1Ah, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts run their round. (2Sa 5:9)2Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be moaning and lamentation, and she shall be to me like an Ariel.[1]3And I will encamp against you all around, and will besiege you with towers and I will raise siegeworks against you. (2Ki 25:1; Eze 4:2; Eze 21:22; Eze 26:8)4And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak, and from the dust your speech will be bowed down; your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost, and from the dust your speech shall whisper. (Isa 2:11; Isa 8:19)5But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff. And in an instant, suddenly, (2Ki 19:35; Ps 18:42; Isa 17:13; Isa 17:14; Isa 37:36)6you will be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire. (1Ki 19:11)7And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her, shall be like a dream, a vision of the night. (Job 20:8; Isa 17:14; Mic 4:11; Zec 12:9)8As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating, and awakes with his hunger not satisfied, or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking, and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched, so shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion. (Ps 73:20; Ps 90:5)9Astonish yourselves[2] and be astonished; blind yourselves and be blind! Be drunk,[3] but not with wine; stagger,[4] but not with strong drink! (Isa 19:14; Isa 24:20)10For the Lord has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers). (Isa 6:10; Ro 11:8)11And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” (Isa 8:16; Da 12:4)12And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”13And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, (Isa 1:12; Isa 58:2; Eze 33:31; Mt 15:8; Mr 7:6)14therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.” (Isa 3:1; Jer 49:7; Hab 1:5; 1Co 1:19)15Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?” (Isa 30:1; Eze 8:12)16You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, “He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”? (Isa 10:15)17Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest? (Ps 107:33; Ps 107:35)18In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. (Isa 29:12; Isa 32:3; Isa 35:5; Mt 11:5)19The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. (Isa 14:32; Isa 61:1; Zep 3:12; Mt 5:3)20For the ruthless shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off, (Isa 28:14; Isa 28:22)21who by a word make a man out to be an offender, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right. (Ps 127:5; Am 5:10; Am 5:12)22Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall no more be ashamed, no more shall his face grow pale. (Isa 51:2)23For when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will sanctify my name; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel. (Ps 100:3; Isa 8:13; Isa 19:25; Isa 60:21)24And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding, and those who murmur will accept instruction.” (Isa 28:7)
Isaiah 29
New International Version
Woe to David’s city
1Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David settled! Add year to year and let your cycle of festivals go on.2Yet I will besiege Ariel; she will mourn and lament, she will be to me like an altar hearth.[1]3I will encamp against you on all sides; I will encircle you with towers and set up my siege works against you.4Brought low, you will speak from the ground; your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth; out of the dust your speech will whisper.5But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. Suddenly, in an instant,6the Lord Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.7Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel, that attack her and her fortress and besiege her, will be as it is with a dream, with a vision in the night –8as when a hungry person dreams of eating, but awakens hungry still; as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking, but awakens faint and thirsty still. So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.9Be stunned and amazed, blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not from wine, stagger, but not from beer.10The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep: he has sealed your eyes (the prophets); he has covered your heads (the seers).11For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, ‘Read this, please,’ they will answer, ‘I can’t; it is sealed.’12Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, ‘Read this, please,’ they will answer, ‘I don’t know how to read.’13The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.[2]14Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.’15Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, ‘Who sees us? Who will know?’16You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘You did not make me’? Can the pot say to the potter, ‘You know nothing’?17In a very short time, will not Lebanon be turned into a fertile field and the fertile field seem like a forest?18In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.19Once more the humble will rejoice in the Lord; the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.20The ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down –21those who with a word make someone out to be guilty, who ensnare the defender in court and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice.22Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob: ‘No longer will Jacob be ashamed; no longer will their faces grow pale.23When they see among them their children, the work of my hands, they will keep my name holy; they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.24Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding; those who complain will accept instruction.’