Distress and help

1Woe to you, destroyer,

you who have not been destroyed!

Woe to you, betrayer,

you who have not been betrayed!

When you stop destroying,

you will be destroyed;

when you stop betraying,

you will be betrayed.

2Lord, be gracious to us;

we long for you.

Be our strength every morning,

our salvation in time of distress.

3At the uproar of your army, the peoples flee;

when you rise up, the nations scatter.

4Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts;

like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.

5The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;

he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness.

6He will be the sure foundation for your times,

a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge;

the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.33:6 Or is a treasure from him

7Look, their brave men cry aloud in the streets;

the envoys of peace weep bitterly.

8The highways are deserted,

no travellers are on the roads.

The treaty is broken,

its witnesses33:8 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text / the cities are despised,

no-one is respected.

9The land dries up and wastes away,

Lebanon is ashamed and withers;

Sharon is like the Arabah,

and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.

10‘Now will I arise,’ says the Lord.

‘Now will I be exalted;

now will I be lifted up.

11You conceive chaff,

you give birth to straw;

your breath is a fire that consumes you.

12The peoples will be burned to ashes;

like cut thorn-bushes they will be set ablaze.’

13You who are far away, hear what I have done;

you who are near, acknowledge my power!

14The sinners in Zion are terrified;

trembling grips the godless:

‘Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire?

Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?’

15Those who walk righteously

and speak what is right,

who reject gain from extortion

and keep their hands from accepting bribes,

who stop their ears against plots of murder

and shut their eyes against contemplating evil –

16they are the ones who will dwell on the heights,

whose refuge will be the mountain fortress.

Their bread will be supplied,

and water will not fail them.

17Your eyes will see the king in his beauty

and view a land that stretches afar.

18In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror:

‘Where is that chief officer?

Where is the one who took the revenue?

Where is the officer in charge of the towers?’

19You will see those arrogant people no more,

people whose speech is obscure,

whose language is strange and incomprehensible.

20Look on Zion, the city of our festivals;

your eyes will see Jerusalem,

a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved;

its stakes will never be pulled up,

nor any of its ropes broken.

21There the Lord will be our Mighty One.

It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams.

No galley with oars will ride them,

no mighty ship will sail them.

22For the Lord is our judge,

the Lord is our lawgiver,

the Lord is our king;

it is he who will save us.

23Your rigging hangs loose:

the mast is not held secure,

the sail is not spread.

Then an abundance of spoils will be divided

and even the lame will carry off plunder.

24No-one living in Zion will say, ‘I am ill’;

and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.