33:1 The destroyer is as good as dead, 1
you who have not been destroyed!
The deceitful one is as good as dead, 2
the one whom others have not deceived!
When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed;
when you finish 3 deceiving, others will deceive you!
33:2 Lord, be merciful to us! We wait for you.
Give us strength each morning! 4
Deliver us when distress comes. 5
33:3 The nations run away when they hear a loud noise; 6
the nations scatter when you spring into action! 7
33:4 Your plunder 8 disappears as if locusts were eating it; 9
they swarm over it like locusts! 10
33:5 The Lord is exalted, 11
indeed, 12 he lives in heaven; 13
he fills Zion with justice and fairness.
33:6 He is your constant source of stability; 14
he abundantly provides safety and great wisdom; 15
he gives all this to those who fear him. 16
33:7 Look, ambassadors 17 cry out in the streets;
messengers sent to make peace 18 weep bitterly.
33:8 Highways are empty, 19
there are no travelers. 20
Treaties are broken, 21
witnesses are despised, 22
human life is treated with disrespect. 23
33:9 The land 24 dries up 25 and withers away;
the forest of Lebanon shrivels up 26 and decays.
Sharon 27 is like the desert; 28
Bashan and Carmel 29 are parched. 30
33:10 “Now I will rise up,” says the Lord.
“Now I will exalt myself;
now I will magnify myself. 31
33:11 You conceive straw, 32
you give birth to chaff;
your breath is a fire that destroys you. 33
33:12 The nations will be burned to ashes; 34
like thorn bushes that have been cut down, they will be set on fire.
33:13 You who are far away, listen to what I have done!
You who are close by, recognize my strength!”
33:14 Sinners are afraid in Zion;
panic 35 grips the godless. 36
They say, 37 ‘Who among us can coexist with destructive fire?
Who among us can coexist with unquenchable 38 fire?’
33:15 The one who lives 39 uprightly 40
and speaks honestly;
the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures
and rejects a bribe; 41
the one who does not plot violent crimes 42
and does not seek to harm others 43 –
33:16 This is the person who will live in a secure place; 44
he will find safety in the rocky, mountain strongholds; 45
he will have food
and a constant supply of water.
33:17 You will see a king in his splendor; 46
you will see a wide land. 47
33:18 Your mind will recall the terror you experienced, 48
and you will ask yourselves, 49 “Where is the scribe?
Where is the one who weighs the money?
Where is the one who counts the towers?” 50
33:19 You will no longer see a defiant 51 people
whose language you do not comprehend, 52
whose derisive speech you do not understand. 53
33:20 Look at Zion, the city where we hold religious festivals!
You 54 will see Jerusalem, 55
a peaceful settlement,
a tent that stays put; 56
its stakes will never be pulled up;
none of its ropes will snap in two.
33:21 Instead the Lord will rule there as our mighty king. 57
Rivers and wide streams will flow through it; 58
no war galley will enter; 59
no large ships will sail through. 60
33:22 For the Lord, our ruler,
the Lord, our commander,
the Lord, our king –
he will deliver us.
33:23 Though at this time your ropes are slack, 61
the mast is not secured, 62
and the sail 63 is not unfurled,
at that time you will divide up a great quantity of loot; 64
even the lame will drag off plunder. 65
33:24 No resident of Zion 66 will say, “I am ill”;
the people who live there will have their sin forgiven.
34:1 Come near, you nations, and listen!
Pay attention, you people!
The earth and everything it contains must listen,
the world and everything that lives in it. 67
34:2 For the Lord is angry at all the nations
and furious with all their armies.
He will annihilate them and slaughter them.
34:3 Their slain will be left unburied, 68
their corpses will stink; 69
the hills will soak up their blood. 70
34:4 All the stars in the sky will fade away, 71
the sky will roll up like a scroll;
all its stars will wither,
like a leaf withers and falls from a vine
or a fig withers and falls from a tree. 72
34:5 He says, 73 “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. 74
Look, it now descends on Edom, 75
on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”
34:6 The Lord’s sword is dripping with blood,
it is covered 76 with fat;
it drips 77 with the blood of young rams and goats
and is covered 78 with the fat of rams’ kidneys.
