< Isaiah 29 >
1 Wo! Ariel, Ariel, the citee which Dauid ouercam; yeer is addid to yeer, solempnytees ben passyd.
Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city [where] David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
2 And Y schal cumpasse Ariel, and it schal be soreuful and morenynge; and Jerusalem schal be to me as Ariel.
Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow; and it shall be to me as Ariel.
3 And Y schal cumpasse as a round trendil in thi cumpasse, and Y schal caste erthe ayens thee, and Y schal sette engynes in to thi bisegyng.
And I will encamp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
4 Thou schalt be maad low, thou schalt speke of erthe, and thi speche schal be herd fro the erthe; and thi vois schal be as the vois of a deed man reisid bi coniuring, and thi speche schal ofte grutche of the erthe.
And thou shalt be brought down, [and] shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5 And the multitude of hem that wyndewen thee, schal be as thynne dust; and the multitude of hem that hadden the maistrie ayens thee, schal be as a deed sparcle passynge.
Moreover, the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones [shall be] as chaff that passeth away: yes, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
6 And it schal be sudenli, anoon it schal be visitid of the Lord of oostis, in thundur, and in mouyng of the erthe, and in greet vois of whirlwynd, and of tempest, and of flawme of fier deuowrynge.
Thou shalt be visited by the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
7 And the multitude of alle folkis that fouyten ayens Ariel schal be as the dreem of a nyytis visioun; and alle men that fouyten, and bisegiden, and hadden the maistrie ayens it.
And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night-vision.
8 And as an hungry man dremyth, and etith, but whanne he is awakid, his soule is voide; and as a thirsti man dremeth, and drynkith, and after that he is awakid, he is weri, and thirstith yit, and his soule is voide, so schal be the multitude of alle folkis, that fouyten ayens the hil of Sion.
It shall even be as when a hungry [man] dreameth, and behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and behold, [he is] faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
9 Be ye astonyed, and wondre; wake ye, and douyte ye; be ye drunken, and not of wyn; be ye moued, and not with drunkenesse.
Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For the Lord hath meddlid to you the spirit of sleep; he schal close youre iyen, and schal hile youre profetis, and princes that sien visiouns.
For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
11 And the visioun of alle profetis schal be to you as the wordis of a book aseelid; which whanne thei schulen yyue to hym that kan lettris, thei schulen seie, Rede thou this book; and he schal answere, Y may not, for it is aseelid.
And the vision of all is become to you as the words of a book that is sealed, which [men] deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it [is] sealed:
12 And the book schal be youun to him that kan not lettris, and it schal be seid to hym, Rede thou; and he schal answere, Y kan no lettris.
And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
13 And the Lord seide, For that this puple neiyeth with her mouth, and glorifieth me with her lippis, but her herte is fer fro me; and thei dredden me for the comaundement and techyngis of men, therfor lo!
Wherefore the LORD said, Forasmuch as this people draw near [me] with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precept of men:
14 Y schal adde, that Y make wondryng to this puple, in a greet myracle and wondurful; for whi wisdom schal perische fro wise men therof, and the vndurstondyng of prudent men therof schal be hid.
Therefore behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, [even] an astonishing work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise [men] shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent [men] shall be hid.
15 Wo to you that ben hiye of herte, that ye hide counsel fro the Lord; the werkis of whiche ben in derknessis, and thei seien, Who seeth vs, and who knowith vs?
Woe to them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
16 This thouyt of you is weiward, as if cley thenke ayens a pottere, and the werk seie to his makere, Thou madist not me; and a thing `that is maad, seie to his makere, Thou vndurstondist not.
Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
17 Whether not yit in a litil time and schort the Liban schal be turned in to Chermel, and Chermel schal be arettid in to the forest?
[Is] it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
18 And in that dai deef men schulen here the wordis of the book, and the iyen of blynde men schulen se fro derknessis and myisty;
And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
19 and mylde men schulen encreesse gladnesse in the Lord, and pore men schulen make ful out ioie in the hooli of Israel.
The meek also shall increase [their] joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For he that hadde the maistrie, failide, and the scornere is endid, and alle thei ben kit doun that walkiden on wickidnesse;
For the terrible one is brought to naught, and the scoffer is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
21 whiche maden men to do synne in word, and disseyueden a repreuere in the yate, and bowiden awey in veyn fro a iust man.
That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of naught.
22 For this thing the Lord, that ayen bouyte Abraham, seith these thingis to the hous of Jacob, Jacob schal not be confoundid now, nether now his cheer schal be aschamed; but whanne he schal se hise sones,
Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now become pale.
23 the werkis of myn hondis, halewynge my name in the myddis of hym. And thei schulen halewe the hooli of Jacob, and thei schulen preche God of Israel;
But when he seeth his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
24 and thei that erren in spirit, schulen knowe vndurstondyng, and idil men schulen lerne the lawe.
They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.