Isaiah 29
1 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the town where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let the festivals come round in order;
Alas for Ariel, Ariel, The city against which, David encamped, —Add ye a year to a year. Let the festivals, come round;
2 Yet will I distress Ariel, and there shall be groaning and wailing: and it shall be unto me like Ariel.
Yet will I bring Ariel into straits, —And she shall become a bewailing and wailing, Yea she shall become to me a veritable Hearth of God.
3 And I will encamp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with hostile posts, and I will raise up entrenchments against thee.
And I will encamp round about against thee, —And lay siege against thee with a fort, And raise against thee siege-works;
4 And brought down low, shalt thou speak [as though] out of the earth, and out of the dust shall come forth thy speech; and like one of a familiar spirit out of the earth shall be thy voice, and out of the dust shalt thou whisper forth thy speech.
And thou shalt be brought low—Out of the earth, shalt thou speak, And out of the dust, shalt thou lower thine utterance, —And as one that hath a familiar spirit, Out of the earth, shall come thy voice, And out of the dust, thy speech shall chirp;
5 And like the small dust shall be the multitude of thy barbarian enemies, and like the passing chaff the multitude of tyrants; and [this] shall be at unawares, suddenly.
Then shall be as fine dust the multitude of thy foreigners, —And as chaff that passeth away, the multitude of tyrants; And it shall come to pass, in a twinkling, Suddenly,
6 From the Lord of hosts shall the visitation come with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the devouring flame of fire.
From Yahweh of hosts, shalt thou be visited, With thunder, and with earthquake and a great noise, hurricane and storm and flame of fire devouring;
7 And as a dream of a night-vision shall be the multitude of all the nations that go to war against Ariel, even all that fight against her and raise towers against her, and that distress her.
And it shall be like the dream of a night vision, With the multitude of all the nations who have been making war against Ariel, —Even with all who have been making war against her and her stronghold and who have been laying siege to her;
8 And it shall even be as when a hungry man dreameth, that, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty; or as when a thirsty man dreameth, that, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul yet longeth: so shall it be with the multitude of all the nations, that go to war against mount Zion.
Yea it shall be As when the hungry man dreameth and lo! he is eating, But he awaketh, and his soul, is empty, Or as when the thirsty man dreameth and lo! he is drinking, But he awaketh and lo! he is faint and his soul, is craving, So, shall it be with the multitude of all the nations, that have come forth to war against Mount Zion.
9 Stay but still and wonder; turn your eyes away, and be blinded; they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
Stand ye stock still and stare, Besmear your eyes and be blind, —They are drunken but not with wine, They reel, but not with strong drink;
10 For the Lord hath poured out over you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: [over] the prophets, and your chiefs, the seers, hath he cast a vail.
For Yahweh, hath poured out upon you, a spirit of deep sleep, Yea hath tightly shut your eyes—the prophets, —And, your heads—the seers, hath he covered,
11 And the vision of every thing is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that can read, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
And so all vision hath become unto you as the words of a writing that is sealed, Which is delivered unto one acquainted with writing, saying, Pray thee read this, And he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed;
12 And the book is then delivered to one that cannot read, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot read.
And then the writing is delivered to one unacquainted with writing, saying, Pray thee read this, And he saith I am not acquainted with writing.
13 And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is but the acquired precept of men;
Wherefore My Lord hath said, —Because this people, hath drawn near with their mouth, And with their lips, have honoured me, But their heart, have they moved far from me, And so their reverence of me hath become A commandment of men in which they have been schooled,
14 Therefore, behold, I will do yet farther a marvelous work with this people, doing wonder on wonder; so that the wisdom of their wise men shall be lost, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.
Therefore, behold me! again dealing wonderfully with this people, doing wonderfully a wonderful thing, —So shall perish, the wisdom of their wise men, And the intelligence of their intelligent men, shall vanish!
15 Woe unto those that seek to hide deeply their counsel from the Lord, so that their works may be in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
Alas! for them who would fain have been too deep for Yahweh by giving secret counsel, —and therefore in the dark, have been their doings, and they have said Who can see us? and—Who can understand us?
16 Oh your perverseness! shall the potter be esteemed as the clay? that the work shall say of its maker, He hath not made me? or shall the thing framed say of its framer, He had no understanding?
Your perverseness! As if like clay, the potter could be reckoned; For shall, the thing made say of him that made it, he made me not? Or hath the thing fashioned ever said of him that fashioned it, He hath no understanding.
17 Lo! but yet a very little while more, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest!
Is it not yet a very little while, And Lebanon shall be turned, into garden land, —And garden land, for a forest, be reckoned?
18 And on that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and out of obscurity, and out of darkness, shall the eyes of the blind see.
Therefore, in that day, shall the deaf hear the words of a book, —And out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see;
19 And the sufferers shall have abundant joy in the Lord, and the needy among men shall be glad in the Holy One of Israel.
And again shall the humbled in Yahweh, have joy, —And the needy of mankind in the Holy One of Israel, exult;
20 For the tyrant is no more, and consumed is the scorner, and cut off are all that watch for injustice;
For the tyrant, hath vanished, And the scoffer, is no more, Yea cut off are all who watch for iniquity: —
21 That cause mankind to sin by [their] word; and lay a snare for him that reproveth [them] in the gate; and pervert through fraud the cause of the just.
Who bring a man into condemnation with a rumour, And for him that decideth in the gate, lay a snare, —And have driven away, for a thing of nought, one who was righteous.
22 Therefore thus hath said the Lord unto the house of Jacob, he who hath redeemed Abraham, Not now shall Jacob be ashamed, and not now shall his face be made pale.
Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh, concerning the house of Jacob, [even he saith it] who redeemed Abraham, —Not now, shall, Jacob turn pale, And, not now, shall their faces whiten;
23 For when he seeth his children, the work of my hands in the midst of him, how they sanctify my name: then will they sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and the God of Israel will they reverence.
For, when he seeth his children the work of my hands, in his midst, They will hallow my Name, —Yea they will hallow the Holy One of Jacob, And the God of Israel, will they regard with awe.
24 They also that were erring in spirit shall acquire understanding, and they that murmured shall obtain instruction.
Then will they who erred in spirit comprehend, And the murmurers, accept instruction.
