Isaiah 29:1-14

New King James Version

Woe to Jerusalem

29 “Woe ^(A)to ^[a]Ariel, to Ariel, the city ^(B)where David dwelt!
Add year to year;
Let feasts come around.
²Yet I will distress Ariel;
There shall be heaviness and sorrow,
And it shall be to Me as Ariel.
³I will encamp against you all around,
I will lay siege against you with a mound,
And I will raise siegeworks against you.
⁴You shall be brought down,
You shall speak out of the ground;
Your speech shall be low, out of the dust;
Your voice shall be like a medium’s, ^(C)out of the ground;
And your speech shall whisper out of the dust.

⁵“Moreover the multitude of your ^(D)foes
Shall be like fine dust,
And the multitude of the terrible ones
Like ^(E)chaff that passes away;
Yes, it shall be ^(F)in an instant, suddenly.
⁶^(G)You will be punished by the Lord of hosts
With thunder and ^(H)earthquake and great noise,
With storm and tempest
And the flame of devouring fire.
⁷^(I)The multitude of all the nations who fight against ^[b]Ariel,
Even all who fight against her and her fortress,
And distress her,
Shall be ^(J)as a dream of a night vision.
⁸^(K)It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams,
And look—he eats;
But he awakes, and his soul is still empty;
Or as when a thirsty man dreams,
And look—he drinks;
But he awakes, and indeed he is faint,
And his soul still craves:
So the multitude of all the nations shall be,
Who fight against Mount Zion.”

The Blindness of Disobedience

⁹Pause and wonder!
Blind yourselves and be blind!
^(L)They are drunk, ^(M)but not with wine;
They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.
¹⁰For ^(N)the Lord has poured out on you
The spirit of deep sleep,
And has ^(O)closed your eyes, namely, the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, namely, ^(P)the seers.

¹¹The whole vision has become to you like the words of a ^[c]book ^(Q)that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.”

^(R)And he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”

¹²Then the book is delivered to one who ^[d]is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.”

And he says, “I am not literate.”

¹³Therefore the Lord said:

^(S)“Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honor Me ^(T)with their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
¹⁴^(U)Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work
Among this people,
A marvelous work and a wonder;
^(V)For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”