Isaiah 29:1–24
29 “Woe ato 1Ariel, to Ariel, the city bwhere David dwelt!
Add year to year;
Let feasts come around.
There shall be heaviness and sorrow,
And it shall be to Me as Ariel.
3 I will encamp against you all around,
I will lay siege against you with a mound,
And I will raise siegeworks against you.
You shall speak out of the ground;
Your speech shall be low, out of the dust;
Your voice shall be like a medium’s, cout of the ground;
And your speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5 “Moreover the multitude of your dfoes
Shall be like fine dust,
And the multitude of the terrible ones
Like echaff that passes away;
Yes, it shall be fin an instant, suddenly.
6 gYou will be punished by the Lord of hosts
With thunder and hearthquake and great noise,
With storm and tempest
And the flame of devouring fire.
7 iThe multitude of all the nations who fight against 2Ariel,
Even all who fight against her and her fortress,
And distress her,
Shall be jas a dream of a night vision.
8 kIt shall even be as when a hungry man dreams,
And look—he eats;
But he awakes, and his soul is still empty;
Or as when a thirsty man dreams,
And look—he drinks;
But he awakes, and indeed he is faint,
And his soul still craves:
So the multitude of all the nations shall be,
Who fight against Mount Zion.”
9 Pause and wonder!
Blind yourselves and be blind!
lThey are drunk, mbut not with wine;
They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.
10 For nthe Lord has poured out on you
The spirit of deep sleep,
And has oclosed your eyes, namely, the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, namely, pthe seers.
11 The whole vision has become to you like the words of a 3book qthat is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.”
rAnd he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”
12 Then the book is delivered to one who 4is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.”
And he says, “I am not literate.”
s“Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honor Me twith their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
14 uTherefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work
Among this people,
A marvelous work and a wonder;
vFor the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”
15 wWoe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord,
And their works are in the dark;
xThey say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”
16 Surely you have things turned around!
Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay;
For shall the ything made say of him who made it,
“He did not make me”?
Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
17 Is it not yet a very little while
Till zLebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?
18 aIn that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book,
And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
19 bThe humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord,
And cthe poor among men shall rejoice
In the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the 5terrible one is brought to nothing,
dThe scornful one is consumed,
And all who ewatch for iniquity are cut off—
21 Who make a man an offender by a word,
And flay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
And turn aside the just gby empty words.
22 Therefore thus says the Lord, hwho redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall not now be iashamed,
Nor shall his face now grow pale;
23 But when he sees his children,
jThe work of My hands, in his midst,
They will hallow My name,
And hallow the Holy One of Jacob,
And fear the God of Israel.
24 These also kwho erred in spirit will come to understanding,
And those who complained will learn doctrine.”