Isaiah 33

1 Woe to thee, that robbest; whether and thou shalt not be robbed? and that despisest, whether and thou shalt not be despised? (Woe to thee, who robbest; shalt thou not be robbed? and who despisest, shalt thou not be despised?) When thou hast ended robbing, thou shalt be robbed; and when thou made weary ceasest to despise, thou shalt be despised.

2 Lord, have thou mercy on us, for we abided thee; be thou our arm in the morrowtide, and our health in the time of tribulation. (Lord, have thou mercy on us, for we have waited for thee; be thou our protection in the morning, and our deliverance, or our salvation, in the time of tribulation.)

3 Peoples fled from the voice of the angel; heathen men be scattered of thine enhancing. (The peoples shall flee from the roar of thy thunder; the heathen shall be scattered at thy exalting, or at thy lifting up.)

4 And your spoils shall be gathered together, as a bruchus, that is, (the) fruit of locusts, is gathered together, as when ditches be full thereof. (And their spoils shall be gathered up, like the gathering of the bruchi, that is, the fruit of the locusts, when the ditches be full of them.)

5 The Lord is magnified, for he dwelled on high, he filled Zion with doom and rightfulness (he filled Zion with justice, or judgement, and righteousness).

6 And faith shall be in thy times; the riches of health is wisdom and knowing; the dread of the Lord, that is the treasure of him. (And faith shall be in thy times; wisdom and knowledge be the riches of salvation, or of deliverance; the fear of the Lord is thy treasure.)

7 Lo! the seers withoutforth shall cry, [the] angels of peace shall weep bitterly. (Lo! the brave shall cry outside, or aloud, the messengers of peace shall weep bitterly.)

8 [The] Ways be destroyed, a goer by the path ceased; the covenant is made void, he casted down [the] cities, he areckoned not men.

9 The land mourned, and was sick; the Lebanon was shamed, and was foul; and Sharon is made as desert, and Bashan is shaken, and Carmel. (The land mourned, and was sick; Lebanon was shamed, and defiled; and Sharon is made a desert, or a wilderness, and Bashan, and Carmel, be shaken bare.)

10 Now I shall rise (up), saith the Lord, now I shall be enhanced (now I shall be exalted), and now I shall be raised up.

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.

22 For why the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he shall save us.

23 Thy ropes be slacked, but those shall not avail; thy mast shall be so, that thou may not alarge a sign. Then the spoils of many preys shall be parted, crooked men shall ravish (the) raven. (Thy ropes be slackened, and so they cannot hold thy masts firm, and thou shalt not be able to spread the sails. Then the spoils of many preys shall be divided, and even the lame shall share in the taking.)

24 And a neighbour shall say, I was not sick; (and for) the people that dwelleth in that Jerusalem, wickedness shall be taken away from it. (And no one there shall say, I am sick; and for the people who liveth in that Jerusalem, their wickednesses, that is, their sins, shall be taken away.)

Isaiah 33 Commentary

Chapter 33

God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (1-14) The happiness of his people. (15-24)

Verses 1-14 Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength be. If God leaves us to ourselves any morning, we are undone; we must every morning commit ourselves to him, and go forth in his strength to do the work of the day. When God arises, his enemies are scattered. True wisdom and knowledge lead to strength of salvation, which renders us stedfast in the ways of God; and true piety is the only treasure which can never be plundered or spent. The distress Jerusalem was brought into, is described. God's time to appear for his people, is, when all other helpers fail. Let all who hear what God has done, acknowledge that he can do every thing. Sinners in Zion will have much to answer for, above other sinners. And those that rebel against the commands of the word, cannot take its comforts in time of need. His wrath will burn those everlastingly who make themselves fuel for it. It is a fire that shall never be quenched, nor ever go out of itself; it is the wrath of an ever-living God preying on the conscience of a never-dying soul.

Verses 15-24 The true believer watches against all occasions of sin. The Divine power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him easy. He shall want nothing needful for him. Every blessing of salvation is freely bestowed on all that ask with humble, believing prayer; and the believer is safe in time and for ever. Those that walk uprightly shall not only have bread given, and their water sure, but they shall, by faith, see the King of kings in his beauty, the beauty of holiness. The remembrance of the terror they were in, shall add to the pleasure of their deliverance. It is desirable to be quiet in our own houses, but much more so to be quiet in God's house; and in every age Christ will have a seed to serve him. Jerusalem had no large river running by it, but the presence and power of God make up all wants. We have all in God, all we need, or can desire. By faith we take Christ for our Prince and Saviour; he reigns over his redeemed people. All that refuse to have Him to reign over them, make shipwreck of their souls. Sickness is taken away in mercy, when the fruit of it is the taking away of sin. If iniquity be taken away, we have little reason to complain of outward affliction. This last verse leads our thoughts, not only to the most glorious state of the gospel church on earth, but to heaven, where no sickness or trouble can enter. He that blotteth out our transgressions, will heal our souls.

Chapter Summary

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.