Isaiah 29

1 Tragedy is coming to you Ariel, Ariel the city where David lived! Year after year you have your festivals.

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

2 But I'm going to cause trouble for Ariel; the city will cry and mourn, it will be like an altar hearth to me.

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

3 I will surround you, I will besiege you with towers and build ramps to attack you.

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

4 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.

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.

5 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,

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

6 the Lord Almighty will arrive with thunder, earthquake, and tremendous noise, with whirlwind, storm, and flames of fire that burn everything up.

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.

7 The nations besieging Ariel, attacking its fortifications and tormenting the people, they will all disappear as if it was a dream!

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,

8 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.

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.

9 Be shocked and amazed! Make yourselves blind so you can't see! Get drunk, but not from wine! Stagger around, but not from beer!

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

10 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.

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.

11 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.”

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.”

12 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.”

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

13 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.

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.

14 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.”

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.”

15 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?”

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?”

16 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”?

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”?

17 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.

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

18 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.

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.

19 The humble will be even happier in the Lord, and the poor will find their joy in the Holy One of Israel.

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

20 Cruel people will no longer exist, the scornful will vanish, and those looking to do evil will be destroyed—

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

21 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.

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.

22 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.

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.

23 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.

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.

24 Those who've gone astray will understand their mistakes; those who grumble will learn how to receive instruction.”

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