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
International Standard Version
Judgment is Coming to Jerusalem
29 “How terrible it will be for you, Aruel, Aruel,[a]
the city where David encamped!
Year after year,
let your festivals run their cycle.
2 Then I’ll besiege Aruel,[b]
and there will be sorrow and mourning;
she will become to me like an altar fireplace.[c]
3 Then I’ll encamp against you like David,[d]
and I’ll lay siege to you with towers,
raise siege works against you,
4 and you will be brought down.
You will speak from the ground,
and your speech will mumble from the dust.
Your voice will come ghostlike from the ground,
and your speech will whisper from the dust.
5 “But the hordes of your enemies[e]
will become like fine dust,
and the hordes of tyrants like flying chaff.
Then suddenly, in an instant,
6 you will be visited by the Lord of the Heavenly Armies—
with thunder, an earthquake, and great noise,
with a windstorm, a tempest,
and flames from a devouring fire.
7 Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Aruel,[f]
all that attack her and her fortification[g] and besiege her,
will become like a dream, with its visions in the night—
8 as when a hungry man dreams—
he eats, but wakes up still hungry;
or when a thirsty man dreams—
he drinks, but wakes up faint,
with his thirst unquenched.
So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.
Blind to God’s Words
9 “Act stupid!
Be astonished!
Act blind,
and be blind!
Be drunk,[h] but not from[i] wine;
stagger around,[j] but not from strong drink.
10 For the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep—
he has closed your eyes, you prophets,
he has covered your heads, you seers!”
11 “And this entire vision has become for you like the words of a sealed book. When people give it to someone who can read, and say, ‘Read this, please,’ he answers,[k] ‘I cannot, because it is sealed.’ 12 Or when they give the book[l] to someone who cannot read, and say, ‘Read this, please,’ he answers,[m] ‘I don’t know how to read.’”
A Rebuke of Hypocritical Worship
13 Then the Lord said:
“Because these people draw near with their mouths
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me,
worship of me[n] has become
merely like[o] rules taught by human beings.
14 Therefore, watch out!
“As for me,[p] I will once again
do amazing things with this people,
wonder upon wonder.
The wisdom of their wise men will perish,
and the insights[q] of their discerning men will stay hidden.”
A Rebuke to the Deceptive
15 “How terrible it will be for you who go to great depths
to hide your plans from the Lord,
you whose deeds have been[r] done[s] in the dark,
and who say, ‘Who can see us?
Who has recognized[t] us?’
16 He has turned the tables on you[u]—
as if the potter were thought to be like heat.[v]
Can what is made say of the one who made it,
‘He did not make me?’
Or can what is formed say of the ones[w] who formed it,
‘He has no skill?’
17 “In a very little while,
will not Lebanon be turned into a garden of fruit,[x]
and the garden of fruit[y] seem like a forest?
18 On that day the deaf will hear
the words of a scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The humble will again experience joy in the Lord,
and the poorest people will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless will vanish,
and mockers will disappear,
and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down—
21 those who make a person appear to be the offender in a lawsuit,
who set a trap for someone
who is making his defense in court,[z]
and push aside the innocent
with specious arguments.
22 “Therefore, this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says concerning the house of Jacob:
‘No longer will Jacob be ashamed;
no longer will his face grow pale.
23 For when he sees in his midst his children,
the work of my hands,
they will keep my name holy;
they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
and stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Moreover, those who go astray in spirit will gain[aa] understanding,
and those who complain will accept instruction.’”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 29:1 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read Ariel, Ariel; i.e. a nickname assigned by the prophet for Jerusalem
- Isaiah 29:2 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read Ariel, Ariel; i.e. an allusion to Jerusalem
- Isaiah 29:2 Lit. an Ariel; i.e. perhaps a pun on the name Aruel
- Isaiah 29:3 So 4QIsak MTmss LXX; 1QIsaa MT read you on all sides
- Isaiah 29:5 So 1QIsaa; MT reads foreigners; LXX reads the ungodly
- Isaiah 29:7 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read Ariel, Ariel; i.e. an allusion to Jerusalem
- Isaiah 29:7 So 1QIsaa; MT reads her mountain stronghold; LXX reads Jerusalem
- Isaiah 29:9 So 1QIsaa; MT reads They have become drunk
- Isaiah 29:9 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT lacks from
- Isaiah 29:9 So 1QIsaa; MT reads They stagger around
- Isaiah 29:11 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read he will answer
- Isaiah 29:12 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read the book will be given
- Isaiah 29:12 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read he will answer
- Isaiah 29:13 So 1QIsaa; MT reads Their worship of me
- Isaiah 29:13 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack like
- Isaiah 29:14 So 1QIsaa LXX; the Heb. lacks as for me
- Isaiah 29:14 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read insight
- Isaiah 29:15 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read deeds are (or will be)
- Isaiah 29:15 DSS MT lack done
- Isaiah 29:15 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read recognizes
- Isaiah 29:16 So 1QIsaa; MT reads You turn things upside down!
- Isaiah 29:16 I.e. the fire in a kiln; so 1QIsaa; MT LXX read clay
- Isaiah 29:16 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read one
- Isaiah 29:17 Lit. into Carmel
- Isaiah 29:17 Lit. and Carmel
- Isaiah 29:21 Lit. in the gate
- Isaiah 29:24 Lit. discover
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
