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Woe to Jerusalem

29 Ah! Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped!

Add year to year,
    let festivals recur.
Yet[a] I will inflict Ariel,
    and there shall be mourning and lamentation,
    and it shall be to me like an altar hearth.[b]
And I will encamp in a circle[c] against you,
    and I will lay siege to you with towers[d]
    and I will raise up siegeworks against you.
Then[e] you shall be low;
    you shall speak from the earth,
    and your words[f] will be low, from dust.
And your voice will be from the earth, like a ghost,
    and your word will whisper from the dust.
But[g] the multitude of your strangers shall be like fine dust,
    and the multitude of tyrants like chaff that passes by.

And it will happen in an instant, suddenly.

You will be punished by Yahweh of hosts

with thunder and earthquake and great sound,
    storm wind and tempest and the flame of a devouring fire.
And the multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel,
    all those who fight against her and her stronghold,
        and those who inflict her shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.
And it shall be as when the hungry person dreams—look, he is eating!
    And he wakes up and his inner self is empty.
Or[h] as when the thirsty person dreams—look, he is drinking!
    And he wakes up and look, he is faint,
    and his inner self is longing for water.
So shall be the multitude of all the nations who fight against Mount Zion.
Be astonished and be amazed!
    Blind yourselves and be blinded!
They are drunk but[i] not from wine;
    they stagger but[j] not from strong drink.
10 For Yahweh has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep,
    and he has shut your eyes, the prophets,
    and he has covered your heads, the seers.

11 And the vision of all this has become for you like the words of a sealed document. When they give it to one who knows the[k] document, saying, “Read[l] this now!” He says, “I am not able, for it is sealed.” 12 And if the document is given to one who does not know how to read,[m] saying, “Read[n] this now!” he says, “I do not know how to read.”[o]

13 And the Lord said,

“Because this people draw near with its mouth,
    and with its lips it honors me,
and its heart is far from me,
    and their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught,

14 therefore look, I am again doing something spectacular

and a spectacle with this spectacular people.
And the wisdom of its wise men shall perish,
    and the discernment of its discerning ones shall keep itself hidden.”
15 Ah! Those who make a plan deep, to hide it from Yahweh,
    and their deeds are[p] in a dark place.
And they say, “Who sees us?
    And who knows us?”
16 Your perversity!
    As if a potter[q] shall be regarded as the clay!
That the product of its maker says,
    “He did not make me,”
and the thing made into shape says of its potter,[r]
    “He has no understanding.”

Blessing after Punishment

17 In a very little while[s] shall not Lebanon change into a fruitful land,
    and the fruitful land be regarded as a forest?
18 And on that day, the deaf shall hear the words of a scroll,
    and the eyes of the blind shall see out of gloom and darkness.
19 And the meek have joy after joy[t] in Yahweh,
    and the needy of the people shall rejoice in the holy one of Israel.
20 For the tyrant shall be no more,
    and the scoffer shall come to an end.
And all those lying in wait for evil shall be cut off;
21     those who mislead a person into sin with a word
and set a trap for the arbitrator[u] in the gate
    and guide away the righteous by emptiness.

22 Therefore Yahweh, who redeemed Abraham, says this to the house of Jacob:

“Jacob will no longer be ashamed,
    and his face will no longer grow pale.
23 For when he sees his children,
    the work of my hands, in his midst,
they will treat my name as holy,
    and they will treat the holy one of Jacob as holy,
    and they will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 And those who err in spirit will acquire[v] understanding,
    and those who grumble will learn instruction.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 29:2 Or “And”
  2. Isaiah 29:2 Hebrew “Ariel,” which might mean “altar hearth”
  3. Isaiah 29:3 The Hebrew text literally reads “like the ball”; the LXX supports an emendation to “David”
  4. Isaiah 29:3 Hebrew “tower”
  5. Isaiah 29:4 Or “And”
  6. Isaiah 29:4 Hebrew “word”
  7. Isaiah 29:5 Or “And”
  8. Isaiah 29:8 Or “And”
  9. Isaiah 29:9 Or “and”
  10. Isaiah 29:9 Or “and”
  11. Isaiah 29:11 The reading tradition (Qere) has “a” instead of “the”
  12. Isaiah 29:11 Literally “Call”
  13. Isaiah 29:12 Literally “know a document”
  14. Isaiah 29:12 Literally “Call”
  15. Isaiah 29:12 Literally “know a document”
  16. Isaiah 29:15 The Hebrew is singular
  17. Isaiah 29:16 Literally “of the one who creates”
  18. Isaiah 29:16 Literally “one who creates”
  19. Isaiah 29:17 Literally “Not still a trifling of time
  20. Isaiah 29:19 Literally “shall add joy”
  21. Isaiah 29:21 Literally “one who argues”
  22. Isaiah 29:24 Literally “know”

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.
Yet I will distress Ariel;
There shall be heaviness and sorrow,
And it shall be to Me as Ariel.
I will encamp against you all around,
I will lay siege against you with a mound,
And I will raise siegeworks against you.
You 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.

“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.
(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.
(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.
(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

Pause and wonder!
Blind yourselves and be blind!
(L)They are drunk, (M)but not with wine;
They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.
10 For (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.

11 The 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.”

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

And he says, “I am not literate.”

13 Therefore 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.”

15 (W)Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord,
And their works are in the dark;
(X)They say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”
16 Surely you have things turned around!
Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay;
For shall the (Y)thing made say of him who made it,
“He did not make me”?
Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?

Future Recovery of Wisdom

17 Is it not yet a very little while
Till (Z)Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?
18 (AA)In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book,
And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
19 (AB)The humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord,
And (AC)the poor among men shall rejoice
In the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the [e]terrible one is brought to nothing,
(AD)The scornful one is consumed,
And all who (AE)watch for iniquity are cut off—
21 Who make a man an offender by a word,
And (AF)lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
And turn aside the just (AG)by empty words.

22 Therefore thus says the Lord, (AH)who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

“Jacob shall not now be (AI)ashamed,
Nor shall his face now grow pale;
23 But when he sees his children,
(AJ)The work of My hands, in his midst,
They will hallow My name,
And hallow the Holy One of Jacob,
And fear the God of Israel.
24 These also (AK)who erred in spirit will come to understanding,
And those who complained will learn doctrine.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 29:1 Jerusalem, lit. Lion of God
  2. Isaiah 29:7 Jerusalem
  3. Isaiah 29:11 scroll
  4. Isaiah 29:12 Lit. does not know books
  5. Isaiah 29:20 terrifying