Isaiah 29
1 Ho Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add ye year to year. Let the feasts come round.
Tragedy is coming to you Ariel, Ariel the city where David lived! Year after year you have your festivals.
2 Then I will distress Ariel, and there shall be mourning and lamentation, and she shall be to me as Ariel.
But I'm going to cause trouble for Ariel; the city will cry and mourn, it will be like an altar hearth to me.
3 And I will encamp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with posted troops. And I will raise siege works against thee.
I will surround you, I will besiege you with towers and build ramps to attack you.
4 And thou shall be brought down, and shall speak out of the ground. And thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be as of he who has a familiar spirit, out of the ground. And thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
You will be brought down, you will speak from where you're lying on the ground, mumbling in the dust. Your words will come like a ghost from the grave; your voice will be a whisper from the dust.
5 But the multitude of thy foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones as chaff that passes away. Yea, it shall be in an instant suddenly.
But then all your enemies will become like fine dust; all your cruel oppressors like chaff that's blown away. Then suddenly, in no time at all,
6 She shall be visited by Jehovah of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
the Lord Almighty will arrive with thunder, earthquake, and tremendous noise, with whirlwind, storm, and flames of fire that burn everything up.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her stronghold, and that distress her, shall be as a dream, a vision of the night.
The nations besieging Ariel, attacking its fortifications and tormenting the people, they will all disappear as if it was a dream!
8 And it shall be as when a hungry man dreams, and, behold, he eats. But he awakes, and his soul is empty. Or as when a thirsty man dreams, and, behold, he drinks. But he awakes, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul has appetite. So shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against mount Zion.
It will be like someone hungry dreaming that they're eating but who wakes up still hungry. It will be like someone thirsty dreaming of drinking but who wakes up still weak and thirsty. This is what it will be like for all your enemies, the ones attacking Mount Zion.
9 Tarry ye and wonder, take your pleasure and be blind. They are drunken, but not with wine. They stagger, but not with strong drink.
Be shocked and amazed! Make yourselves blind so you can't see! Get drunk, but not from wine! Stagger around, but not from beer!
10 For Jehovah has poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes. The prophets, and your heads, the seers, he has covered.
For the Lord has made you very sleepy, and he has shut the eyes and covered the heads of those who speak for God and see visions.
11 And all vision has become to you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to a man who is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee. And he says, I cannot, for it is sealed.
This entire vision is like words in a scroll that is sealed shut. If you give it to someone who knows how to read and say, “Please read it,” they'll say, “I can't read it because it's sealed shut.”
12 And the book is delivered to him who is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee. And he says, I am not learned.
If you give it to someone who doesn't know how to read and say, “Please read it,” they'll say, “I don't know how to read.”
13 And the Lord said, Inasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips, but have removed their heart far from me, but in vain they worship me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men.
The Lord says, “These people come and praise me with their words, and honor me with lip service, but their thoughts are miles away. Their worship of me only consists of them following rules people have taught them.
14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder. I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.
So once again I will surprise these people with miracle upon miracle. The wisdom of the wise will die, and the insight of the insightful will disappear.”
15 Woe to those who hide deep their counsel from Jehovah, and whose works are in the dark, and who say, Who sees us? and, Who knows us?
Tragedy is coming to people who take such trouble to hide their plans from the Lord. They work in the dark and say to themselves, “Nobody can see us, can they? Nobody will know, will they?”
16 Ye turn things upside down! Shall the potter be esteemed as clay, that the thing made should say of him who made it, He did not make me, or the thing formed say of him who formed it, He has no understanding?
How perverse you are! It's as if the clay was thought of as making the potter! Should something made say to its maker, “You didn't make me”? Can the pot tell the potter, “You don't understand anything”?
17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
It won't be long and the forests of Lebanon will be turned into a productive field, and a productive field will seem like a forest.
18 And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
At that time the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and the eyes of the blind will see through the gloomy darkness what's written there.
19 The meek also shall increase their joy in Jehovah, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
The humble will be even happier in the Lord, and the poor will find their joy in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the terrible one is brought to nothing, and the scoffer ceases. And all those who watch for iniquity are cut off,
Cruel people will no longer exist, the scornful will vanish, and those looking to do evil will be destroyed—
21 who make a man an offender in his cause, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and turn aside the just with a thing of nothing.
those who say things to trick others into sin, those who trap people by legal arguments in court, those who lie to mislead the innocent.
22 Therefore thus says Jehovah, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now grow pale.
So this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob: “You don't need to be ashamed anymore; your faces won't grow pale with fright any longer.
23 But when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name. Yea, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall stand in awe of the God of Israel.
When you see all your children and everything I've done for you, then you will regard my character as holy, and you will respect the Holy One of Jacob. You will have reverence for the God of Israel.
24 They also who err in spirit shall come to understanding, and those who murmur shall receive instruction.
Those who've gone astray will understand their mistakes; those who grumble will learn how to receive instruction.”
