Isaiah
Chapter 33
Hope in the Lord
Woe to you, O destroyer who never have been destroyed, betrayer never betrayed! When your ravaging is over, you yourself will be ravaged; when your treacherous deals are ended, you yourself will be betrayed.
O Lord, have mercy on us who put all our hope in you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation when trouble comes.
People flee when you thunder and threaten, nations scatter when you rise majestically.
Your spoil, O nations, will be gathered like grasshoppers or locusts leaping and pouncing at the grain in the fields.
Great is the Lord who dwells in the height who fills Zion with justice and right,
at any time he makes you secure. Wisdom and knowledge are helpful riches, the fear of the Lord will be your treasure.
The people of Ariel lament in the street, their envoys of peace bitterly weep.
The highways lie waste with no traveler in sight. For the covenants were broken, the promises trampled down; no one has been respected.
The earth mourns and languishes, Lebanon withers away with shame, Sharon has become a wilderness, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.
The Lord says: now I will rise up, now I will be exalted, now I will lift myself up.
You conceived chaff, you will deliver stubble, my breath like fire will devour you.
The nations will be burned to lime, like thorns cut down and burned in the fire.
You who are afar, hear what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might.
The sinners of Zion shake, trembling in fear are the hypocrites. “Who among us will dwell with flames? Who can subsist with everlasting flames?
He who walks uprightly and speaks righteously, spurns profit from oppression, shakes his fists at graft and corruption, stops his ears against suggestions of bloodshed and averts his eyes from evil plans.
This is the one who will dwell on the heights, his stronghold a fortress of rocks; bread is given to him, his water will not fail.
Your eyes will behold a king in his splendor and a land that stretches afar.
Yet your mind may still dwell on its old fears: Where is the oppressor who counted and weighed the taxes and enrolled our sons?
But you will see no more of those fierce people with obscure speech and stammering tongues.
Look to Zion, the city of our festivals; see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tabernacle never to be destroyed. Not one of its stakes will ever be removed nor any of its ropes severed.
But there is the Lord mighty for our sake, in place of broad rivers and streams. Here you see no galley with oars, no stately sailing ship.
But the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our king: he will save us.
Your rigging hangs loose: it cannot hold the mast firm; it cannot keep the sail spread out. Such have been the prey and spoil that even the lame pounced on it.
On that day no one apologized: “I am sickly.” The people who dwell there have been forgiven their sins.
Commentaries
Various Oracles.
Chapters 28-33 mainly describe the events caused by the Assyrians between 701 and 691 B.C. Some suggest that a common theme throughout this section is the repeated use of the word “woe” at the beginning of each of the six messages: 28:1; 29:1.15; 30:1; 31:1; 33:1.
Hope in the Lord.
This “woe” depicts a liturgy of atonement appropriate for the Temple. The key to understanding this dialogue between God and the psalmist is in the end, verse 24, which assures us that God has forgiven his people. Verses 2-6 summarize the entire passage: the people patiently wait for the Lord to come and scatter their enemies and establish his kingdom of justice and righteousness. The presence of the Lord is a consuming fire for the wicked and a refuge in the heights for the righteous (13-16).