Isaiah 29

1 Woe [to] Ariel, Ariel, The city of the encampment of David! Add year to year, let festivals go round.

Tragedy is coming to you Ariel, Ariel the city where David lived! Year after year you have your festivals.

2 And I have sent distress to Ariel, And it hath been lamentation and mourning, And it hath been to me as Ariel.

But I'm going to cause trouble for Ariel; the city will cry and mourn, it will be like an altar hearth to me.

3 And I encamped, O babbler, against thee, And I laid siege against thee — a camp. And I raised up against thee bulwarks.

I will surround you, I will besiege you with towers and build ramps to attack you.

4 And thou hast been low, From the earth thou speakest, And from the dust makest thy saying low, And thy voice hath been from the earth, As one having a familiar spirit, And from the dust thy saying whisperest,

You will be brought down, you will speak from where you're lying on the ground, mumbling in the dust. Your words will come like a ghost from the grave; your voice will be a whisper from the dust.

5 And as small dust hath been The multitude of those scattering thee, And as chaff passing on the multitude of the terrible, And it hath been at an instant — suddenly.

But then all your enemies will become like fine dust; all your cruel oppressors like chaff that's blown away. Then suddenly, in no time at all,

6 By Jehovah of Hosts thou art inspected, With thunder, and with an earthquake, And great noise, hurricane, and whirlwind, And flame of devouring fire.

the Lord Almighty will arrive with thunder, earthquake, and tremendous noise, with whirlwind, storm, and flames of fire that burn everything up.

7 And as a dream, a vision of night, hath been The multitude of all the nations Who are warring against Ariel, And all its warriors, and its bulwark, Even of those distressing her.

The nations besieging Ariel, attacking its fortifications and tormenting the people, they will all disappear as if it was a dream!

8 And it hath been, as when the hungry dreameth, And lo, he is eating, And he hath waked, and empty [is] his soul, And as when the thirsty dreameth, And lo, he is drinking, and he hath waked, And lo, he is weary, and his soul is longing, So is the multitude of all the nations Who are warring against mount Zion.

It will be like someone hungry dreaming that they're eating but who wakes up still hungry. It will be like someone thirsty dreaming of drinking but who wakes up still weak and thirsty. This is what it will be like for all your enemies, the ones attacking Mount Zion.

9 Tarry and wonder, look ye, yea, look, Be drunk, and not with wine, Stagger, and not with strong drink.

Be shocked and amazed! Make yourselves blind so you can't see! Get drunk, but not from wine! Stagger around, but not from beer!

10 For poured out on you hath Jehovah a spirit of deep sleep, And He closeth your eyes — the prophets, And your heads — the seers — He covered.

For the Lord has made you very sleepy, and he has shut the eyes and covered the heads of those who speak for God and see visions.

11 And the vision of the whole is to you, As words of the sealed book, That they give unto one knowing books, Saying, 'Read this, we pray thee,' And he hath said, 'I am not able, for it [is] sealed;'

This entire vision is like words in a scroll that is sealed shut. If you give it to someone who knows how to read and say, “Please read it,” they'll say, “I can't read it because it's sealed shut.”

12 And the book is given to him who hath not known books, Saying, 'Read this, we pray thee,' And he hath said, 'I have not known books.'

If you give it to someone who doesn't know how to read and say, “Please read it,” they'll say, “I don't know how to read.”

13 And the Lord saith: Because drawn near hath this people, with its mouth, And with its lips they have honoured Me, And its heart it hath put far off from Me, And their fear of Me is — A precept of men is taught!

The Lord says, “These people come and praise me with their words, and honor me with lip service, but their thoughts are miles away. Their worship of me only consists of them following rules people have taught them.

14 Therefore, lo, I am adding to do wonderfully with this people, A wonder, and a marvel, And perished hath the wisdom of its wise ones, And the understanding of its intelligent ones hideth itself.'

So once again I will surprise these people with miracle upon miracle. The wisdom of the wise will die, and the insight of the insightful will disappear.”

15 Woe [to] those going deep from Jehovah to hide counsel, And whose works have been in darkness. And they say, 'Who is seeing us? And who is knowing us?'

Tragedy is coming to people who take such trouble to hide their plans from the Lord. They work in the dark and say to themselves, “Nobody can see us, can they? Nobody will know, will they?”

16 Your perversion! as clay is the potter esteemed? That the work saith of its maker, 'He hath not made me?' And the framed thing said of its framer, 'He did not understand?'

How perverse you are! It's as if the clay was thought of as making the potter! Should something made say to its maker, “You didn't make me”? Can the pot tell the potter, “You don't understand anything”?

17 Is it not yet a very little, And turned hath Lebanon to a fruitful field, And the fruitful field for a forest is reckoned?

It won't be long and the forests of Lebanon will be turned into a productive field, and a productive field will seem like a forest.

18 And heard in that day have the deaf the words of a book, And out of thick darkness, and out of darkness, The eyes of the blind do see.

At that time the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and the eyes of the blind will see through the gloomy darkness what's written there.

19 And the humble have added joy in Jehovah, And the poor among men In the Holy One of Israel rejoice.

The humble will be even happier in the Lord, and the poor will find their joy in the Holy One of Israel.

20 For ceased hath the terrible one, And consumed hath been the scorner, And cut off have been all watching for iniquity,

Cruel people will no longer exist, the scornful will vanish, and those looking to do evil will be destroyed—

21 Causing men to sin in word, And for a reprover in the gate lay a snare, And turn aside into emptiness the righteous.

those who say things to trick others into sin, those who trap people by legal arguments in court, those who lie to mislead the innocent.

22 Therefore, thus said Jehovah, Who ransomed Abraham, Concerning the house of Jacob: 'Not now ashamed is Jacob, Nor now doth his face become pale,

So this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob: “You don't need to be ashamed anymore; your faces won't grow pale with fright any longer.

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 the God of Israel they declare fearful.

When you see all your children and everything I've done for you, then you will regard my character as holy, and you will respect the Holy One of Jacob. You will have reverence for the God of Israel.

24 And the erring in spirit have known understanding, And murmurers learn doctrine!'

Those who've gone astray will understand their mistakes; those who grumble will learn how to receive instruction.”