Isaiah 33:1-12

Doom to you, Destroyer, not yet destroyed; And doom to you, Betrayer, not yet betrayed. When you finish destroying, your turn will come—destroyed! When you quit betraying, your turn will come—betrayed! GOD, treat us kindly. You’re our only hope. First thing in the morning, be there for us! When things go bad, help us out! You spoke in thunder and everyone ran. You showed up and nations scattered. Your people, for a change, got in on the loot, picking the field clean of the enemy spoils. GOD is supremely esteemed. His center holds. Zion brims over with all that is just and right. GOD keeps your days stable and secure— salvation, wisdom, and knowledge in surplus, and best of all, Zion’s treasure, Fear-of-GOD. But look! Listen! Tough men weep openly. Peacemaking diplomats are in bitter tears. The roads are empty— not a soul out on the streets. The peace treaty is broken, its conditions violated, its signers reviled. The very ground under our feet mourns, the Lebanon mountains hang their heads, Flowering Sharon is a weed-choked gully, and the forests of Bashan and Carmel? Bare branches. “Now I’m stepping in,” GOD says. “From now on, I’m taking over. The gloves come off. Now see how mighty I am. There’s nothing to you. Pregnant with chaff, you produce straw babies; full of hot air, you self-destruct. You’re good for nothing but fertilizer and fuel. Earth to earth—and the sooner the better.