Isaiah 33:1-24
Trouble for Assyria and Help for God’s People
How terrible it will be for you, you who destroy others!
Assyria, you haven’t been destroyed yet.
How terrible for you, you who turn against others!
Others haven’t turned against you yet.
When you stop destroying,
you will be destroyed.
When you stop turning against others,
others will turn against you.
Lord, have mercy on us.
We long for you to help us.
Make us strong every morning.
Save us when we’re in trouble.
At the roar of your army, the nations run away.
When you rise up against them, they scatter.
Nations, what you have taken in battle is destroyed.
It’s as if young locusts had eaten it up.
Like large numbers of locusts,
people rush to get it.
The Lord is honored. He lives in heaven.
He will make sure Zion’s people only do what is fair and right.
He will be the firm foundation for their entire lives.
He will give them all the wisdom, knowledge and saving power they will ever need.
Respect for the Lord is the key to that treasure.
Look! Judah’s brave men cry out loud in the streets.
The messengers who were sent to bring peace weep bitter tears.
The wide roads are deserted.
No one travels on them.
Our peace treaty with Assyria is broken.
Those who witnessed it are looked down on.
No one is respected.
The land dries up and wastes away.
Lebanon is full of shame and dries up.
The rich land of Sharon is like the Arabah Desert.
The trees of Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.
“Now I will take action,” says the Lord.
“Now I will be honored.
Now I will be respected.
Assyria, your plans and actions are like straw.
Your anger is a fire that will destroy you.
The nations will be burned to ashes.
They will be like bushes that are cut down and set on fire.
“You nations far away, listen to what I have done!
My people who are near, recognize how powerful I am!
The sinners in Zion are terrified.
They tremble with fear.
They say, ‘Who of us can live through the Lord’s destroying fire?
Who of us can live through the fire that burns forever?’
People must do what is right.
They must be honest and tell the truth.
They must not get rich by cheating others.
Their hands must not receive money from those who want special favors.
They must not let their ears listen to plans to commit murder.
They must close their eyes to even thinking about doing what is evil.
People like that will be kept safe.
It will be as if they were living on high mountains.
It will be as if they were living in a mountain fort.
They will have all the food they need.
And they will never run out of water.”
People of Judah, you will see the king in all his glory and majesty.
You will view his kingdom spreading far and wide.
You will think about what used to terrify you.
You will say to yourself,
“Where is that chief officer of Assyria?
Where is the one who forced us to send gifts to his king?
Where is the officer in charge of the towers
that were used when we were attacked?”
You won’t see those proud people anymore.
They spoke a strange language.
None of us could understand it.
Just look at Zion! It’s the city
where we celebrate our regular feasts.
Turn your eyes toward Jerusalem.
It will be a peaceful place to live in.
It will be like a tent that will never be moved.
Its stakes will never be pulled up.
None of its ropes will be broken.
There the Lord will be our Mighty One.
It will be like a place of wide rivers and streams.
No boat with oars will travel on them.
No mighty ship will sail on them.
That’s because the Lord is our judge.
The Lord gives us our law.
The Lord is our king.
He will save us.
The ropes on your ship hang loose.
The mast isn’t very secure.
The sail isn’t spread out.
But the Lord will strike down the Assyrians.
Then a large amount of goods will be taken from them and divided up.
Even people who are disabled will carry off some of it.
No one living in Zion will ever say again, “I’m sick.”
And the sins of those who live there will be forgiven.
Isaiah 34:1-17
The Lord Will Judge the Nations
Nations, come near and listen to me!
Pay attention to what I’m about to say.
Let the earth and everything in it listen.
Let the world and everything that comes out of it pay attention.
The Lord is angry with all the nations.
His anger is against all their armies.
He will totally destroy them.
He will have them killed.
Those who are killed won’t be buried.
Their dead bodies will be thrown on the ground.
They will stink.
Their blood will cover the mountains.
All the stars in the sky will vanish.
The heavens will be rolled up like a scroll.
All the stars in the sky will fall like dried-up leaves from a vine.
They will drop like wrinkled figs from a fig tree.
The sword of the Lord will finish its deadly work in the sky.
Then it will come down to strike Edom.
He will totally destroy that nation.
His sword will be red with blood.
It will be covered with fat.
The blood will flow like the blood
of lambs and goats being sacrificed.
The fat will be like the fat
taken from the kidneys of rams.
That’s because the Lord will offer a sacrifice
in the city of Bozrah.
He will kill many people in the land of Edom.
The people and their leaders will be killed
like wild oxen and young bulls.
Their land will be wet with their blood.
The dust will be covered with their fat.
That’s because the Lord has set aside a day to pay Edom back.
He has set aside a year to pay them back. He will pay them back for what they did to Zion.
The streams of Edom will be turned into tar.
Its dust will be turned into blazing sulfur.
Its land will become burning tar.
The fire will keep burning night and day.
It can’t be put out.
Its smoke will go up forever.
Edom will lie empty for all time to come.
No one will ever travel through it again.
The desert owl and screech owl will make it their home.
The great owl and the raven will build their nests there.
God will use his measuring line
to show how completely Edom will be destroyed.
He will use his plumb line
to show how empty Edom will become.
Edom’s nobles won’t have anything left there
that can be called a kingdom.
All its princes will vanish.
Thorns will cover its forts.
Bushes and weeds will cover its safest places.
It will become a home for wild dogs.
It will become a place where owls live.
Desert creatures will meet with hyenas.
Wild goats will call out to each other.
Night creatures will also lie down there.
They will find places where they can rest.
Owls will make their nests and lay their eggs there.
And they will hatch them.
They will take care of their little ones
under the shadow of their wings.
Male and female falcons will also gather there.
Look in the book of the Lord. Here is what you will read there.
None of those animals will be missing.
Male and female alike will be there.
The Lord himself has commanded it.
And his Spirit will gather them together.
The Lord will decide what part of the land goes to each animal.
Then he will give each one its share.
It will belong to them forever.
And they will live there for all time to come.
Isaiah 35:1-10
The Joy of the Lord’s People
The desert and the dry ground will be glad.
The dry places will be full of joy.
Flowers will grow there.
Like the first crocus in the spring,
the desert will bloom with flowers.
It will be very glad and shout for joy.
The glorious beauty of Lebanon will be given to it.
It will be as beautiful as the rich lands
of Carmel and Sharon.
Everyone will see the glory of the Lord.
They will see the beauty of our God.
Strengthen the hands of those who are weak.
Help those whose knees give way.
Say to those whose hearts are afraid,
“Be strong and do not fear.
Your God will come.
He will pay your enemies back.
He will come to save you.”
Then the eyes of those who are blind will be opened.
The ears of those who can’t hear will be unplugged.
Those who can’t walk will leap like a deer.
And those who can’t speak will shout for joy.
Water will pour out in dry places.
Streams will flow in the desert.
The burning sand will become a pool of water.
The thirsty ground will become bubbling springs.
In the places where wild dogs once lay down,
tall grass and papyrus will grow.
A wide road will go through the land.
It will be called the Way of Holiness.
Only those who lead a holy life can use it.
“Unclean” and foolish people can’t walk on it.
No lions will use it.
No hungry wild animals will be on it.
None of them will be there.
Only people who have been set free will walk on it.
Those the Lord has saved will return to their land.
They will sing as they enter the city of Zion.
Joy that lasts forever will be
like beautiful crowns on their heads.
They will be filled with gladness and joy.
Sorrow and sighing will be gone.
