Isaiah 29
Expanded Bible
Warnings to Jerusalem
29 ·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] you, Ariel [C another name for Jerusalem, perhaps meaning either “lion” or “altar hearth”; v. 2],
the city where David ·camped [lived; settled; or besieged; C David first conquered, then lived in the city; 2 Sam. 5:6–9].
Your festivals have continued
year after year.
2 I will ·attack [threaten; bring distress to] ·Jerusalem [L Ariel; v. 1],
and that city will be filled with ·sadness [mourning] and ·crying [lamentation].
It will be like an ·altar [or altar hearth; C the Hebrew word sounds like Ariel, perhaps indicating that Jerusalem will burn like an altar] to me.
3 I will ·put armies all around you [encamp against/besiege you; C same word as in v. 1];
I will surround you with towers
and with ·devices to attack [siege works against] you.
4 You will be pulled down and will speak from the ground;
I will hear your voice rising from the ·ground [or underworld].
It will sound like the voice of a ghost;
your words will come like a whisper from the ·dirt [dust].
5 Your ·many [multitude of] enemies will become like fine dust;
the many ·cruel people [ruthless hordes] will be like chaff that is blown away.
·Everything will happen very quickly [L Suddenly, in an instant…; C this phrase may go with what comes before or after].
6 The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] will come
with thunder, earthquakes, and great noises,
with ·storms [whirlwind], ·strong winds [tempest], and a fire that ·destroys [devours].
7 Then all the nations that fight against ·Jerusalem [L Ariel; v. 1]
will be like a dream;
all the nations that ·attack [besiege; bring distress to] her
will be like a vision in the night.
8 They 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 [the multitude of] nations
who fight against Mount Zion.
9 ·Be surprised and amazed [Shock yourselves and be shocked].
Blind yourselves ·so that you cannot see [and be blind].
Become drunk, but not from wine.
Trip and fall, but not from ·beer [T strong drink; C alcoholic beverage made from grain].
10 The Lord has ·made you go into [L poured out on you] a deep sleep.
He has closed your eyes. (The prophets are your eyes.)
He has covered your heads. (The seers [C another name for prophets] are your heads.)
11 This vision is like the words of a ·book [scroll] 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.” 12 Or 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.”
13 The Lord says:
“These people ·worship me [L come near to me] with their mouths,
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their ·worship [awe; fear] is based on
nothing but human ·rules [L commandments that have been taught].
14 So [L look; T behold] I will continue to ·amaze [astound] these people
by doing more and more ·miracles [wonders].
·Their wise men will lose their wisdom [L The wisdom of the wise will perish];
·their wise men will not be able to understand [L the discernment of the discerning will disappear; 1 Cor. 1:19].”
Warnings About Other Nations
15 ·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] those who ·try
to hide [deeply hide; or hide too deep to see] ·things [plans; counsel] from the Lord
and who do their work in darkness.
They ·think no one will see them or know what they do [L say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”].
16 You ·are confused [L turn things upside down!].
You think the clay is equal to the potter.
·You think that an object can [or Should the thing formed…?] tell the one who made it,
“You didn’t make me [10:15; Rom. 9:20].”
This is like a pot telling ·its maker [the potter],
“You don’t ·know anything [understand].”
A Better Time Is Coming
17 In a very short time, Lebanon will become ·rich farmland [a fertile/fruitful field],
and the ·rich farmland [fertile/fruitful field] will seem like a forest.
18 ·At that time [L In that day] the deaf will hear the words in a ·book [scroll].
·Instead of having [L From; Out of] darkness and gloom, the blind will see.
19 The Lord will make the ·poor people [humble; lowly; meek] ·happy [rejoice];
·they [L the poor/needy] will ·rejoice [delight; exult] in the Holy One of Israel [1:4].
20 Then the ·people without mercy [ruthless; tyrants] will come to an end;
·those who do not respect God [the scoffer/mocker/arrogant] will disappear.
Those who ·enjoy [are intent on; have an eye for] doing evil will be ·gone [cut off/down]:
21 those who ·lie about others in court [bear false testimony; L make a person a sinner with a word],
those who trap ·people in court [L the arbiter at the city gate],
those who ·lie and [with false charges/testimony] take justice from innocent people in court.
22 This is what the Lord who ·set free [redeemed; rescued] Abraham says to the ·family [L house] of Jacob:
“Now ·the people of Jacob [L Jacob] will not be ashamed
or ·disgraced [L their faces turn pale] any longer.
23 When they see all their children,
the children I made with my hands,
they will ·say my name is holy [honor/sanctify my name].
They will ·agree [recognize; acknowledge] that the Holy One of Jacob [1:4] is holy,
and they will ·respect [stand in awe of; fear] the God of Israel.
24 People who ·do wrong [wander/err in spirit] will now understand.
Those who complain will accept ·being taught [insight; instruction].”
Isaiah 29
King James Version
29 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.
3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
4 And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
6 Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
8 It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 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.
11 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:
12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
13 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:
14 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.
15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
19 The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
21 That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
22 Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
23 But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.