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Warnings to Jerusalem

29 How terrible it will be for you, Jerusalem.
    You are the city where David camped.
Her festivals have continued
    year after year.
I will attack Jerusalem.
    That city will be filled with sadness and crying.
    It will be like an altar to me.
I will put armies all around you, Jerusalem.
    I will surround you with towers.
    I will build devices around you to attack you.
You will be pulled down and will speak from the ground.
    I will hear your voice rising from the ground.
It will sound like the voice of a ghost.
    Your words will come like a whisper from the dirt.

Your many enemies will become like fine dust.
    The groups of cruel people will be like chaff that is blown away.
Everything will happen very quickly.
    The Lord of heaven’s armies will come.
He will come with thunder, earthquakes and great noises.
    He will come with storms, strong winds and a fire that destroys.
Then all the nations that fight against Jerusalem
    will be like a dream.
All the nations that surround and attack her
    will be like a vision in the night.
They will be like a hungry man who dreams he is eating.
    But when he wakes up, he is still hungry.
They will be like a thirsty man who dreams he is drinking.
    But when he wakes up, he is still weak and thirsty.
It will be the same way with all the nations
    who fight against Mount Zion.

Be surprised and amazed.
    Blind yourselves so that you cannot see.
Become drunk, but not from wine.
    Trip and fall, but not from beer.
10 The Lord has made you go into a deep sleep.
    He has closed your eyes. (The prophets are your eyes.)
    He has covered your heads. (The seers are your heads.)

11 This vision is like the words of a book that is closed and sealed. You may give the book to someone who can read. And you may tell that person to read it. But he will say, “I can’t read the book. It is closed, and I can’t open it.” 12 Or you may give the book to someone who cannot read. You may tell him to read the book. But he will say, “I can’t read it because I don’t know how to read.”

13 The Lord says:

“These people say they love me.
    They show honor to me with words.
    But their hearts are far from me.
The honor they show me
    is nothing but human rules they have memorized.
14 So I will continue to amaze these people
    by doing more and more miracles.
Their wise men will lose their wisdom.
    Their wise men will not be able to understand.”

Warnings About Other Nations

15 How terrible it will be for those who try
    to hide things from the Lord.
How terrible it will be for those who do their work in darkness.
    They think no one will see them or know what they do.
16 You are confused.
    You think the clay is equal to the potter.
You think that an object can tell the person who made it,
    “You didn’t make me.”
This is like a pot telling its maker,
    “You don’t know anything.”

A Better Time Is Coming

17 In a very short time, Lebanon will become rich farmland.
    And the rich farmland will seem like a forest.
18 At that time the deaf will hear the words in a book.
    Instead of having darkness and gloom, the blind will see.
19 The Lord will make the poor people happy.
    They will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 Then the people without mercy will come to an end.
    Those who do not respect God will disappear.
    Those who enjoy doing evil will be gone.
21 Those who lie about others in court will be gone.
    Those who trap people in court will be gone.
    Those who lie and take justice from innocent people in court will be gone.

22 The Lord set Abraham free. This Lord speaks to the family of Jacob.

“Now the people of Jacob will not be ashamed.
    They will not be disgraced any longer.
23 They will see all their children,
    the children I made with my hands.
And they will say my name is holy.
    The people will agree that the Holy One of Jacob is holy.
    They will respect the God of Israel.
24 People who do wrong will now understand.
    Those who complain will accept being taught.”

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.
Yet I will besiege Ariel;(E)
    she will mourn and lament,(F)
    she will be to me like an altar hearth.[a](G)
I will encamp against you on all sides;
    I will encircle(H) you with towers
    and set up my siege works(I) against you.
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)

But your many enemies will become like fine dust,(N)
    the ruthless(O) hordes like blown chaff.(P)
Suddenly,(Q) in an instant,
    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)
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—
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)

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)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 29:2 The Hebrew for altar hearth sounds like the Hebrew for Ariel.
  2. Isaiah 29:13 Hebrew; Septuagint They worship me in vain; / their teachings are merely human rules