Isaiah 29:2–13

²Yet^a I will inflict Ariel,

and there shall be mourning and lamentation,

and it shall be to me like an altar hearth.^b

³And I will encamp in a circle^c against you,

and I will lay siege to you with towers^d

and I will raise up siegeworks against you.

⁴Then^e you shall be low;

you shall speak from the earth,

and your words^f will be low, from dust.

And your voice will be from the earth, like a ghost,

and your word will whisper from the dust.

⁵But^g the multitude of your strangers shall be like fine dust,

and the multitude of tyrants like chaff that passes by.

And it will happen in an instant, suddenly.

⁶You will be punished by Yahweh of hosts

with thunder and earthquake and great sound,

storm wind and tempest and the flame of a devouring fire.

⁷And the multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel,

all those who fight against her and her stronghold,

and those who inflict her shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.

⁸And it shall be as when the hungry person dreams—look, he is eating!

And he wakes up and his inner self is empty.

Or^h as when the thirsty person dreams—look, he is drinking!

And he wakes up and look, he is faint,

and his inner self is longing for water.

So shall be the multitude of all the nations who fight against Mount Zion.

⁹Be astonished and be amazed!

Blind yourselves and be blinded!

They are drunk butⁱ not from wine;

they stagger but^j not from strong drink.

¹⁰For Yahweh has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep,

and he has shut your eyes, the prophets,

and he has covered your heads, the seers.

¹¹And the vision of all this has become for you like the words of a sealed document. When they give it to one who knows the^k document, saying, “Read^l this now!” He says, “I am not able, for it is sealed.” ¹²And if the document is given to one who does not know how to read,^m saying, “Readⁿ this now!” he says, “I do not know how to read.”^o

¹³And the Lord said,

“Because this people draw near with its mouth,

and with its lips it honors me,

and its heart is far from me,

and their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught,