Isaiah 33:9-11

33:9 The land ¹  dries up ²  and withers away;

the forest of Lebanon shrivels up ³  and decays.

Sharon ⁴  is like the desert; ⁵ 

Bashan and Carmel ⁶  are parched. ⁷ 

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

“Now I will exalt myself;

now I will magnify myself. ⁸ 

33:11 You conceive straw, ⁹ 

you give birth to chaff;

your breath is a fire that destroys you. ¹⁰ 

[33:9]  ¹ tn Or “earth” (KJV); NAB “the country.”

[33:9]  ² 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.

[33:9]  ³ 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.

[33:9]  ⁴ sn Sharon was a fertile plain along the Mediterranean coast. See 35:2.

[33:9]  ⁵ tn Or “the Arabah” (NIV). See 35:1.

[33:9]  ⁶ sn Both of these areas were known for their trees and vegetation. See 2:13; 35:2.

[33:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “shake off [their leaves]” (so ASV, NRSV); NAB “are stripped bare.”

[33:10]  ⁸ tn Or “lift myself up” (KJV); NLT “show my power and might.”

[33:11]  ¹⁵ 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.

[33:11]  ¹⁶ sn The hostile nations’ plans to destroy God’s people will come to nothing; their hostility will end up being self-destructive.