Isaiah 29 New International Version

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.
²Yet I will besiege Ariel;^(E)
    she will mourn and lament,^(F)
    she will be to me like an altar hearth.^[a]^(G)
³I will encamp against you on all sides;
    I will encircle^(H) you with towers
    and set up my siege works^(I) against you.
⁴Brought 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)

⁵But your many enemies will become like fine dust,^(N)
    the ruthless^(O) hordes like blown chaff.^(P)
Suddenly,^(Q) in an instant,
⁶    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)
⁷Then 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—
⁸as 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)

⁹Be stunned and amazed,^(AC)
    blind yourselves and be sightless;^(AD)
be drunk,^(AE) but not from wine,^(AF)
    stagger,^(AG) but not from beer.
¹⁰The 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)

¹¹For 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.” ¹²Or 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.”

¹³The 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)
¹⁴Therefore 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)”
¹⁵Woe 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)
¹⁶You 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)

¹⁷In 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)
¹⁸In 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)
¹⁹Once more the humble^(BJ) will rejoice in the Lord;
    the needy^(BK) will rejoice in the Holy One^(BL) of Israel.
²⁰The ruthless^(BM) will vanish,^(BN)
    the mockers^(BO) will disappear,
    and all who have an eye for evil^(BP) will be cut down—
²¹those 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)

²²Therefore 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)
²³When 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.
²⁴Those who are wayward^(CB) in spirit will gain understanding;^(CC)
    those who complain will accept instruction.”^(CD)

Footnotes

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

Cross references

New International Version (NIV)

Isaiah 29 New International Version

Woe to David’s City

Footnotes

Cross references

More on the NIV

Bible Gateway Recommends