33 1 The destruction of them by whom God hath punished his Church.

Woe to thee that [a]spoilest, and wast not spoiled: and doest wickedly, and they did not wickedly against thee: when thou shalt [b]cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled: when thou shalt make an end of doing wickedly, [c]they shall do wickedly against thee.

[d]O Lord, have mercy upon us, we have waited for thee: be thou, which wast [e]their arm in the morning, our help also in time of trouble.

At the noise of the tumult, the [f]people fled: at thine [g]exalting the nations were scattered.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 33:1 Meaning, the enemies of the Church, as were the Chaldeans and Assyrians, but chiefly of Sennacherib, but not only.
  2. Isaiah 33:1 When thine appointed time shall come that God shall take away thy power: and that which thou hast wrongfully gotten, shall be given to others, as Amos 5:11.
  3. Isaiah 33:1 The Chaldeans shall do like to the Assyrians, as the Assyrians did to Israel, and the Medes and Persians shall do the same to the Chaldeans.
  4. Isaiah 33:2 He declareth hereby what is the chief refuge of the faithful, when troubles come, to pray, and seek help of God.
  5. Isaiah 33:2 Which helped our fathers so soon as they called upon thee.
  6. Isaiah 33:3 That is, the Assyrians fled before the army of the Chaldeans, or the Chaldeans for fear of the Medes and Persians.
  7. Isaiah 33:3 When thou, O Lord, didst lift up thine arm to punish thine enemies.

Distress and Help

33 Woe(A) 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;(B)
when you stop betraying,
    you will be betrayed.(C)

Lord, be gracious(D) to us;
    we long for you.
Be our strength(E) every morning,
    our salvation(F) in time of distress.(G)
At the uproar of your army,(H) the peoples flee;(I)
    when you rise up,(J) the nations scatter.

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