Isaiah 29
1 Tragedy is coming to you Ariel, Ariel the city where David lived! Year after year you have your festivals.
Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, The city where David dwelt! Add year to year, Let the festivals go round,
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.
Then will I distress Ariel; Mourning and sorrow shall be there; Yet shall she be to me as Ariel [[the lion of God]].
3 I will surround you, I will besiege you with towers and build ramps to attack you.
I will encamp against thee round about, And I will lay siege against thee with a mound, And I will raise towers against thee.
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.
Thou shalt be brought down, and speak from the ground, And thy speech shall be low from the dust; Thy voice shall be like that of a spirit under ground, And thy speech shall chirp as from 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,
Yet shall the multitude of thine enemies be like fine dust; The multitude of the terrible like flying chaff; It shall take place suddenly, in a moment.
6 the Lord Almighty will arrive with thunder, earthquake, and tremendous noise, with whirlwind, storm, and flames of fire that burn everything up.
From Jehovah of hosts cometh the visitation With thunder, and earthquake, and great noise, With storm and tempest, And flames of devouring fire.
7 The nations besieging Ariel, attacking its fortifications and tormenting the people, they will all disappear as if it was a dream!
As a dream, a vision of the night, Shall be the multitude of all the nations That fight against Ariel, That fight against her and her fortress, And distress her.
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 a hungry man dreameth, and lo! he eateth, But awaketh and is still hungry; And as a thirsty man dreameth, and lo! he drinketh, But awaketh, and lo! he is faint and thirsty; So shall it be with the multitude of all the nations That fight 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!
Be in amazement and be amazed! Be blinded and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; They stagger, but not with 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 Jehovah hath poured upon you a spirit of slumber; He hath closed your eyes, the prophets, And covered your heads, the 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 so every vision is to you as the words of a sealed book, Which is given to a man that is skilled in writing, Saying, “Read this, I pray thee”; But he answereth, “I cannot, for 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 he give it to one that is not skilled in writing, Saying, “Read this, I pray thee,” He answereth, “I am not skilled in writing.”
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 saith the Lord, Since this people draweth near to me with their mouth, And honoreth me with their lips, While their heart is far from me, And their worship of me is according to the commandments of 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, behold, I will proceed to deal marvellously with this people; Marvellously and wonderfully, For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the prudence of the prudent shall be hid.
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 them that hide deep their purposes from Jehovah, Whose work is in darkness; That say, Who seeth us? Who knoweth us?
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”?
Alas, your perverseness! Is the potter to be esteemed as the clay, That the work should say of its maker, He made me not? And the thing formed say of him that formed it, He hath 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.
Is it not yet a very little while, And Lebanon shall be changed to a fruitful field, And the fruitful field be esteemed 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.
And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, And out of mist and darkness shall the eyes of the blind 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 afflicted shall exceedingly rejoice in Jehovah, And the poor shall exult 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 oppressor hath come to naught; the scoffer is destroyed; And all that watched for iniquity are cut off;
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.
Who condemned a man in his cause, And laid snares for him who defended himself in the gate, And with falsehood caused the righteous to fail.
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 concerning the house of Jacob thus saith Jehovah, He that redeemed Abraham: No more shall Jacob be ashamed, And no more shall 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 his children behold the work of my hands in the midst of them, They shall honor my name. They shall honor the Holy One of Jacob, And reverence the God of Israel.
24 Those who've gone astray will understand their mistakes; those who grumble will learn how to receive instruction.”
They that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, And the obstinate shall receive instruction.
