Esias 29

1 Alas for the city of Ariel, which David besieged. Gather you fruits year by year; eat you, for you shall eat with Moab.

Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, The city where David dwelt! Add year to year, Let the festivals go round,

2 For I will grievously afflict Ariel: and her strength and her wealth shall be mine.

Then will I distress Ariel; Mourning and sorrow shall be there; Yet shall she be to me as Ariel [[the lion of God]].

3 And I will compass you about like David, and will raise a mound about you, and set up towers round 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 And your words shall be brought down to the earth, and your words shall sink down to the earth, and your voice shall be as they that speak out of the earth, and your voice shall be lowered to the ground.

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 the wealth of the ungodly shall be as dust from a wheel, and the multitude of them that oppress you as flying chaff, and it shall be suddenly as a moment,

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 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.

From Jehovah of hosts cometh the visitation With thunder, and earthquake, and great noise, With storm and tempest, And flames of devouring fire.

7 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.

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 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.

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 Faint you, and be amazed, and be overpowered, not with strong drink nor with wine.

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 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.

For Jehovah hath poured upon you a spirit of slumber; He hath closed your eyes, the prophets, And covered your heads, the seers;

11 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 can’t read [it], for it is sealed.

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 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.

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 And the Lord has said, This people draw near to me with their mouth, and they honor 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.

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 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.

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 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?

Woe to them that hide deep their purposes from Jehovah, Whose work is in darkness; That say, Who seeth us? Who knoweth us?

16 Shall you not be counted as clay of the potter? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, You did not form me? or the work to the maker, You have not made me wisely?

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 [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?

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 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,

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 and the poor shall rejoice with joy because of the Lord, and they that had no hope among men shall be filled with joy.

The afflicted shall exceedingly rejoice in Jehovah, And the poor shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.

20 The lawless man has come to nothing, and the proud man has perished, and they that transgress mischievously have been utterly destroyed:

For the oppressor hath come to naught; the scoffer is destroyed; And all that watched for iniquity are cut off;

21 and they that cause men to sin by a word: and men shall make all that reprove in the gates an offense, because they have unjustly turned aside the righteous.

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 Therefore thus says 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.

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 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.

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 And they that erred in spirit shall know understanding, and the murmurers shall learn obedience, and the stammering tongues shall learn to speak peace.

They that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, And the obstinate shall receive instruction.