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Isaiah 29-30
English Standard Version
Isaiah 29-30
English Standard Version
The Siege of Jerusalem
29 Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
the city (A)where David encamped!
Add year to year;
let the feasts run their round.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel,
and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
and she shall be to me like an Ariel.[a]
3 (B)And I will encamp against you all around,
and will besiege you (C)with towers
and I will raise siegeworks against you.
4 (D)And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak,
and from the dust your speech will be bowed down;
your voice shall come from the ground like (E)the voice of a ghost,
and from the dust your speech shall whisper.
5 But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like (F)small dust,
and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
(G)And in an instant, suddenly,
6 (H)you will be visited by the Lord of hosts
with thunder and with earthquake and great noise,
with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
7 And (I)the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
shall be (J)like a dream, a vision of the night.
8 (K)As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating,
and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking,
and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,
so shall the multitude of all the nations be
that fight against Mount Zion.
9 Astonish yourselves[b] and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk,[c] but not with wine;
(L)stagger,[d] but not with strong drink!
10 (M)For the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep,
and has closed your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).
11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is (N)sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”
13 And the Lord said:
“Because (O)this people (P)draw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
14 therefore, behold, (Q)I will again
do wonderful things with this people,
with wonder upon wonder;
and (R)the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
15 Ah, (S)you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
whose deeds are (T)in the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16 (U)You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
17 Is it not yet a very little while
(V)until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
18 In that day (W)the deaf shall hear
(X)the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
(Y)the eyes of the blind shall see.
19 (Z)The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless shall come to nothing
and (AA)the scoffer cease,
and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
21 who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
and (AB)lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
and with an empty plea (AC)turn aside him who is in the right.
22 Therefore thus says the Lord, (AD)who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
no more shall his face grow pale.
23 For when he sees his children,
(AE)the work of my hands, in his midst,
they will sanctify my name;
(AF)they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 And those (AG)who go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who murmur will accept instruction.”
Do Not Go Down to Egypt
30 “Ah, (AH)stubborn children,” declares the Lord,
(AI)“who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make (AJ)an alliance,[e] but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;
2 (AK)who set out to go down to Egypt,
without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
3 (AL)Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.
4 For though his officials are at (AM)Zoan
and (AN)his envoys reach (AO)Hanes,
5 everyone comes to shame
through (AP)a people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
but shame and disgrace.”
6 An (AQ)oracle on (AR)the beasts of (AS)the Negeb.
Through a land of trouble and anguish,
from where come the lioness and the lion,
the adder and the (AT)flying fiery serpent,
they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys,
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people that cannot profit them.
7 Egypt's (AU)help is worthless and empty;
therefore I have called her
(AV)“Rahab who sits still.”
A Rebellious People
8 And now, go, (AW)write it before them on a tablet
and inscribe it in a book,
that it may be for the time to come
as a witness forever.[f]
9 (AX)For they are a rebellious people,
lying children,
children unwilling to hear
the instruction of the Lord;
10 (AY)who say to (AZ)the seers, “Do not see,”
and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us (BA)smooth things,
prophesy illusions,
11 leave the way, turn aside from the path,
let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“Because you despise this word
and trust in (BB)oppression and perverseness
and rely on them,
13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you
(BC)like a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse,
whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;
14 and its breaking is (BD)like that of a potter's vessel
that is smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a shard is found
with which to take fire from the hearth,
or to dip up water out of the cistern.”
15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In (BE)returning[g] and (BF)rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
But you were unwilling, 16 and you said,
“No! We will flee upon (BG)horses”;
therefore you shall flee away;
and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”;
therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
17 (BH)A thousand shall flee at the threat of one;
at the threat of five you shall flee,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,
like a signal on a hill.
The Lord Will Be Gracious
18 Therefore the Lord (BI)waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he (BJ)exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
(BK)blessed are all those who wait for him.
19 For a people shall dwell (BL)in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20 And though the Lord give you the (BM)bread of adversity and the (BN)water of affliction, (BO)yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 (BP)And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is (BQ)the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. (BR)You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”
23 (BS)And he will give (BT)rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. (BU)In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24 and (BV)the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And (BW)on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, (BX)when the towers fall. 26 (BY)Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when (BZ)the Lord binds up (CA)the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.
27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;[h]
his lips are full of fury,
and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
28 (CB)his breath is (CC)like an overflowing stream
that reaches up to the neck;
to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,
and to place on the jaws of the peoples (CD)a bridle that leads astray.
29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, (CE)as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to (CF)the mountain of the Lord, to (CG)the Rock of Israel. 30 And the Lord (CH)will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger (CI)and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst (CJ)and storm and hailstones. 31 The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the Lord, (CK)when he strikes with his rod. 32 And every stroke of the appointed staff that the Lord lays on them (CL)will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. (CM)Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. 33 For (CN)a burning place[i] has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, (CO)its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; (CP)the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 29:2 Ariel could mean lion of God, or hero (2 Samuel 23:20), or altar hearth (Ezekiel 43:15–16)
- Isaiah 29:9 Or Linger awhile
- Isaiah 29:9 Or They are drunk
- Isaiah 29:9 Or they stagger
- Isaiah 30:1 Hebrew who weave a web
- Isaiah 30:8 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, Targum, Vulgate, and Greek versions; Masoretic Text forever and ever
- Isaiah 30:15 Or repentance
- Isaiah 30:27 Hebrew in weight of uplifted clouds
- Isaiah 30:33 Or For Topheth
Isaiah 29-30
New International Version
Isaiah 29-30
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.
