Isaiah 29
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.”
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 29
Common English Bible
Ariel besieged but spared
29 Oh, Ariel, Ariel,
town where David encamped!
Year by year, let the festivals come around—
2 but I will oppress Ariel.
There will be mourning and lamentation;
she will be like an Ariel to me.
3 I will surround you like a wall,
and I will lay a siege against you with assault towers,
and I will raise up siegeworks against you.
4 You will be brought down;
from the ground you will speak;
from low in the dust your speech will come.
Your voice will be like a ghost’s from the earth;
from the dust your words will whisper.
5 But your many enemies will be like fine dust,
the terrible horde like passing chaff.
Suddenly, in an instant, 6 the Lord of heavenly forces will come to you with thunder, earthquake, and a mighty voice,
with whirlwind, tempest, and flames of devouring fire.
7 The horde of nations fighting against Ariel,
and all who make war on her and her fortress and besiege her,
will be like a dream, a vision of the night.
8 It will be like when a hungry person dreams of eating
but wakes up and the mouth is empty.
Or when a thirsty person dreams of drinking
but wakes up and has a dry throat.
So will it be for all the horde of nations
who fight against Mount Zion.
9 Be shocked and stunned;
blind yourselves; be blind!
Be drunk, but not on wine;
stagger, but not on account of beer!
10 The Lord has poured on you a spirit of deep sleep,
and has shut your eyes, you prophets,
and covered your heads, you seers.
11 This entire vision has become for you like the words of a sealed scroll. When they give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” that one will say, “I can’t, because it’s sealed.” 12 And when the scroll is given to one who can’t read, saying, “Read this,” that one will say, “I can’t read.”
The wisdom of their wise
13 The Lord says:
Since these people turn toward me with their mouths,
and honor me with lip service
while their heart is distant from me,
and their fear of me is just a human command that has been memorized,
14 I will go on doing amazing things to these people,
shocking and startling things.
The wisdom of their wise will perish,
and the discernment of their discerning will be hidden.
15 Doom to those who hide their plan deep, away from the Lord,
whose deeds are in the dark,
who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16 You have everything backward!
Should the potter be thought of as clay?
Should what is made say of its maker,
“He didn’t make me”?
Should what is shaped say of the one who shaped it,
“He doesn’t understand”?
17 In just a little while won’t Lebanon become farmland once again,
and the farmland be considered a forest?
18 On that day: The deaf will hear the words of a scroll and, freed from dimness and darkness, the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The poor will again find joy in the Lord,
and the neediest of people will rejoice in the holy one of Israel.
20 The tyrant will be no more,
the mocker will perish,
and all who plot evil will be eliminated:
21 all who incriminate others wrongly,
who entrap the judge in the gate,
and pointlessly postpone justice for the innocent.
22 Therefore, proclaims the Lord,
the God of[a] the house of Jacob,
who redeemed Abraham:
Jacob won’t be ashamed now,
and his face won’t grow pale now.
23 When he sees his children among them,
the work of my hands,
proclaiming my name holy,
they will make holy the holy one of Jacob,
and stand in awe of Israel’s God.
24 Those who wander in spirit will have understanding,
and those who grumble will gain insight.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 29:22 Or to
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible