Isaiah 29

Chapter 29

A Message about Jerusalem

1 “What sorrow awaits Ariel,t the City of David.
Year after year you celebrate your feasts.2 Yet I will bring disaster upon you,
and there will be much weeping and sorrow.
For Jerusalem will become what her name Ariel means—
an altar covered with blood.3 I will be your enemy,
surrounding Jerusalem and attacking its walls.
I will build siege towers
and destroy it.4 Then deep from the earth you will speak;
from low in the dust your words will come.
Your voice will whisper from the ground
like a ghost conjured up from the grave.5 “But suddenly, your ruthless enemies will be crushed
like the finest of dust.
Your many attackers will be driven away
like chaff before the wind.
Suddenly, in an instant,6 I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, will act for you
with thunder and earthquake and great noise,
with whirlwind and storm and consuming fire.7 All the nations fighting against Jerusalemt
will vanish like a dream!
Those who are attacking her walls
will vanish like a vision in the night.8 A hungry person dreams of eating
but wakes up still hungry.
A thirsty person dreams of drinking
but is still faint from thirst when morning comes.
So it will be with your enemies,
with those who attack Mount Zion.”9 Are you amazed and incredulous?
Don’t you believe it?
Then go ahead and be blind.
You are stupid, but not from wine!
You stagger, but not from liquor!10 For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep.
He has closed the eyes of your prophets and visionaries.11 All the future events in this vision are like a sealed book to them. When you give it to those who can read, they will say, “We can’t read it because it is sealed.”

12 When you give it to those who cannot read, they will say, “We don’t know how to read.”
13 And so the Lord says,
“These people say they are mine.
They honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
And their worship of me
is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.t14 Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites
with amazing wonders.
The wisdom of the wise will pass away,
and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.”15 What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the LORD,
who do their evil deeds in the dark!
“The LORD can’t see us,” they say.
“He doesn’t know what’s going on!”16 How foolish can you be?
He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay!
Should the created thing say of the one who made it,
“He didn’t make me”?
Does a jar ever say,
“The potter who made me is stupid”?17 Soon—and it will not be very long—
the forests of Lebanon will become a fertile field,
and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops.18 In that day the deaf will hear words read from a book,
and the blind will see through the gloom and darkness.19 The humble will be filled with fresh joy from the LORD.
The poor will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.20 The scoffer will be gone,
the arrogant will disappear,
and those who plot evil will be killed.21 Those who convict the innocent
by their false testimony will disappear.
A similar fate awaits those who use trickery to pervert justice
and who tell lies to destroy the innocent.

22 That is why the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says to the people of Israel,t
“My people will no longer be ashamed
or turn pale with fear.23 For when they see their many children
and all the blessings I have given them,
they will recognize the holiness of the Holy One of Israel.
They will stand in awe of the God of Jacob.24 Then the wayward will gain understanding,
and complainers will accept instruction.

ISAIAH 29

Jerusalem Will Suffer

The [Lord] said:

1 Jerusalem, city of David,
the place of my altar, t
you are in for trouble!
Celebrate your festivals
year after year.

2 I will still make you suffer,
and your people will cry
when I make an altar of you.t

3 I will surround you and prepare
to attack from all sides.t

4 From deep in the earth,
you will call out for help
with only a faint whisper.

5 Then your cruel enemies
will suddenly be swept away
like dust in a windstorm.

6 I, the [Lord] All-Powerful,
will come to your rescue
with a thundering earthquake
and a fiery whirlwind.

7 Every brutal nation
that attacks Jerusalem
and makes it suffer
will disappear like a dream
when night is over.

8 Those nations that attack
Mount Zion
will suffer from hunger
and thirst.
They will dream of food and drink
but wake up weary and hungry
and thirsty as ever.

Prophets //Who Fool Themselves

9 Be shocked and stunned,
you prophets!
Refuse to see.
Get drunk and stagger,
but not from wine.

10  t The [Lord] has made you drowsy;
he put you into a deep sleep
and covered your head.
11 Now his message is like a sealed letter to you. Some of you say, “We can't read it, because it's sealed.”

12 Others say, “We can't read it, because we don't know how to read.”

13  t The Lord has said:
“These people praise me
with their words,
but they never really
think about me.
They worship me by repeating
rules made up by humans.

14  t So once again I will do things
that shock and amaze them,
and I will destroy the wisdom
of those who claim to know
and understand.”

15 You are in for trouble,
if you try to hide your plans
from the [Lord]!
Or if you think what you do
in the dark can't be seen.

16  t You have it all backwards.
A clay dish doesn't say
to the potter,
“You didn't make me.
You don't even know how.”

Hope for the Future

17 Soon the forest of Lebanon
will become a field with crops,
thick as a forest.t

18 The deaf will be able to hear
whatever is read to them;
the blind will be freed
from a life of darkness.

19 The poor and the needy
will celebrate and shout
because of the [Lord],
the holy God of Israel.

20 All who are cruel and arrogant
will be gone forever.
Those who live by crime
will disappear,

21 together with everyone
who tells lies in court
and keeps innocent people
from getting a fair trial.

22 The [Lord] who rescued Abraham
has this to say
about Jacob's descendants:
“They will no longer
be ashamed and disgraced.

23 When they see how great
I have made their nation,
they will praise and honor me,
the holy God of Israel.

24 Everyone who is confused
will understand,
and all who have complained
will obey my teaching.”