< Isaiah 29 >

1 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city of David's encampment! Add ye year to year; let the feasts come round.
Alas for the city of Ariel, which David besieged. Gather ye fruits year by year; eat ye, for ye shall eat with Moab.
2 But I will distress Ariel, and there shall be sorrow and sadness; and it shall be unto me as an Ariel.
For I will grievously afflict Ariel: and her strength and her wealth shall be mine.
3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with watch-posts, and I will raise forts against thee.
And I will compass thee about like David, and will raise a mound about thee, and set up towers round thee.
4 And thou shalt be brought low, thou shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall come low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
And thy words shall be brought down to the earth, and thy words shall sink down to the earth, and thy voice shall be as they that speak out of the earth, and thy voice shall be lowered to the ground.
5 And the multitude of thine enemies shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones as chaff that passeth away; and it shall be in an instant, suddenly.
But the wealth of the ungodly shall be as dust from a wheel, and the multitude of them that oppress thee as flying chaff, and it shall be suddenly as a moment,
6 Thou shalt be visited by Jehovah of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
from the Lord of Hosts: for there shall be a visitation with thunder, and earthquake, and a loud noise, a rushing tempest, and devouring flame of fire.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that war against Ariel, even all that war against her and her fortifications, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
And the wealth of all the nations together, as many as have fought against Ariel, and all they that war against Jerusalem, and all who are gathered against her, and they that distress her, shall be as one that dreams in sleep by night.
8 It shall even be as when the hungry dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; and he awaketh, and his soul is empty; or as when the thirsty dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; and he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul craveth: so shall the multitude of all the nations be that war against mount Zion.
And as men drink and eat in sleep, and when they have arisen, the dream is vain: and as a thirsty man dreams as if he drank, and having arisen is still thirsty, and his soul has desired in vain: so shall be the wealth of all the nations, as many as have fought against the mount Sion.
9 Be astounded and astonished, blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
Faint ye, and be amazed, and be overpowered, not with strong drink nor with wine.
10 For Jehovah hath poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes; the prophets and your chiefs, the seers, hath he covered.
For the Lord has made you to drink a spirit of deep sleep; and he shall close their eyes, and [the eyes] of their prophets and of their rulers, who see secret things.
11 And the whole vision is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which they give to one that can read, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed.
And all these things shall be to you as the words of this sealed book, which if they shall give to a learned man, saying, Read this, he shall then say, I cannot read [it], for it is sealed.
12 And they give the book to him that cannot read, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot read.
And this book shall be given into the hands of a man that is unlearned, and [one] shall say to him, Read this; and he shall say, I am not learned.
13 And the Lord saith, Forasmuch as this people draw near with their mouth, and honour me with their lips, but their heart is removed far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught of men;
And the Lord has said, This people draw nigh to me with their mouth, and they honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me: but in vain do they worship me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men.
14 therefore, behold, I will proceed to do marvellously with this people, to do marvellously, even with wonder, and the wisdom of their wise [men] shall perish, and the understanding of their intelligent ones shall be hid.
Therefore behold I will proceed to remove this people, and I will remove them: and I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will hide the understanding of the prudent.
15 Woe unto them that hide deep, far from Jehovah, their counsel! And their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
Woe to them that deepen their counsel, and not by the Lord. Woe to them that take secret counsel, and whose works are in darkness, and they say, Who has seen us? and who shall know us, or what we do?
16 [Oh] your perverseness! — Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay, so that the work should say of him that made it, He made me not; or the thing formed say of him that formed it, He hath no understanding?
Shall ye not be counted as clay of the potter? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Thou didst not form me? or the work to the maker, Thou hast not made me wisely?
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?
[Is it] not yet a little while, and Libanus shall be changed as the mountains of Chermel, and Chermel shall be reckoned as a forest?
18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and, out of obscurity and out of darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see;
And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and they that are in darkness, and they that are in mist: the eyes of the blind shall see,
19 and the meek shall increase their joy in Jehovah, and the needy among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
and the poor shall rejoice with joy because of the Lord, and they that had no hope among men shall be filled with joy.
20 For the terrible one shall come to nought, and the scorner shall be no more, and all that watch for iniquity shall be cut off,
The lawless man has come to nought, and the proud man has perished, and they that transgress mischievously have been utterly destroyed:
21 that make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and pervert [the judgment of] the righteous by futility.
and they that cause men to sin by a word: and men shall make all that reprove in the gates an offence, because they have unjustly turned aside the righteous.
22 Therefore thus saith Jehovah who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now be pale;
Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the house of Jacob, whom he set apart from Abraam, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall he now change countenance.
23 for when he seeth his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall hallow my name, and hallow the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
But when their children shall have seen my works, they shall sanctify my name for my sake, and they sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
24 And they that are of erring spirit shall know understanding, and the disobedient shall learn doctrine.
And they that erred in spirit shall know understanding, and the murmurers shall learn obedience, and the stammering tongues shall learn to speak peace.

< Isaiah 29 >