Isaiah 33:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; they will see a land that stretches afar.

NIV: Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar.

NASB: Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will see a distant land.

CSB: Your eyes will see the King in his beauty; you will see a vast land.

NLT: Your eyes will see the king in all his splendor, and you will see a land that stretches into the distance.

KJV: Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.

NKJV: Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will see the land that is very far off.

Isaiah 33:13–24 explains that God will preserve His people through these trials. Much of this prophecy speaks about when Messiah will rule over the world in person. All that is godless and corrupt will have been purged. Jerusalem will be in perfect peace and health.

This chapter is set just before and following the Lord's destruction of Assyrian armies during the siege of Jerusalem. It begins with the Lord's "woe" against the destroyer and betrayer. Judah cries to the Lord to save them. The exalted Lord will save His people and provide for them. When all hope is lost in Jerusalem, the Lord says that He will rise. The destroyer is now just something to be disposed of and burned up in fire. Isaiah describes a future kingdom with the Lord as king. The Lord acknowledges that He will save them.

Assyria was an aggressive, hostile superpower threatening Israel. God used this nation to punish Israel, but also promised to restore His people and punish the evil invaders. In this chapter, the Assyrians are not mentioned by name but described as "the destroyer." Those in Israel who would ally with foreign nations are "the betrayer." When all seems most hopeless for Jerusalem, the king and people repent and cry out to the Lord to save them. The nation which attacked Israel will be eliminated entirely. A few decades after Assyria's attacks, the culture was entirely overrun by the Medes and Babylonians.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).

Accessed 3/10/2026 10:36:51 PM