Ariel is Besieged

29:1 Ariel is as good as dead1—

Ariel, the town David besieged!2

Keep observing your annual rituals,

celebrate your festivals on schedule.3

29:2 I will threaten Ariel,

and she will mourn intensely

and become like an altar hearth4 before me.

29:3 I will lay siege to you on all sides;5

I will besiege you with troops;6

I will raise siege works against you.

29:4 You will fall;

while lying on the ground7 you will speak;

from the dust where you lie, your words will be heard.8

Your voice will sound like a spirit speaking from the underworld;9

from the dust you will chirp as if muttering an incantation.10

29:5 But the horde of invaders will be like fine dust,

the horde of tyrants11 like chaff that is blown away.

It will happen suddenly, in a flash.

29:6 Judgment will come from the Lord who commands armies,12

accompanied by thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise,

by a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming flame of fire.

29:7 It will be like a dream, a night vision.

There will be a horde from all the nations that fight against Ariel,

those who attack her and her stronghold and besiege her.

29:8 It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating,

only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty.13

It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking,

only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched.14

So it will be for the horde from all the nations

that fight against Mount Zion.