Isaiah 29:2–13

²I will oppress Ariel,

and there will be mourning and crying,

and she will be to me like an Ariel.

³I will camp in a circle around you;

I will besiege you with earth ramps,

and I will set up my siege towers against you.

⁴You 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.

⁵Your many foes^B will be like fine dust,^d

and many of the ruthless, like blowing chaff.

Then suddenly, in an instant,^e

⁶you will be punished by the Lord of Armies

with thunder, earthquake, and loud noise,

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

⁷All the many nations^g

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

⁸It 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.

⁹Stop and be astonished;

blind yourselves and be blind!

They are drunk,^C but not with wine;

they stagger,^A but not with beer.ⁱ

¹⁰For the Lord has poured out on you

an overwhelming urge to^B sleep;ⁱ

he has shut your eyes (the prophets)

and covered your heads (the seers).^k

¹¹For you the entire vision will be like the words of a sealed document.^l If it is given to one who can read and he is asked to read it,^C he will say, “I can’t read it, because it is sealed.” ¹²And if the document is given to one who cannot read and he is asked to read it,^D he will say, “I can’t read.”

¹³The Lord said:

These people approach me with their speeches^m

to honor me with lip-service,^E

yet their hearts are far from me,

and human rules direct their worship of me.^F