Isaiah 29

1 Woe to you, O Ariel, the city of Ariel where David camped! Year upon year let your festivals recur.

Woe to Ariel, to Ariel the city against which David fought: year has been added to year, the solemnities have unfolded.

2 And I will constrain Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation; she will be like an altar hearth before Me.

And I will surround Ariel with siege works, and it will be in sorrow and mourning, and it will be like Ariel to me.

3 I will camp in a circle around you; I will besiege you with towers and set up siege works against you.

And I will surround you like a sphere all around you, and I will raise up a rampart against you, and I will set up fortifications to blockade you.

4 You will be brought low, you will speak from the ground, and out of the dust your words will be muffled. Your voice will be like a spirit from the ground; your speech will whisper out of the dust.

You will be brought low. You will speak from the ground, and your eloquence will be heard from the dirt. And, from the ground, your voice will be like that of the python, and your eloquence will mumble from the dirt.

5 But your many foes will be like fine dust, the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant,

And the multitude of those who fan you will be like fine dust. And the multitude of those who have prevailed against you will be like embers fading away.

6 you will be visited by the LORD of Hosts with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with windstorm and tempest and consuming flame of fire.

And this will happen suddenly and swiftly. It will be visited from the Lord of hosts with thunder and earthquakes, and with the great noise of a whirlwind and a storm, and with a flame of devouring fire.

7 All the many nations going out to battle against Ariel— even all who war against her, laying siege and attacking her— will be like a dream, like a vision in the night,

And the multitude of all the nations that have struggled against Ariel will be like the dream of a vision by night, along with all who have battled, and besieged, and prevailed against it.

8 as when a hungry man dreams he is eating, then awakens still hungry; as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, then awakens faint and parched. So will it be for all the many nations who go to battle against Mount Zion.

And it will be like one who is hungry and dreams of eating, but, when he has been awakened, his soul is empty. And it will be like one who is thirsty and dreams of drinking, but, after he has been awakened, he still languishes in thirst, and his soul is empty. So shall the multitude of all the nations be, who have struggled against Mount Zion.

9 Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink.

Be stupefied and in wonder! Shake and quiver! Be inebriated, but not from wine! Stagger, but not from drunkenness!

10 For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.

For the Lord has mixed for you a spirit of deep sleep. He will close your eyes. He will cover your prophets and leaders, who see visions.

11 And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.”

And the vision of all will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which, when they have given it to someone who knows how to read, they will say, “Read this,” but he will respond, “I cannot; for it has been sealed.”

12 Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.”

But if the book is given to someone who does not know how to read, and it is said to him, “Read,” then he will respond, “I do not know how to read.”

13 Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.

And the Lord said: Since this people have drawn near to me only with their mouth, and their lips glorify me while their heart is far from me, and their fear of me is based on the commandments and doctrines of men,

14 Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”

for this reason, behold, I will proceed to accomplish a wonder for this people, a great and mystifying miracle. For wisdom will perish from their wise, and the understanding of their prudent will be concealed.

15 Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?”

Woe to you who use the depths of the heart, so that you may hide your intentions from the Lord. Their works are done in darkness, and so they say: “Who sees us?” and “Who knows us?”

16 You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of the potter, “He has no understanding”?

This intention of yours is perverse. It is as if the clay were to plan against the potter, or as if the work were to say to its maker: “You did not make me.” Or it is as if what has been formed were to say to the one who formed it, “You do not understand.”

17 In a very short time, will not Lebanon become an orchard, and the orchard seem like a forest?

In not more than a little while and a brief time, Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field, and a fruitful field will be considered to be a forest.

18 On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

And in that day, the deaf will hear the words of a book, and out of darkness and obscurity the eyes of the blind will see.

19 The humble will increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

And the meek will increase their rejoicing in the Lord, and the poor among men will exult in the Holy One of Israel.

20 For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down—

For the one who was prevailing has failed, the one who was mocking has been consumed, and all those who were standing guard over iniquity have been cut down.

21 those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.

For they caused men to sin by a word, and they supplanted him who argued against them at the gates, and they turned away from justice in vain.

22 Therefore the LORD who redeemed Abraham says of the house of Jacob: “No longer will Jacob be ashamed and no more will his face grow pale.

Because of this, thus says the Lord, he who has redeemed Abraham, to the house of Jacob: From now on, Jacob will not be confounded; from now on his countenance will not blush with shame.

23 For when he sees his children around him, the work of My hands, they will honor My name, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and they will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

Instead, when he sees his children, they will be the work of my hands in his midst, sanctifying my name, and they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and they will preach the God of Israel.

24 Then the wayward in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will accept instruction.”

And those who had gone astray in spirit will know understanding, and those who had murmured will learn the law.