Yesaya 33:7-16

33:7 Look, ambassadors ¹  cry out in the streets;

messengers sent to make peace ²  weep bitterly.

33:8 Highways are empty, ³ 

there are no travelers. ⁴ 

Treaties are broken, ⁵ 

witnesses are despised, ⁶ 

human life is treated with disrespect. ⁷ 

33:9 The land ⁸  dries up ⁹  and withers away;

the forest of Lebanon shrivels up ¹⁰  and decays.

Sharon ¹¹  is like the desert; ¹² 

Bashan and Carmel ¹³  are parched. ¹⁴ 

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

“Now I will exalt myself;

now I will magnify myself. ¹⁵ 

33:11 You conceive straw, ¹⁶ 

you give birth to chaff;

your breath is a fire that destroys you. ¹⁷ 

33:12 The nations will be burned to ashes; ¹⁸ 

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 ¹⁹  grips the godless. ²⁰ 

They say, ²¹  ‘Who among us can coexist with destructive fire?

Who among us can coexist with unquenchable ²²  fire?’

33:15 The one who lives ²³  uprightly ²⁴ 

and speaks honestly;

the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures

and rejects a bribe; ²⁵ 

the one who does not plot violent crimes ²⁶ 

and does not seek to harm others ²⁷  –

33:16 This is the person who will live in a secure place; ²⁸ 

he will find safety in the rocky, mountain strongholds; ²⁹ 

he will have food

and a constant supply of water.

[33:7]  ¹ 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.

[33:7]  ² tn Heb “messengers of peace,” apparently those responsible for negotiating the agreements that have been broken (see v. 8).

[33:8]  ³ tn Or “desolate” (NAB, NASB); NIV, NRSV, NLT “deserted.”

[33:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “the one passing by on the road ceases.”

[33:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “one breaks a treaty”; NAB “Covenants are broken.”

[33:8]  ⁶ 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 1QIsa^a. Confusion of dalet (ד) and resh (ר) is a well-attested scribal error.

[33:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “he does not regard human beings.”

[33:9]  ⁸ tn Or “earth” (KJV); NAB “the country.”

[33:9]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ sn Sharon was a fertile plain along the Mediterranean coast. See 35:2.

[33:9]  ¹² tn Or “the Arabah” (NIV). See 35:1.

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

[33:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “shake off [their leaves]” (so ASV, NRSV); NAB “are stripped bare.”

[33:10]  ¹⁵ tn Or “lift myself up” (KJV); NLT “show my power and might.”

[33:11]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ sn The hostile nations’ plans to destroy God’s people will come to nothing; their hostility will end up being self-destructive.

[33:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “will be a burning to lime.” See Amos 2:1.

[33:14]  ¹⁹ tn Or “trembling” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “shake with fear.”

[33:14]  ²⁰ tn Or “the defiled”; TEV “The sinful people of Zion”; NLT “The sinners in Jerusalem.”

[33:14]  ²¹ tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[33:14]  ²² tn Or “perpetual”; or “everlasting” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[33:15]  ²³ tn Heb “walks” (so NASB, NIV).

[33:15]  ²⁴ tn Or, possibly, “justly”; NAB “who practices virtue.”

[33:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “[who] shakes off his hands from grabbing hold of a bribe.”

[33:15]  ²⁶ tn Heb “[who] shuts his ear from listening to bloodshed.”

[33:15]  ²⁷ tn Heb “[who] closes his eyes from seeing evil.”

[33:16]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he [in the] exalted places will live.”

[33:16]  ²⁹ tn Heb “mountain strongholds, cliffs [will be] his elevated place.”