Isaiah 33:11-21

11 Ye shall conceive heat, ye shall bring forth stubble; your spirit, as fire, shall devour you. (Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble; your spirit, like a fire, shall devour you.)

12 And peoples shall be as ashes of the burning; thorns gathered together shall be burnt in fire. (And the peoples, or the nations, shall be like the ashes from burning; yea, like thorns gathered together that be burned in the fire.)

13 Ye that be far (Ye who be far away), hear what things I have done; and, ye neighbours, know my strength.

14 Sinners be all-broken in Zion, trembling wielded (the) hypocrites; who of you may dwell with fire devouring? who of you shall dwell with everlasting burnings? (The sinners in Zion be all-broken, fear and trembling held the hypocrites; who of you can live with devouring fire? who of you can live with everlasting burning?)

15 He that goeth in rightfulnesses, and speaketh truth; he that casteth away (the) avarice of false challenge, and shaketh away his hands from all gift(s), (or bribes); he that stoppeth his ears, that he hear not (of) blood, and closeth his eyes, that he see not evil.

16 This man shall dwell in high things, the strongholds of stones be the highness of him; bread is given to him, his waters be faithful. (This man shall live in the heights, yea, the strongholds of stones be his high places of safety; bread is given to him, his water never faileth, that is, it is always plentiful.)

17 They shall see the king in (all) his fairness; the eyes of him shall behold the land from [a]far.

18 Eliakim, thine heart shall bethink dread; where is the lettered man? Where is he that weigheth the words of the law? where is the teacher of little children? (Thy heart shall remember what thou feared, and thou shalt ask, Now where is he who counted? where is he who weighed? yea, where is he who counted out the treasures?)

19 Thou shalt not see a people unwise, a people of deep word, so that thou mayest not understand the fair speaking of his tongue, in which people is no wisdom. (Thou shalt no longer see a fierce people, a people of deep words, those whom thou cannot understand the strange speaking of their tongues, in which people there is no wisdom.)

20 Behold thou Zion, the city of your solemnity (Behold thou Zion, the city of our solemn, or our sacred, feasts); thine eyes shall see Jerusalem, a rich city, a tabernacle that may not be borne over, neither the nails thereof shall be taken away without end; and all the cords thereof shall not be broken.

21 For only the worshipful doer, our Lord God, is there; the place of floods is strands full large and open (a place of very large rivers and wide streams); the ship of rowers shall not enter by it, neither a great ship shall pass over (to) it.

Isaiah 33:11-21 Meaning and Commentary

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.