For the Lord is holding a sacrifice 79 in Bozrah, 80
a bloody 81 slaughter in the land of Edom.
34:7 Wild oxen will be slaughtered 82 along with them,
as well as strong bulls. 83
Their land is drenched with blood,
their soil is covered with fat.
34:8 For the Lord has planned a day of revenge, 84
a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion. 85
34:9 Edom’s 86 streams will be turned into pitch
and her soil into brimstone;
her land will become burning pitch.
34:10 Night and day it will burn; 87
its smoke will ascend continually.
Generation after generation it will be a wasteland
and no one will ever pass through it again.
34:11 Owls and wild animals 88 will live there, 89
all kinds of wild birds 90 will settle in it.
The Lord 91 will stretch out over her
the measuring line of ruin
and the plumb line 92 of destruction. 93
34:12 Her nobles will have nothing left to call a kingdom
and all her officials will disappear. 94
34:13 Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns;
thickets and weeds will grow 95 in her fortified cities.
Jackals will settle there;
ostriches will live there. 96
34:14 Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there; 97
wild goats will bleat to one another. 98
Yes, nocturnal animals 99 will rest there
and make for themselves a nest. 100
34:15 Owls 101 will make nests and lay eggs 102 there;
they will hatch them and protect them. 103
Yes, hawks 104 will gather there,
each with its mate.
34:16 Carefully read the scroll of the Lord! 105
Not one of these creatures will be missing, 106
none will lack a mate. 107
For the Lord has issued the decree, 108
and his own spirit gathers them. 109
34:17 He assigns them their allotment; 110
he measures out their assigned place. 111
They will live there 112 permanently;
they will settle in it through successive generations.
35:1 Let the desert and dry region be happy; 113
let the wilderness 114 rejoice and bloom like a lily!
35:2 Let it richly bloom; 115
let it rejoice and shout with delight! 116
It is given the grandeur 117 of Lebanon,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the grandeur of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.
35:3 Strengthen the hands that have gone limp,
steady the knees that shake! 118
35:4 Tell those who panic, 119
“Be strong! Do not fear!
Look, your God comes to avenge!
With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” 120
35:5 Then blind eyes will open,
deaf ears will hear.
35:6 Then the lame will leap like a deer,
the mute tongue will shout for joy;
for water will flow 121 in the desert,
streams in the wilderness. 122
35:7 The dry soil will become a pool of water,
the parched ground springs of water.
Where jackals once lived and sprawled out,
grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow.
35:8 A thoroughfare will be there –
it will be called the Way of Holiness. 123
The unclean will not travel on it;
it is reserved for those authorized to use it 124 –
fools 125 will not stray into it.
35:9 No lions will be there,
no ferocious wild animals will be on it 126 –
they will not be found there.
Those delivered from bondage will travel on it,
35:10 those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way. 127
They will enter Zion with a happy shout.
Unending joy will crown them, 128
happiness and joy will overwhelm 129 them;
grief and suffering will disappear. 130
1 tn Heb “Woe [to] the destroyer.”
2 tn Heb “and the deceitful one”; NAB, NIV “O traitor”; NRSV “you treacherous one.” In the parallel structure הוֹי (hoy, “woe [to]”) does double duty.
3 tc The form in the Hebrew text appears to derive from an otherwise unattested verb נָלָה (nalah). The translation follows the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa in reading ככלתך, a Piel infinitival form from the verbal root כָּלָה (kalah), meaning “finish.”
4 tn Heb “Be their arm each morning.” “Arm” is a symbol for strength. The mem suffixed to the noun has been traditionally understood as a third person suffix, but this is contrary to the context, where the people speak of themselves in the first person. The mem (מ) is probably enclitic with ellipsis of the pronoun, which can be supplied from the context. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:589, n. 1.
5 tn Heb “[Be] also our deliverance in the time of distress.”
6 tn Heb “at the sound of tumult the nations run away.”
7 tn Heb “because of your exaltation the nations scatter.”
8 tn The pronoun is plural; the statement is addressed to the nations who have stockpiled plunder from their conquests of others.
9 tn Heb “and your plunder is gathered, the gathering of the locust.”
10 tn Heb “like a swarm of locusts swarming on it.”
11 tn Or “elevated”; NCV, NLT “is very great.”
