33:9 The land 1 dries up 2 and withers away;
the forest of Lebanon shrivels up 3 and decays.
Sharon 4 is like the desert; 5
Bashan and Carmel 6 are parched. 7
33:10 “Now I will rise up,” says the Lord.
“Now I will exalt myself;
now I will magnify myself. 8
33:11 You conceive straw, 9
you give birth to chaff;
your breath is a fire that destroys you. 10
1 tn Or “earth” (KJV); NAB “the country.”
2 tn Or “mourns” (BDB 5 s.v. I אָבַל). HALOT 6-7 lists homonyms I אבל (“mourn”) and II אבל (“dry up”). They propose the second here on the basis of parallelism. See 24:4.
3 tn Heb “Lebanon is ashamed.” The Hiphil is exhibitive, expressing the idea, “exhibits shame.” In this context the statement alludes to the withering of vegetation.
4 sn Sharon was a fertile plain along the Mediterranean coast. See 35:2.
5 tn Or “the Arabah” (NIV). See 35:1.
6 sn Both of these areas were known for their trees and vegetation. See 2:13; 35:2.
7 tn Heb “shake off [their leaves]” (so ASV, NRSV); NAB “are stripped bare.”
8 tn Or “lift myself up” (KJV); NLT “show my power and might.”
9 tn The second person verb and pronominal forms in this verse are plural. The hostile nations are the addressed, as the next verse makes clear.
10 sn The hostile nations’ plans to destroy God’s people will come to nothing; their hostility will end up being self-destructive.