Isaiah 29:9–14

Astonish yourselves and be astonished;

blind yourselves and be blind!

Be drunk, but not with wine;

stagger, but not with strong drink!

For the Lord has poured out upon you

a spirit of deep sleep,

and has closed your eyes (the prophets),

and covered your heads (the seers).

And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”

And the Lord said:

“Because this people draw near with their mouth

and honor me with their lips,

while their hearts are far from me,

and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,

therefore, behold, I will again

do wonderful things with this people,

with wonder upon wonder;

and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,

and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

Be stunned and amazed,

blind yourselves and be sightless;

be drunk, but not from wine,

stagger, but not from beer.

The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep:

He has sealed your eyes (the prophets);

he has covered your heads (the seers).

For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed 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.” 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.”

The Lord says:

“These people come near to me with their mouth

and honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship of me

is based on merely human rules they have been taught.

Therefore once more I will astound these people

with wonder upon wonder;

the wisdom of the wise will perish,

the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”

Stop and be astonished;

blind yourselves and be blind!

They are drunk, but not with wine;

they stagger, but not with beer.

For the Lord has poured out on you

an overwhelming urge to sleep;

he has shut your eyes (the prophets)

and covered your heads (the seers).

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

The Lord said:

These people approach me with their speeches

to honor me with lip-service,

yet their hearts are far from me,

and human rules direct their worship of me.

Therefore, I will again confound these people

with wonder after wonder.

The wisdom of their wise will vanish,

and the perception of their perceptive will be hidden.

Are you amazed and incredulous?

Don’t you believe it?

Then go ahead and be blind.

You are stupid, but not from wine!

You stagger, but not from liquor!

For the Lord has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep.

He has closed the eyes of your prophets and visionaries.

All the future events in this vision are like a sealed book to them. When you give it to those who can read, they will say, “We can’t read it because it is sealed.” When you give it to those who cannot read, they will say, “We don’t know how to read.”

And so the Lord says,

“These people say they are mine.

They honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

And their worship of me

is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.

Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites

with amazing wonders.

The wisdom of the wise will pass away,

and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.”

Be astonished and be amazed!

Blind yourselves and be blinded!

They are drunk but not from wine;

they stagger but not from strong drink.

For 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.

And 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 document, saying, “Read this now!” He says, “I am not able, for it is sealed.” And if the document is given to one who does not know how to read, saying, “Read this now!” he says, “I do not know how to read.”

And 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,

therefore look, I am again doing something spectacular

and a spectacle with this spectacular people.

And the wisdom of its wise men shall perish,

and the discernment of its discerning ones shall keep itself hidden.”

Stay yourselves, and wonder;

Cry ye out, and cry:

They are drunken, but not with wine;

They stagger, but not with strong drink.

For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep,

And hath closed your eyes:

The prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.

And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed,

Which men deliver to one that is learned,

Saying, Read this, I pray thee:

And he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

And the book is delivered to him that is not learned,

Saying, Read this, I pray thee:

And he saith, I am not learned.

Wherefore the Lord said,

Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth,

And with their lips do honour me,

But have removed their heart far from me,

And their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people,

Even a marvellous work and a wonder:

For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,

And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.