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29 ¶ Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye one year to another; the lambs shall cease.

Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.

And I will camp against thee round about and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.

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 that of a spiritist, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.

Moreover the multitude of thy enemies that shall come from afar shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the strong ones shall be as chaff that passes away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.

Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of the hosts with thunders, with earthquakes, and with great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.

And the multitude of all the Gentiles that shall fight against Ariel, even all that shall fight against her and their siege weapons, and those that shall distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.

It shall even be as he who dreams that he is hungry, and in his dream, he eats; but when he awakes, his soul is empty; and as he who dreams that he is thirsty, and, in his dream, he drinks; but he awakes, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul is still thirsty: so shall the multitude of all the Gentiles be, that shall fight against Mount Zion.

¶ Become ye dumb, and make others dumb; become ye blind, and blind others: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

10 For the LORD has extended upon you the spirit of deep sleep and has closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, he has covered the seers with sleep.

11 And every vision is unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which if it were delivered to one that knows how to read, saying, Read this, I pray thee: he shall say, I cannot; for it is sealed:

12 And if the book were delivered to him that does not know how to read, saying, Read this, I pray thee: he shall say, I do not know how to read.

13 Therefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people sacrifice unto me and honour me with their lips, but have removed their heart far from me, and their worship with which they honour me was taught by the commandment of men:

14 Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvellous work among this people with a fearful miracle: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the prudence of their prudent men shall fade away.

15 Woe unto those that hide themselves from the LORD, covering the counsel; and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who sees us? and who knows us?

16 Surely your subversion shall be as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He did not make me? or shall the vessel say of him that made it, He did not understand?

17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into Carmel a fruitful field, and shall not Carmel be esteemed as a forest?

18 And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see in the midst of darkness, and of gross darkness.

19 Then the humble shall grow in joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

20 For the violent one shall be done away with, and the scorner shall be consumed, and all those that rose early unto iniquity shall be cut off:

21 Those that made men to sin in word; those that laid a snare for him that reproved in the gate, and turned that which is just into vanity.

22 Therefore thus saith the LORD, who ransomed Abraham, unto the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale;

23 for he shall see his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel;

24 and those that erred in spirit shall learn understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.

Woe to David’s City

29 Woe(A) to you, Ariel, Ariel,(B)
    the city(C) where David settled!
Add year to year
    and let your cycle of festivals(D) go on.
Yet I will besiege Ariel;(E)
    she will mourn and lament,(F)
    she will be to me like an altar hearth.[a](G)
I will encamp against you on all sides;
    I will encircle(H) you with towers
    and set up my siege works(I) against you.
Brought low, you will speak from the ground;
    your speech will mumble(J) out of the dust.(K)
Your voice will come ghostlike(L) from the earth;
    out of the dust your speech will whisper.(M)

But your many enemies will become like fine dust,(N)
    the ruthless(O) hordes like blown chaff.(P)
Suddenly,(Q) in an instant,
    the Lord Almighty will come(R)
with thunder(S) and earthquake(T) and great noise,
    with windstorm and tempest(U) and flames of a devouring fire.(V)
Then the hordes of all the nations(W) that fight against Ariel,(X)
    that attack her and her fortress and besiege her,
will be as it is with a dream,(Y)
    with a vision in the night—
as when a hungry person dreams of eating,
    but awakens(Z) hungry still;
as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking,
    but awakens faint and thirsty still.(AA)
So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
    that fight against Mount Zion.(AB)

Be stunned and amazed,(AC)
    blind yourselves and be sightless;(AD)
be drunk,(AE) but not from wine,(AF)
    stagger,(AG) but not from beer.
10 The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep:(AH)
    He has sealed your eyes(AI) (the prophets);(AJ)
    he has covered your heads (the seers).(AK)

11 For you this whole vision(AL) is nothing but words sealed(AM) 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.” 12 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.”

13 The Lord says:

“These people(AN) come near to me with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,(AO)
    but their hearts are far from me.(AP)
Their worship of me
    is based on merely human rules they have been taught.[b](AQ)
14 Therefore once more I will astound these people
    with wonder upon wonder;(AR)
the wisdom of the wise(AS) will perish,
    the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.(AT)
15 Woe to those who go to great depths
    to hide(AU) their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
    “Who sees us?(AV) Who will know?”(AW)
16 You turn things upside down,
    as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!(AX)
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed(AY) it,
    “You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,(AZ)
    “You know nothing”?(BA)

17 In a very short time,(BB) will not Lebanon(BC) be turned into a fertile field(BD)
    and the fertile field seem like a forest?(BE)
18 In that day(BF) the deaf(BG) will hear the words of the scroll,
    and out of gloom and darkness(BH)
    the eyes of the blind will see.(BI)
19 Once more the humble(BJ) will rejoice in the Lord;
    the needy(BK) will rejoice in the Holy One(BL) of Israel.
20 The ruthless(BM) will vanish,(BN)
    the mockers(BO) will disappear,
    and all who have an eye for evil(BP) will be cut down—
21 those who with a word make someone out to be guilty,
    who ensnare the defender in court(BQ)
    and with false testimony(BR) deprive the innocent of justice.(BS)

22 Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed(BT) Abraham,(BU) says to the descendants of Jacob:

“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;(BV)
    no longer will their faces grow pale.(BW)
23 When they see among them their children,(BX)
    the work of my hands,(BY)
they will keep my name holy;(BZ)
    they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One(CA) of Jacob,
    and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Those who are wayward(CB) in spirit will gain understanding;(CC)
    those who complain will accept instruction.”(CD)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 29:2 The Hebrew for altar hearth sounds like the Hebrew for Ariel.
  2. Isaiah 29:13 Hebrew; Septuagint They worship me in vain; / their teachings are merely human rules