Isaiah 29

1 Ho Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add ye year to year. Let the feasts come round.

2 Then I will distress Ariel, and there shall be mourning and lamentation, and she shall be to me as Ariel.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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?

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.

19 The meek also shall increase their joy in Jehovah, and the poor among men shall rejoice 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,

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.

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.

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.

24 They also who err in spirit shall come to understanding, and those who murmur shall receive instruction.