12 tn Or “for” (KJV, NASB, NIV).
13 tn Heb “on high” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “in the heavens.”
14 tn Heb “and he is the stability of your times.”
15 tn Heb “a rich store of deliverance, wisdom, and knowledge.”
16 tn Heb “the fear of the Lord, it is his treasure.”
17 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown. Proposals include “heroes” (cf. KJV, ASV “valiant ones”; NASB, NIV “brave men”); “priests,” “residents [of Jerusalem].” The present translation assumes that the term is synonymous with “messengers of peace,” with which it corresponds in the parallel structure of the verse.
18 tn Heb “messengers of peace,” apparently those responsible for negotiating the agreements that have been broken (see v. 8).
19 tn Or “desolate” (NAB, NASB); NIV, NRSV, NLT “deserted.”
20 tn Heb “the one passing by on the road ceases.”
21 tn Heb “one breaks a treaty”; NAB “Covenants are broken.”
22 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “he despises cities.” The term עָרִים (’arim, “cities”) is probably a corruption of an original עֵדִים (’edim, “[legal] witnesses”), a reading that is preserved in the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa. Confusion of dalet (ד) and resh (ר) is a well-attested scribal error.
23 tn Heb “he does not regard human beings.”
24 tn Or “earth” (KJV); NAB “the country.”
25 tn Or “mourns” (BDB 5 s.v. I אָבַל). HALOT 6-7 lists homonyms I אבל (“mourn”) and II אבל (“dry up”). They propose the second here on the basis of parallelism. See 24:4.
26 tn Heb “Lebanon is ashamed.” The Hiphil is exhibitive, expressing the idea, “exhibits shame.” In this context the statement alludes to the withering of vegetation.
27 sn Sharon was a fertile plain along the Mediterranean coast. See 35:2.
28 tn Or “the Arabah” (NIV). See 35:1.
29 sn Both of these areas were known for their trees and vegetation. See 2:13; 35:2.
30 tn Heb “shake off [their leaves]” (so ASV, NRSV); NAB “are stripped bare.”
31 tn Or “lift myself up” (KJV); NLT “show my power and might.”
32 tn The second person verb and pronominal forms in this verse are plural. The hostile nations are the addressed, as the next verse makes clear.
33 sn The hostile nations’ plans to destroy God’s people will come to nothing; their hostility will end up being self-destructive.
34 tn Heb “will be a burning to lime.” See Amos 2:1.
35 tn Or “trembling” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “shake with fear.”
36 tn Or “the defiled”; TEV “The sinful people of Zion”; NLT “The sinners in Jerusalem.”
37 tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
38 tn Or “perpetual”; or “everlasting” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
39 tn Heb “walks” (so NASB, NIV).
40 tn Or, possibly, “justly”; NAB “who practices virtue.”
41 tn Heb “[who] shakes off his hands from grabbing hold of a bribe.”
42 tn Heb “[who] shuts his ear from listening to bloodshed.”
43 tn Heb “[who] closes his eyes from seeing evil.”
44 tn Heb “he [in the] exalted places will live.”
45 tn Heb “mountain strongholds, cliffs [will be] his elevated place.”
46 tn Heb “your eyes will see a king in his beauty”; NIV, NRSV “the king.”
47 tn Heb “a land of distances,” i.e., an extensive land.
48 tn Heb “your heart will meditate on terror.”
49 tn The words “and you will ask yourselves” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.
50 sn The people refer to various Assyrian officials who were responsible for determining the amount of taxation or tribute Judah must pay to the Assyrian king.
51 tn The Hebrew form נוֹעָז (no’az) is a Niphal participle derived from יָעַז (ya’az, an otherwise unattested verb) or from עָזָז (’azaz, “be strong,” unattested elsewhere in the Niphal). Some prefer to emend the form to לוֹעֵז (lo’ez) which occurs in Ps 114:1 with the meaning “speak a foreign language.” See HALOT 809 s.v. עזז, 533 s.v. לעז. In this case, one might translate “people who speak a foreign language.”
52 tn Heb “a people too deep of lip to hear.” The phrase “deep of lip” must be an idiom meaning “lips that speak words that are unfathomable [i.e., incomprehensible].”
