Woe to David’s City

29 Woed to you, Ariel, Ariel,e

the cityf where David settled!

Add year to year

and let your cycle of festivalsg go on.

2 Yet I will besiege Ariel;h

she will mourn and lament,i

she will be to me like an altar hearth.a j

3 I will encamp against you on all sides;

I will encirclek you with towers

and set up my siege worksl against you.

4 Brought low, you will speak from the ground;

your speech will mumblem out of the dust.n

Your voice will come ghostlikeo from the earth;

out of the dust your speech will whisper.p

5 But your many enemies will become like fine dust,q

the ruthlessr hordes like blown chaff.s

Suddenly,t in an instant,

6 the Lord Almighty will comeu

with thunderv and earthquakew and great noise,

with windstorm and tempestx and flames of a devouring fire.y

7 Then the hordes of all the nationsz that fight against Ariel,a

that attack her and her fortress and besiege her,

will be as it is with a dream,b

with a vision in the night—

8 as when a hungry person dreams of eating,

but awakensc hungry still;

as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking,

but awakens faint and thirsty still.d

So will it be with the hordes of all the nations

that fight against Mount Zion.e

9 Be stunned and amazed,f

blind yourselves and be sightless;g

be drunk,h but not from wine,i

stagger,j but not from beer.

10 The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep:k

He has sealed your eyesl (the prophets);m

he has covered your heads (the seers).n

11 For you this whole visiono is nothing but words sealedp 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.” 12 Or 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.”

13 The Lord says:

“These peopleq come near to me with their mouth

and honor me with their lips,r

but their hearts are far from me.s

Their worship of me

is based on merely human rules they have been taught.b t

14 Therefore once more I will astound these people

with wonder upon wonder;u

the wisdom of the wisev will perish,

the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.w”

15 Woe to those who go to great depths

to hidex their plans from the Lord,

who do their work in darkness and think,

“Who sees us?y Who will know?”z

16 You turn things upside down,

as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!a

Shall what is formed say to the one who formedb it,

“You did not make me”?

Can the pot say to the potter,c

“You know nothing”?d

17 In a very short time,e will not Lebanonf be turned into a fertile fieldg

and the fertile field seem like a forest?h

18 In that dayi the deafj will hear the words of the scroll,

and out of gloom and darknessk

the eyes of the blind will see.l

19 Once more the humblem will rejoice in the Lord;

the needyn will rejoice in the Holy Oneo of Israel.

20 The ruthlessp will vanish,q

the mockersr will disappear,

and all who have an eye for evils will be cut down—

21 those who with a word make someone out to be guilty,

who ensnare the defender in courtt

and with false testimonyu deprive the innocent of justice.v

22 Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemedw Abraham,x says to the descendants of Jacob:

“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;y

no longer will their faces grow pale.z

23 When they see among them their children,a

the work of my hands,b

they will keep my name holy;c

they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy Oned of Jacob,

and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

24 Those who are waywarde in spirit will gain understanding;f

those who complain will accept instruction.”g