Isaiæ 29
1 Væ Ariel, Ariel civitas, quam expugnavit David! additus est annus ad annum: solemnitates evolutæ sunt.
Tragedy is coming to you Ariel, Ariel the city where David lived! Year after year you have your festivals.
2 Et circumvallabo Ariel, et erit tristis et mœrens, et erit mihi quasi 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 Et circumdabo quasi sphæram in circuitu tuo, et jaciam contra te aggerem, et munimenta ponam in obsidionem tuam.
I will surround you, I will besiege you with towers and build ramps to attack you.
4 Humiliaberis, de terra loqueris, et de humo audietur eloquium tuum; et erit quasi pythonis de terra vox tua, et de humo eloquium tuum mussitabit.
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 Et erit sicut pulvis tenuis multitudo ventilantium te, et sicut favilla pertransiens multitudo eorum qui contra te prævaluerunt;
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 eritque repente confestim. A Domino exercituum visitabitur in tonitruo, et commotione terræ, et voce magna turbinis et tempestatis, et flammæ ignis devorantis.
the Lord Almighty will arrive with thunder, earthquake, and tremendous noise, with whirlwind, storm, and flames of fire that burn everything up.
7 Et erit sicut somnium visionis nocturnæ multitudo omnium gentium quæ dimicaverunt contra Ariel, et omnes qui militaverunt, et obsederunt, et prævaluerunt adversus eam.
The nations besieging Ariel, attacking its fortifications and tormenting the people, they will all disappear as if it was a dream!
8 Et sicut somniat esuriens, et comedit, cum autem fuerit expergefactus, vacua est anima ejus; et sicut somniat sitiens et bibit, et postquam fuerit expergefactus, lassus adhuc sitit, et anima ejus vacua est: sic erit multitudo omnium gentium quæ dimicaverunt contra montem Sion.
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 Obstupescite et admiramini; fluctuate et vacillate; inebriamini, et non a vino; movemini, et non ab ebrietate.
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 Quoniam miscuit vobis Dominus spiritum soporis; claudet oculos vestros: prophetas et principes vestros, qui vident visiones, operiet.
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 Et erit vobis visio omnium sicut verba libri signati, quem cum dederint scienti litteras, dicent: Lege istum: et respondebit: Non possum, signatus est enim.
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 Et dabitur liber nescienti litteras, diceturque ei: Lege; et respondebit: Nescio litteras.
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 Et dixit Dominus: Eo quod appropinquat populus iste ore suo, et labiis suis glorificat me, cor autem ejus longe est a me, et timuerunt me mandato hominum et doctrinis,
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 ideo ecce ego addam ut admirationem faciam populo huic miraculo grandi et stupendo; peribit enim sapientia a sapientibus ejus, et intellectus prudentium ejus abscondetur.
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 Væ qui profundi estis corde, ut a Domino abscondatis consilium; quorum sunt in tenebris opera, et dicunt: Quis videt nos? et quis novit nos?
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 Perversa est hæc vestra cogitatio; quasi si lutum contra figulum cogitet, et dicat opus factori suo: Non fecisti me; et figmentum dicat fictori suo: Non intelligis.
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 Nonne adhuc in modico et in brevi convertetur Libanus in carmel, et carmel in saltum reputabitur?
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 Et audient in die illa surdi verba libri, et de tenebris et caligine oculi cæcorum videbunt.
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 Et addent mites in Domino lætitiam, et pauperes homines in Sancto Israël exsultabunt;
The humble will be even happier in the Lord, and the poor will find their joy in the Holy One of Israel.
20 quoniam defecit qui prævalebat, consummatus est illusor, et succisi sunt omnes qui vigilabant super iniquitatem,
Cruel people will no longer exist, the scornful will vanish, and those looking to do evil will be destroyed—
21 qui peccare faciebant homines in verbo, et arguentem in porta supplantabant, et declinaverunt frustra a justo.
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 Propter hoc, hæc dicit Dominus ad domum Jacob, qui redemit Abraham: Non modo confundetur Jacob, nec modo vultus ejus erubescet;
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 sed cum viderit filios suos, opera manuum mearum in medio sui sanctificantes nomen meum, et sanctificabunt Sanctum Jacob, et Deum Israël prædicabunt;
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 et scient errantes spiritu intellectum, et mussitatores discent legem.
Those who've gone astray will understand their mistakes; those who grumble will learn how to receive instruction.”
