WOE TO JERUSALEM

29 Woe to Ariel,* Ariel,

the city where David camped!b

Continue year after year;

let the festivals recur.

2 I will oppress Ariel,

and there will be mourning and crying,

and she will be to me like an Ariel.

3 I will camp in a circle around you;

I will besiege you with earth ramps,

and I will set up my siege towers against you.

4 You will be brought down;

you will speak from the ground,

and your words will come from low in the dust.

Your voice will be like that of a spirit from the ground;c

your speech will whisper from the dust.

5 Your many foesB will be like fine dust,d

and many of the ruthless, like blowing chaff.

Then suddenly, in an instant,e

6 you will be punished by the Lord of Armies

with thunder, earthquake, and loud noise,

storm, tempest, and a flame of consuming fire.f

7 All the many nationsg

going out to battle against Ariel—

all the attackers, the siege works against her,

and those who oppress her—

will then be like a dream, a vision in the night.h

8 It will be like a hungry one who dreams he is eating,

then wakes and is still hungry;

and like a thirsty one who dreams he is drinking,

then wakes and is still thirsty, longing for water.

So it will be for all the many nations

who go to battle against Mount Zion.