terror with pleasure, being freed from it, and in no danger of a foreign enemy, Isa 33:17-19 and the chapter is concluded with a famous prophecy of the peace, prosperity, and safety of the church, and of the healthfulness of its inhabitants, under the protection of Christ, its King and Lawgiver, its enemies being also an easy prey to it, Isa 33:20-24.