Isaiah 29:2–13

²I will attack Jerusalem,

and that city will be filled with sadness and crying.

It will be like an altar to me.

³I will put armies all around you, Jerusalem;

I will surround you with towers

and with devices to attack you.

⁴You will be pulled down and will speak from the ground;

I will hear your voice rising from the ground.

It will sound like the voice of a ghost;

your words will come like a whisper from the dirt.

⁵Your many enemies will become like fine dust;

the many cruel people will be like chaff that is blown away.

Everything will happen very quickly.

⁶The Lord All-Powerful will come

with thunder, earthquakes, and great noises,

with storms, strong winds, and a fire that destroys.

⁷Then all the nations that fight against Jerusalem

will be like a dream;

all the nations that attack her

will be like a vision in the night.

⁸They will be like a hungry man who dreams he is eating,

but when he awakens, he is still hungry.

They will be like a thirsty man who dreams he is drinking,

but when he awakens, he is still weak and thirsty.

It will be the same way with all the nations

who fight against Mount Zion.

⁹Be surprised and amazed.

Blind yourselves so that you cannot see.

Become drunk, but not from wine.

Trip and fall, but not from beer.

¹⁰The Lord has made you go into a deep sleep.

He has closed your eyes. (The prophets are your eyes.)

He has covered your heads. (The seers are your heads.)

¹¹This vision is like the words of a book that is closed and sealed. You may give the book to someone who can read and tell that person to read it. But he will say, “I can’t read the book, because it is sealed.” ¹²Or you may give the book to someone who cannot read and tell him to read it. But he will say, “I don’t know how to read.”

¹³The Lord says:

“These people worship me with their mouths,

and honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship is based on

nothing but human rules.