The Treacherous Destroyer
Study note
This chapter likely refers to the Assyrian invasion under Sennacherib, who destroyed cities and broke treaties without consequence. The people of Judah cry out to God for grace, asking him to be their strength every morning. When God rises up, the nations scatter. The fear of the Lord is described as the true treasure, providing wisdom, knowledge, and salvation.
1 How awful for you, destroyer who has not yet been destroyed! How awful for you, betrayer who has not yet been betrayed! When you are done destroying, you yourself will be destroyed. When you are done betraying, you yourself will be betrayed. Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
2 O Lord, show us your grace. We are waiting for you. Be our strength every morning and our rescuer when things go wrong. O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3 When your voice thunders, nations flee. When you stand up, peoples scatter in every direction. At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.
4 The goods taken from your enemies will be snatched up the way locusts eat a field. They will be swept up like swarms of bugs moving over everything. And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.
5 The Lord is lifted high, because he dwells above. He fills Zion with justice and righteousness. The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.
6 He will be the steady foundation for your times — a storehouse full of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The key to this treasure is having deep respect for the Lord. And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.
The Land in Crisis
Study note
The situation is desperate. Peace envoys weep because their negotiations have failed. The roads are empty and unsafe. The enemy has broken every agreement. The beautiful, fertile land of Lebanon, Sharon, Bashan, and Carmel is withering. At this darkest moment, God declares that he will rise up and act.
7 Look! The bravest warriors are crying out in the streets. The ambassadors sent to make peace are weeping bitterly. Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.
8 The roads are abandoned. Nobody travels them anymore. The enemy has torn up the peace agreement. He has no respect for cities and does not care about people. The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.
9 The land grieves and wastes away. Lebanon is embarrassed, its trees withering. The plain of Sharon has turned into a desert. Bashan and Carmel are shedding their leaves. The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.
10 'Now I will stand up,' says the Lord. 'Now I will rise to my full height. Now I will take action.' Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.
11 You hatch plans that are worthless as dry straw. Your schemes are useless as stubble. Your own hot breath will consume you like fire. Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
12 Whole nations will be burned to powder, like cut thornbushes thrown into the fire. And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.
Who Can Live with God?
Study note
God's power strikes fear into the sinners in Zion. They ask, 'Who can survive in the presence of this consuming fire?' Isaiah answers with a list of qualities: walking righteously, speaking honestly, refusing bribes, refusing to participate in violence, and turning away from evil. Such a person will be safe and well-provided for.
13 You who live far away, hear what I have done! You who live nearby, recognize how powerful I am! Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.
14 The sinners in Zion are scared out of their minds. The ungodly are gripped by fear. They cry out, 'Who among us can survive this devouring fire? Who can endure these eternal flames?' The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
15 The person who lives honestly and speaks the truth will be safe. This person refuses to profit from cheating. This person waves away a bribe. This person plugs their ears against plots to murder. This person shuts their eyes to avoid looking at evil. He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
16 this is the person who will live safely on the high ground. Their fortress will be on the rocky cliffs. They will always have food and water. He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.
The King in His Beauty
Study note
The faithful will see the king in his beauty and look out over a vast, peaceful land. The terror of the foreign invader will be just a memory. Jerusalem will be a quiet home, like an immovable tent. The Lord will be their majestic river of protection. The Lord is their judge, their lawgiver, and their king. He will save them. No one living there will be sick, and all sins will be forgiven.
17 Your eyes will gaze on the king in all his beauty. You will look out over a vast, wide-open land. Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.
18 You will think back on those scary times and wonder, 'Where is the officer who used to count us? Where is the one who weighed our taxes? Where is the one who tallied our towers?' Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 You will never again see those fierce foreign people. You will not hear their strange speech that you could not understand. Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
20 Look at Zion, our festival city! Your eyes will see Jerusalem as a peaceful home — a tent that will never be taken down. Its stakes will never be pulled out, and none of its ropes will snap. Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.
21 There the Lord will be our majestic one. It will be a place of wide rivers and broad streams, where no enemy warship can sail and no powerful vessel can pass. But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.
22 The Lord is our judge. The Lord makes our laws. The Lord is our king. It is he who will rescue us. For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.
23 The ropes on your enemies' ships hang slack. Their mast wobbles, and their sail will not spread. Then a mountain of treasure will be divided up, and even those who are lame will carry off their share of the spoils. Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.
24 No one living there will ever say, 'I am sick.' The people who dwell in that place will have all their sins forgiven. And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.