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But Lord, be merciful to us, for we have waited for you. Be our strong arm each day and our salvation in times of trouble.
Isaiah 33:2 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB Yahweh, be gracious to us. We have waited for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
  • KJV O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
  • BSB O LORD, be gracious to us! We wait for You. Be our strength every morning and our salvation in time of trouble.
  • NKJV O Lord, be gracious to us; We have waited for You. Be their arm every morning, Our salvation also in the time of trouble.
  • NASB Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited for You. Be their strength every morning, Our salvation also in the time of distress.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The people pray for the LORD's grace, asking Him to be their strength each morning and their salvation in trouble. It matters because it models dependent prayer in the face of crisis.

Overview

Turning from woe to prayer, God's people cry for grace, having waited on Him. They ask Him to be their daily strength and their salvation in distress. This humble, trusting petition exemplifies the faith Isaiah commends—looking to the LORD alone—and points to Christ, our strength and salvation.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 29

  • 2 Cor 1:3–4Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort;
  • Isa 30:18–19Therefore Yahweh will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for Yahweh is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him.
  • Isa 59:16He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore his own arm brought salvation to him; and his righteousness sustained him.
  • Ps 60:11Give us help against the adversary, for the help of man is vain.
  • Ps 62:8Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Selah.
  • Exod 14:27Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it. Yahweh overthrew the Egyptians in the middle of the sea.
  • Ps 130:4–8But there is forgiveness with you, therefore you are feared.
  • Lam 3:25–26Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
  • Ps 62:1For the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm by David. My soul rests in God alone. My salvation is from him.
  • Isa 25:9It shall be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God! We have waited for him, and he will save us! This is Yahweh! We have waited for him. We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation!”
  • Ps 46:1For the Chief Musician. By the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
  • Ps 123:2Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress; so our eyes look to Yahweh, our God, until he has mercy on us.
  • Ps 62:5My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my expectation is from him.
  • Isa 25:4For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast of the dreaded ones is like a storm against the wall.
  • Lam 3:23They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
  • Ps 90:15Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen evil.
  • Ps 37:39But the salvation of the righteous is from Yahweh. He is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
  • Isa 26:8Yes, in the way of your judgments, Yahweh, have we waited for you. Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul.
  • Hos 14:2Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, “Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good: so we offer our lips like bulls.
  • Ps 91:15He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him.
  • Isa 40:10Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
  • Ps 25:3Yes, no one who waits for you shall be shamed. They shall be shamed who deal treacherously without cause.
  • Jer 2:27–28who tell wood, ‘You are my father;’ and a stone, ‘You have given birth to me:’ for they have turned their back to me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise, and save us.’
  • Isa 26:16Yahweh, in trouble they have visited you. They poured out a prayer when your chastening was on them.
  • Ps 27:13–14I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living.
  • Jer 14:8You hope of Israel, its Savior in the time of trouble, why should you be as a foreigner in the land, and as a wayfaring man who turns aside to stay for a night?
  • Ps 46:5God is within her. She shall not be moved. God will help her at dawn.
  • Ps 50:15Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
  • Ps 143:8Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 33:2YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 33:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.