53 tn Heb “derision of tongue there is no understanding.” The Niphal of לָעַג (la’ag) occurs only here. In the Qal and Hiphil the verb means “to deride, mock.” A related noun is used in 28:11.
54 tn Heb “your eyes” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
55 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
56 tn Or “that does not travel”; NASB “which shall not be folded.”
57 tn Heb “But there [as] a mighty one [will be] the Lord for us.”
58 tn Heb “a place of rivers, streams wide of hands [i.e., on both sides].”
59 tn Heb “a ship of rowing will not go into it.”
60 tn Heb “and a mighty ship will not pass through it.”
61 tn The words “though at this time” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The first half of the verse is addressed to Judah and contrasts the nation’s present weakness with its future prosperity. Judah is compared to a ship that is incapable of sailing.
62 tn Heb “they do not fasten the base of their mast.” On כֵּן (ken, “base”) see BDB 487 s.v. III כֵּן and HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן.
63 tn Or perhaps, “flag.”
64 tn Heb “then there will be divided up loot of plunder [in] abundance.”
65 sn Judah’s victory over its enemies will be so thorough there will be more than enough plunder for everyone, even slow-moving lame men who would normally get left out in the rush to gather the loot.
66 tn The words “of Zion” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
67 tn Heb “the world and its offspring”; NASB “the world and all that springs from it.”
68 tn Heb “will be cast aside”; NASB, NIV “thrown out.”
69 tn Heb “[as for] their corpses, their stench will arise.”
70 tn Heb “hills will dissolve from their blood.”
71 tc Heb “and all the host of heaven will rot.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa inserts “and the valleys will be split open,” but this reading may be influenced by Mic 1:4. On the other hand, the statement, if original, could have been omitted by homoioarcton, a scribe’s eye jumping from the conjunction prefixed to “the valleys” to the conjunction prefixed to the verb “rot.”
72 tn Heb “like the withering of a leaf from a vine, and like the withering from a fig tree.”
73 tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Lord speaks at this point.
74 tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] my sword is drenched in the heavens.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has תראה (“[my sword] appeared [in the heavens]”), but this is apparently an attempt to make sense out of a difficult metaphor. Cf. NIV “My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens.”
75 sn Edom is mentioned here as epitomizing the hostile nations that oppose God.
76 tn The verb is a rare Hotpaal passive form. See GKC 150 §54.h.
77 tn The words “it drips” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
78 tn The words “and is covered” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
79 tn Heb “for there is a sacrifice to the Lord.”
80 sn The Lord’s judgment of Edom is compared to a bloody sacrificial scene.
81 tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
82 tn Heb “will go down”; NAB “shall be struck down.”
83 tn Heb “and bulls along with strong ones.” Perhaps this refers to the leaders.
84 tn Heb “for a day of vengeance [is] for the Lord.”
85 tn Heb “a year of repayment for the strife of Zion.” The translation assumes that רִיב (riv) refers to Edom’s hostility toward Zion. Another option is to understand רִיב (riv) as referring to the Lord’s taking up Zion’s cause. In this case one might translate, “a time when he will repay Edom and vindicate Zion.”
86 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Edom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
87 tn Heb “it will not be extinguished.”
88 tn קָאַת (qa’at) refers to some type of bird (cf. Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (see Zeph 2:14). קִפּוֹד (qippod) may also refer to a type of bird (NAB “hoot owl”; NIV “screech owl”; TEV “ravens”), but some have suggested a rodent may be in view (cf. NCV “small animals”; ASV “porcupine”; NASB, NRSV “hedgehog”).
89 tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV).
90 tn The Hebrew text has יַנְשׁוֹף וְעֹרֵב (yanshof vÿ’orev). Both the יַנְשׁוֹף (“owl”; see Lev 11:17; Deut 14:16) and עֹרֵב (“raven”; Lev 11:15; Deut 14:14) were types of wild birds.
91 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
92 tn Heb “stones,” i.e., the stones used in a plumb bob.
93 sn The metaphor in v. 11b emphasizes that God has carefully planned Edom’s demise.
94 tn Heb “will be nothing”; NCV, TEV, NLT “will all be gone.”
