Isaiah 29

1 Alas for Ariel, Ariel, The city against which, David encamped, —Add ye a year to a year. Let the festivals, come round;

Woe to Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add year to year; let the festivals come round.

2 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.

But I will besiege Ariel, and she will be mourning and lamenting; and she will be to me like Ariel.

3 And I will encamp round about against thee, —And lay siege against thee with a fort, And raise against thee siege-works;

I will encamp against you in a circle and will lay siege against you with a palisade, and I will raise siege works against you.

4 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;

You will be brought down and will speak from the ground; your speech will be low from the dust. Your voice will sound like a spirit that speaks from the ground, and out of the dust your speech will whisper.

5 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,

The great number of your invaders will become like fine dust, and the multitude of the ruthless ones as chaff that passes away. It will happen suddenly, in an instant.

6 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;

Yahweh of hosts will come to you with thunder, earthquake, great noise, with strong winds and violent storm, and the flames of a devouring fire.

7 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;

It will be like a dream, a vision of the night: A horde of all the nations will fight against Ariel and her stronghold. They will attack her and her fortifications to press upon her.

8 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.

It will be like when a hungry man dreams he is eating, but when he awakes, his stomach is empty. It will be like when a thirsty man dreams that he is drinking, but he when he awakes, he is fainting, with his thirst not quenched. Yes, so will be the great number of nations that fights against Mount Zion.

9 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;

Astonish yourselves and be astonished; blind yourselves and be blind! Be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not with beer.

10 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,

For Yahweh has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep. He has closed your eyes, the prophets, and has covered your heads, the seers.

11 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;

All revelation has become to you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men might give to one who is learned, saying, “Read this.” He also says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”

12 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.

If the book is given to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”

13 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,

The Lord said, “This people comes close to me with their mouths and honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Their honor for me is only a commandment of men that has been taught.

14 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!

Therefore, see, I will proceed to do a marvelous thing among this people, wonder after wonder. The wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will disappear.”

15 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?

Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from Yahweh, and whose deeds are in darkness. They say, “Who sees us, and who knows us?”

16 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.

You turn things upside down! Should the potter be considered like clay, so that the thing that is made should say about him who made it, “He did not make me,” or the thing formed say about him who formed it, “He does not understand”?

17 Is it not yet a very little while, And Lebanon shall be turned, into garden land, —And garden land, for a forest, be reckoned?

In just a little while, Lebanon will be turned into a field, and the field will become a forest.

18 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;

On that day the deaf will hear the words of a book, and the eyes of the blind will see out of the deep darkness.

19 And again shall the humbled in Yahweh, have joy, —And the needy of mankind in the Holy One of Israel, exult;

The oppressed will again rejoice in Yahweh, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

20 For the tyrant, hath vanished, And the scoffer, is no more, Yea cut off are all who watch for iniquity: —

For the ruthless will cease, and the scoffer will vanish. All those who love to do evil will be eliminated,

21 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.

who by a word make a man out to be an offender. They lay a snare for him who seeks justice at the gate and put the righteous down with empty lies.

22 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;

Therefore this is what Yahweh says concerning the house of Jacob—Yahweh, who redeemed Abraham, “Jacob will no longer be ashamed, nor will his face be pale.

23 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.

But when he sees his children, the work of my hands, they will make my name holy. They will make holy the name of the Holy One of Jacob and they will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

24 Then will they who erred in spirit comprehend, And the murmurers, accept instruction.

Those who err in spirit will gain understanding, and complainers will learn knowledge.”