Isaiah 33:1-13

The Lord Will Restore Zion

33:1 The destroyer is as good as dead,

you who have not been destroyed!

The deceitful one is as good as dead,

the one whom others have not deceived!

When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed;

when you finish deceiving, others will deceive you!

33:2 Lord, be merciful to us! We wait for you.

Give us strength each morning!

Deliver us when distress comes.

33:3 The nations run away when they hear a loud noise;

the nations scatter when you spring into action!

33:4 Your plunder disappears as if locusts were eating it;

they swarm over it like locusts!

33:5 The Lord is exalted,

indeed, he lives in heaven;

he fills Zion with justice and fairness.

33:6 He is your constant source of stability;

he abundantly provides safety and great wisdom;

he gives all this to those who fear him.

33:7 Look, ambassadors cry out in the streets;

messengers sent to make peace weep bitterly.

33:8 Highways are empty,

there are no travelers.

Treaties are broken,

witnesses are despised,

human life is treated with disrespect.

33:9 The land dries up and withers away;

the forest of Lebanon shrivels up and decays.

Sharon is like the desert;

Bashan and Carmel are parched.

33:10 “Now I will rise up,” says the Lord.

“Now I will exalt myself;

now I will magnify myself.

33:11 You conceive straw,

you give birth to chaff;

your breath is a fire that destroys you.

33:12 The nations will be burned to ashes;

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!”