95 tn The words “will grow” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
96 tc Heb “and she will be a settlement for wild dogs, a dwelling place for ostriches.” The translation assumes an emendation of חָצִיר (khatsir, “grass”) to חָצֵר (khatser, “settlement”). One of the Qumran scrolls of Isaiah (1QIsaa) supports this emendation (cf. HALOT 344 s.v. II חָצִיר)
97 tn Heb “will meet” (so NIV); NLT “will mingle there.”
98 tn Heb “and a goat will call to its neighbor.”
99 tn The precise meaning of לִּילִית (lilit) is unclear, though in this context the word certainly refers to some type of wild animal or bird. The word appears to be related to לַיְלָה (laylah, “night”). Some interpret it as the name of a female night demon, on the basis of an apparent Akkadian cognate used as the name of a demon. Later Jewish legends also identified Lilith as a demon. Cf. NRSV “Lilith.”
100 tn Heb “and will find for themselves a resting place.”
101 tn Hebrew קִפּוֹז (qippoz) occurs only here; the precise meaning of the word is uncertain.
102 tn For this proposed meaning for Hebrew מָלַט (malat), see HALOT 589 s.v. I מלט.
103 tn Heb “and brood [over them] in her shadow.”
104 tn The precise meaning of דַּיָּה (dayyah) is uncertain, though the term appears to refer to some type of bird of prey, perhaps a vulture.
105 tn Heb “Seek from upon the scroll of the Lord and read.”
106 tn Heb “one from these will not be missing.” הֵנָּה (hennah, “these”) is feminine plural in the Hebrew text. It may refer only to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or may include all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).
107 tn Heb “each its mate they will not lack.”
108 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for a mouth, it has commanded.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and a few medieval
109 tn Heb “and his spirit, he gathers them.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).
110 tn Heb “and he causes the lot to fall for them.” Once again the pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).
111 tn Heb “and his hand divides for them with a measuring line.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) now switches to masculine plural, referring to all the animals and birds mentioned in vv. 11-15, some of which were identified with masculine nouns. This signals closure for this portion of the speech, which began in v. 11. The following couplet (v. 17b) forms an inclusio with v. 11a through verbal repetition.
112 tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV); NCV “they will own that land forever.”
113 tn The final mem (ם) on the verb יְשֻׂשׂוּם (yÿsusum) is dittographic (note the initial mem on the following noun מִדְבָּר [midbar]). The ambiguous verbal form is translated as a jussive because it is parallel to the jussive form תָגֵל (tagel). The jussive is used rhetorically here, not as a literal command or prayer.
114 tn Or “Arabah” (NASB); NAB, NIV, TEV “desert.”
115 tn The ambiguous verb form תִּפְרַח (tifrakh) is translated as a jussive because it is parallel to the jussive form תָגֵל (tagel).
116 tn Heb “and let it rejoice, yes [with] rejoicing and shouting.” גִּילַת (gilat) may be an archaic feminine nominal form (see GKC 421 §130.b).
117 tn Or “glory” (KJV, NIV, NRSV); also a second time later in this verse.
118 tn Heb “staggering knees”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “feeble knees”; NIV “knees that give way.”
119 tn Heb “Say to the hasty of heart,” i.e., those whose hearts beat quickly from fear.
120 tn The jussive form וְיֹשַׁעֲכֶם (vÿyosha’akhem), which is subordinated to the preceding imperfect with vav conjunctive, indicates purpose.
121 tn Heb “burst forth” (so NAB); KJV “break out.”
122 tn Or “Arabah” (NASB); KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT “desert.”
123 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and there will be there a road and a way, and the Way of Holiness it will be called.” וְדֶרֶךְ (vÿderekh, “and a/the way”) is accidentally duplicated; the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa does not reflect the repetition of the phrase.
124 tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The text reads literally “and it is for them, the one who walks [on the] way.” In this context those authorized to use the Way of Holiness would be morally upright people who are the recipients of God’s deliverance, in contrast to the morally impure and foolish who are excluded from the new covenant community.
125 tn In this context “fools” are those who are morally corrupt, not those with limited intellectual capacity.
126 tn Heb “will go up on it”; TEV “will pass that way.”
127 tn Heb “and the redeemed will walk, the ransomed of the Lord will return.”
128 tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.
129 tn Heb “will overtake” (NIV); NLT “they will be overcome with.”
130 tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee”; KJV “sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”