2 Yet I will besiege Ariel;(E)
she will mourn and lament,(F)
she will be to me like an altar hearth.[a](G)
3 I will encamp against you on all sides;
I will encircle(H) you with towers
and set up my siege works(I) against you.
4 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)
5 But 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)
7 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—
8 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)
9 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)
Woe to the Obstinate Nation
30 “Woe(CE) to the obstinate children,”(CF)
declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance,(CG) but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
2 who go down to Egypt(CH)
without consulting(CI) me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,(CJ)
to Egypt’s shade for refuge.(CK)
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
Egypt’s shade(CL) will bring you disgrace.(CM)
4 Though they have officials in Zoan(CN)
and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5 everyone will be put to shame
because of a people(CO) useless(CP) to them,
who bring neither help(CQ) nor advantage,
but only shame and disgrace.(CR)”
6 A prophecy(CS) concerning the animals of the Negev:(CT)
Through a land of hardship and distress,(CU)
of lions(CV) and lionesses,
of adders and darting snakes,(CW)
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’(CX) backs,
their treasures(CY) on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation,
7 to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.(CZ)
Therefore I call her
Rahab(DA) the Do-Nothing.
8 Go now, write it on a tablet(DB) for them,
inscribe it on a scroll,(DC)
that for the days to come
it may be an everlasting witness.(DD)
9 For these are rebellious(DE) people, deceitful(DF) children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.(DG)
10 They say to the seers,(DH)
“See no more visions(DI)!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,(DJ)
prophesy illusions.(DK)
11 Leave this way,(DL)
get off this path,
and stop confronting(DM) us
with the Holy One(DN) of Israel!”
12 Therefore this is what the Holy One(DO) of Israel says:
“Because you have rejected this message,(DP)
relied on oppression(DQ)
and depended on deceit,
13 this sin will become for you
like a high wall,(DR) cracked and bulging,
that collapses(DS) suddenly,(DT) in an instant.
14 It will break in pieces like pottery,(DU)
shattered so mercilessly
that among its pieces not a fragment will be found
for taking coals from a hearth
or scooping water out of a cistern.”
15 This is what the Sovereign(DV) Lord, the Holy One(DW) of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest(DX) is your salvation,
in quietness and trust(DY) is your strength,
but you would have none of it.(DZ)
16 You said, ‘No, we will flee(EA) on horses.’(EB)
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17 A thousand will flee
at the threat of one;
at the threat of five(EC)
you will all flee(ED) away,
till you are left(EE)
like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a banner(EF) on a hill.”
18 Yet the Lord longs(EG) to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.(EH)
For the Lord is a God of justice.(EI)
Blessed are all who wait for him!(EJ)
19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.(EK) How gracious he will be when you cry for help!(EL) As soon as he hears, he will answer(EM) you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread(EN) of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers(EO) will be hidden(EP) no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice(EQ) behind you, saying, “This is the way;(ER) walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idols(ES) overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold;(ET) you will throw them away like a menstrual(EU) cloth and say to them, “Away with you!(EV)”
23 He will also send you rain(EW) for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich(EX) and plentiful.(EY) In that day(EZ) your cattle will graze in broad meadows.(FA) 24 The oxen(FB) and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder(FC) and mash, spread out with fork(FD) and shovel. 25 In the day of great slaughter,(FE) when the towers(FF) fall, streams of water will flow(FG) on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26 The moon will shine like the sun,(FH) and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals(FI) the wounds he inflicted.
27 See, the Name(FJ) of the Lord comes from afar,
with burning anger(FK) and dense clouds of smoke;
his lips are full of wrath,(FL)
and his tongue is a consuming fire.(FM)
28 His breath(FN) is like a rushing torrent,(FO)
rising up to the neck.(FP)
He shakes the nations in the sieve(FQ) of destruction;
he places in the jaws of the peoples
a bit(FR) that leads them astray.
29 And you will sing
as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;(FS)
your hearts will rejoice(FT)
as when people playing pipes(FU) go up
to the mountain(FV) of the Lord,
to the Rock(FW) of Israel.
30 The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice(FX)
and will make them see his arm(FY) coming down
with raging anger(FZ) and consuming fire,(GA)
with cloudburst, thunderstorm(GB) and hail.(GC)
31 The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria;(GD)
with his rod he will strike(GE) them down.
32 Every stroke the Lord lays on them
with his punishing club(GF)
will be to the music of timbrels(GG) and harps,
as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.(GH)
33 Topheth(GI) has long been prepared;
it has been made ready for the king.
Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,
with an abundance of fire and wood;
the breath(GJ) of the Lord,
like a stream of burning sulfur,(GK)
sets it ablaze.(GL)
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
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.