Isaiah 33

1 Woe, destroyer, yourself undestroyed! Woe, betrayer, yourself unbetrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you tire of betraying, they will betray you.

2 ADONAI, show us mercy; we have waited for you. Be their arm every morning, and our salvation in time of trouble.

3 At the sound of the tumult, the peoples wander off; when you exalt yourself, the nations are scattered.

4 Your spoil is gathered as if stripped by shearer-worms; they run over it like a swarm of locusts.

5 ADONAI is exalted, for he dwells on high; he has filled Tziyon with justice and right.

6 He will be the stability of your times, a wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge, and fear of ADONAI, which is his treasure.

7 Hear their brave men crying out for help! The envoys of peace weep bitterly.

8 The highways are deserted, there are no travelers. He has broken the covenant, despised the cities; he has no regard for human life.

9 The land is mourning and wilting away. The L'vanon is withering with shame. The Sharon has become like the 'Aravah. Bashan and Karmel have been shaken bare.

10 "Now I will arise," says ADONAI, "Now I will exalt and lift myself up.

11 You conceive chaff and give birth to stubble, your breath is a fire devouring you.

12 The peoples will be as if burned into lime, like thorns cut off to burn in the fire.

13 You living far off, hear what I have done! You who are near, acknowledge my strength!"

14 The sinners in Tziyon are frightened; trembling has seized the ungodly. "Who of us can live with the devouring fire? Who of us can live with eternal burning?"

15 He whose life is right and whose speech is straight, he who scorns getting rich by extortion, he who shakes his hands free of bribes, stops his ears against talk of bloodshed and shuts his eyes against looking at evil.

16 Such a person will live on the heights, his refuge a fortress among the cliffs, his food and water in steady supply.

17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty, they will gaze on a land stretching into the distance.

18 Your mind will meditate on the terror: "Where is the man who did the counting? Where is the man who did the weighing? Where is the man who numbered the towers?"

19 You will not see the intransigent people, that people whose language is so obscure, whose stuttering speech you cannot understand.

20 Look at Tziyon, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Yerushalayim a secure abode, a tent that will not be removed, whose pegs will never be pulled out and whose guy-ropes will not be cut.

21 But there in his splendor ADONAI will be with us, in a place of rivers and broad streams. But no boat with oars will go there, no majestic ship will pass by.

22 For ADONAI is our judge, ADONAI is our lawgiver, ADONAI is our king. He will save us.

23 For your ropes are hanging loose, not holding the mast, not spreading the sail. Then the plunder shared out is so huge that even the lame get part of the spoil.

24 No inhabitant will say, "I am ill"; the people living there will be forgiven their sin.

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.

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.