Isaiah 29

Jerusalem Is Warned

1 Woe, O Ariel, Ariel the city where David once camped!
Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.

2 I will bring distress to Ariel,
And she will be a city of lamenting and mourning;
And she will be like an Ariel to me.

3 I will camp against you encircling you,
And I will set siegeworks against you,
And I will raise up battle towers against you.

4 Then you will be brought low;
From the earth you will speak,
And from the dust where you are prostrate
Your words will come.
Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the ground,
And your speech will whisper from the dust.

5 But the multitude of your enemies will become like fine dust,
And the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away;
And it will happen instantly, suddenly.

6 From the LORD of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise,
With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.

7 And the multitude of all the nations who wage war against Ariel,
Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,
Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.

8 It will be as when a hungry man dreams-
And behold, he is eating;
But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied,
Or as when a thirsty man dreams-
And behold, he is drinking,
But when he awakens, behold, he is faint
And his thirst is not quenched.
Thus the multitude of all the nations will be
Who wage war against Mount Zion.

9 Be delayed and wait,
Blind yourselves and be blind;
They become drunk, but not with wine,
They stagger, but not with strong drink.

10 For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep,
He has shut your eyes, the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, the seers.11 The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, "Please read this," he will say, "I cannot, for it is sealed."12 Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, "Please read this." And he will say, "I cannot read."

13 Then the Lord said,
"Because this people draw near with their words
And honor Me with their lip service,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,

14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;
And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed."

15 Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD,
And whose deeds are done in a dark place,
And they say, "Who sees us?" or "Who knows us?"

16 You turn things around!
Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay,
That what is made would say to its maker, "He did not make me";
Or what is formed say to him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?

Blessing after Discipline

17 Is it not yet just a little while
Before Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field,
And the fertile field will be considered as a forest?

18 On that day the deaf will hear words of a book,
And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

19 The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the LORD,
And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

20 For the ruthless will come to an end and the scorner will be finished,
Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off;

21 Who cause a person to be indicted by a word,
And ensnare him who adjudicates at the gate,
And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.

22 Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
"Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now turn pale;

23 But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My name;
Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

24 "Those who err in mind will know the truth,
And those who criticize will accept instruction.

Isaiah 29

Ariel is Besieged

1 Ariel is as good as deadt –
Ariel, the town David besieged!t
Keep observing your annual rituals,
celebrate your festivals on schedule.t

2 I will threaten Ariel,
and she will mourn intensely
and become like an altar heartht before me.

3 I will lay siege to you on all sides;s
I will besiege you with troops;t
I will raise siege works against you.

4 You will fall;
while lying on the groundt you will speak;
from the dust where you lie, your words will be heard.t
Your voice will sound like a spirit speaking from the underworld;t
from the dust you will chirp as if muttering an incantation.t

5 But the horde of invaders will be like fine dust,
the horde of tyrantst like chaff that is blown away.
It will happen suddenly, in a flash.

6 Judgment will come from the Lord who commands armies,t
accompanied by thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise,
by a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming flame of fire.

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.

8 It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating,
only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty.t
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.t
So it will be for the horde from all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.

God’s People are Spiritually Insensitive

9 You will be shocked and amazed!t
You are totally blind!t
They are drunk,s but not because of wine;
they stagger,s but not because of beer.

10 For the Lord has poured out on you
a strong urge to sleep deeply.t
He has shut your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).
11 To you this entire prophetic revelationt is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can readt and say, “Read this,” he responds, “I can’t, because it is sealed.”

12 Or when they hand the scroll to one who can’t readt and say, “Read this,” he says, “I can’t read.”t

13 The sovereign mastert says,
“These people say they are loyal to me;t
they say wonderful things about me,t
but they are not really loyal to me.t
Their worship consists of
nothing but man-made ritual.t

14 Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people –
an absolutely extraordinary deed.t
Wise men will have nothing to say,
the sages will have no explanations.”t

15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead,t
who do their work in secret and boast,t
“Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?”t

16 Your thinking is perverse!t
Should the potter be regarded as clay?t
Should the thing made sayt about its maker, “He didn’t make me”?
Or should the pottery say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?

Changes are Coming

17 In just a very short timet
Lebanon will turn into an orchard,
and the orchard will be considered a forest.s

18 At that timet the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll,
and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness.ts

19 The downtrodden will again rejoice in the Lord;
the poor among humankind will take delightt in the Holy One of Israel.s

20 For tyrants will disappear,
those who taunt will vanish,
and all those who love to do wrong will be eliminatedt –

21 those who bear false testimony against a person,t
who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gates
and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges.t

22 So this is what the Lord, the one who delivered Abraham, says to the family of Jacob:t
“Jacob will no longer be ashamed;
their faces will no longer show their embarrassment.t

23 For when they see their children,
whom I will produce among them,t
they will honort my name.
They will honor the Holy One of Jacob;ss
they will respectt the God of Israel.

24 Those who stray morally will gain understanding;t
those who complain will acquire insight.t