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 feasts come around;

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.

then I will distress Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation. She shall be to me as an altar hearth.

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 all around you, and will lay siege against you with posted troops. 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 out of the ground. Your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will be as of one who has a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and your speech will whisper out of the dust.

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,

But the multitude of your foes will be like fine dust, and the multitude of the ruthless ones like chaff that blows away. Yes, it will be in an instant, suddenly.

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;

She will be visited by the LORD of Armies with thunder, with earthquake, with great noise, with whirlwind and storm, and with the flame 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;

The multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, will be like a dream, a vision of the night.

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, and behold, he eats; but he awakes, and his hunger isn’t satisfied; or like when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and behold, he is faint, and he is still thirsty. The multitude of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion will be like that.

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;

Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

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 the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, the prophets; and he 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 vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is educated, saying, “Read this, please;” and he says, “I can’t, 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.

and the book is delivered to one who is not educated, saying, “Read this, please;” and he says, “I can’t 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, “Because this people draws near with their mouth and honors me with their lips, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which 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, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will be hidden.”

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 counsel from the LORD, and whose deeds are in the dark, and who 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 thought to be like clay, that the thing made should say about him who made it, “He didn’t make me;” or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

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?

Isn’t it yet a very little while, and Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field will be regarded as 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;

In that day, the deaf will hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind will see out of obscurity and out of darkness.

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

The humble also will increase their joy in the LORD, 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 is brought to nothing, and the scoffer ceases, and all those who are alert to do evil are cut off—

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 cause a person to be indicted by a word, and lay a snare for one who reproves in the gate, and who deprive the innocent of justice with false testimony.

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 the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall no longer be ashamed, neither shall his face grow 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, in the middle of him, they will sanctify my name. Yes, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

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

They also who err in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will receive instruction.”