33
A Prayer in Deep Distress
1Woe to you ⚓who plunder, though you have not been plundered;
And you who deal treacherously, though they have not dealt treacherously with you!
⚓When you cease plundering,
You will be ⚓plundered;
When you make an end of dealing treacherously,
They will deal treacherously with you.
2O Lord, be gracious to us;
⚓We have waited for You.
Be their arm every morning,
Our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3At the noise of the tumult the people ⚓shall flee;
When You lift Yourself up, the nations shall be scattered;
4And Your plunder shall be gathered
Like the gathering of the caterpillar;
As the running to and fro of locusts,
He shall run upon them.
5⚓The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times,
And the strength of salvation;
The fear of the Lordis His treasure.
7Surely their valiant ones shall cry outside,
⚓The ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.
8⚓The highways lie waste,
The traveling man ceases.
⚓He has broken the covenant,
He has despised the cities,
He regards no man.
9⚓The earth mourns and languishes,
Lebanon is shamed and shriveled;
Sharon is like a wilderness,
And Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.
Impending Judgment on Zion
10“Now⚓ I will rise,” says the Lord;
“Now I will be exalted,
Now I will lift Myself up.
11⚓You shall conceive chaff,
You shall bring forth stubble;
Your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
12And the people shall be like the burnings of lime;
⚓Like thorns cut up they shall be burned in the fire.
13Hear, ⚓you who are afar off, what I have done;
And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”
14The sinners in Zion are afraid;
Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites:
“Who among us shall dwell with the devouring ⚓fire?
Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”
15He who ⚓walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
He who despises the gain of oppressions,
Who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes,
Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed,
And ⚓shuts his eyes from seeing evil:
16He will dwell on high;
His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks;
Bread will be given him,
His water will be sure.
The Land of the Majestic King
17Your eyes will see the King in His ⚓beauty;
They will see the land that is very far off.
18Your heart will meditate on terror:
⚓“Where is the scribe?
Where is he who weighs?
Where is he who counts the towers?”
19⚓You will not see a fierce people,
⚓A people of obscure speech, beyond perception,
Of a stammering tongue that you cannot understand.
20⚓Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts;
Your eyes will see ⚓Jerusalem, a quiet home,
A tabernacle that will not be taken down;
⚓Not one of ⚓its stakes will ever be removed,
Nor will any of its cords be broken.
21But there the majestic Lordwill be for us
A place of broad rivers and streams,
In which no galley with oars will sail,
Nor majestic ships pass by
22(For the Lordis our ⚓Judge,
The Lordis our ⚓Lawgiver,
⚓The Lordis our King;
He will save us);
23Your tackle is loosed,
They could not strengthen their mast,
They could not spread the sail.
Then the prey of great plunder is divided;
The lame take the prey.
24And the inhabitant will not say, “I am sick”;
⚓The people who dwell in it will be forgiven their iniquity.