< Isaiah 29 >
1 Woe [to] Ariel, Ariel, The city of the encampment of David! Add year to year, let festivals go around.
Alas for the city of Ariel, which David besieged. Gather you fruits year by year; eat you, for you shall eat with Moab.
2 And I have sent distress to Ariel, And it has been lamentation and mourning, And it has been to me as Ariel.
For I will grievously afflict Ariel: and her strength and her wealth shall be mine.
3 And I encamped, O babbler, against you, And I laid siege against you—a camp. And I raised up bulwarks against you.
And I will compass you about like David, and will raise a mound about you, and set up towers round you.
4 And you have been low, You speak from the earth, And make your saying low from the dust, And your voice has been from the earth, As one having a familiar spirit, And your saying whispers from the dust,
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.
5 And as small dust has been The multitude of those scattering you, And as chaff passing on the multitude of the terrible, And it has been in an instant—suddenly.
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,
6 You are inspected by YHWH of Hosts, With thunder, and with an earthquake, And great noise, windstorm, and whirlwind, And 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 as a dream, a vision of night, Has been the multitude of all the nations Who are warring against Ariel, And all its warriors, and its bulwark, Even of those distressing her.
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 And it has been, as when the hungry dreams, And behold, he is eating, And he has awoken, And his soul [is] empty, And as when the thirsty dreams, And behold, he is drinking, And he has awoken, And behold, he is weary, And his soul is longing, So is the multitude of all the nations Who are warring 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 Linger and wonder, look, indeed, look, Be drunk, and not with wine, Stagger, and not with strong drink.
Faint you, and be amazed, and be overpowered, not with strong drink nor with wine.
10 For YHWH has poured out a spirit of deep sleep on you, And He closes your eyes—the prophets, And your heads—the seers—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 vision of the whole is to you, As words of the sealed scroll, That they give to one knowing scrolls, Saying, “Please read this,” And he has said, “I am not able, 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 learnt man, saying, Read this, he shall then say, I can’t read [it], for it is sealed.
12 And the scroll is given to him who has not known scrolls, Saying, “Please read this,” And he has said, “I have not known scrolls.”
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 learnt.
13 And the Lord says: “Because this people has drawn near with its mouth, And they have honored Me with its lips, And it has put its heart far off from Me, And their fear of Me is a precept taught by men!
And the Lord has said, This people draw near 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 am adding to do wonderfully with this people, A wonder, and a marvel, And the wisdom of its wise ones has perished, And the understanding of its intelligent ones hides itself.”
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 [to] those going deep from YHWH to hide counsel, And whose works have been in darkness. And they say, “Who is seeing us? And who is knowing 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 Your perversion! Is the potter esteemed as clay, That the work says of its maker, “He has not made me?” And the framed thing said of its framer, “He did not understand?”
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?
17 Is it not yet a very little [while], And Lebanon has turned into a fruitful field, And the fruitful field is reckoned for 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 the deaf have heard the words of a scroll in that day, And out of thick darkness, and out of darkness, The eyes of the blind 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 humble have added joy in YHWH, And the poor among men Rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
and the poor shall rejoice with joy because of the Lord, and they that had no hope amongst men shall be filled with joy.
20 For the terrible one has ceased, And the scorner has been consumed, And all watching for iniquity have been cut off,
The lawless man has come to nothing, and the proud man has perished, and they that transgress mischievously have been utterly destroyed:
21 Who cause men to sin in word, And lay a snare for a reprover in the gate, And turn aside the righteous into emptiness.
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 said YHWH, Who ransomed Abraham, Concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob is not ashamed now, Nor does his face now become pale,
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.
23 For in his seeing his children, The work of My hand, in his midst, They sanctify My Name, And have sanctified the Holy One of Jacob, And they declare the God of Israel fearful.
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 the erring in spirit have known understanding, And murmurers 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.