Isaiah 29
Legacy Standard Bible
Woe to Ariel
29 Woe, O [a]Ariel, [b]Ariel the city where David once (A)camped!
Add year to year, [c](B)observe your feasts on schedule.
2 I will bring distress to [d]Ariel,
And she will be a city of mourning and (C)moaning;
And she will be like an Ariel to me.
3 And I will (D)camp against you [e]encircling you,
And I will fortify siegeworks against you,
And I will raise up fortifications against you.
4 Then you will (E)be brought low;
From the earth you will speak,
And from the dust where you are prostrate
Your words will come.
Your voice will also be like that of a [f]spirit from the ground,
And your speech will whisper from the dust.
5 But it will be that the multitude of your [g]enemies will become like fine (F)dust,
And the multitude of the (G)ruthless ones like the chaff which [h]blows away;
And it will happen (H)instantly, suddenly.
6 From Yahweh of hosts you will be (I)punished with (J)thunder and earthquake and loud noise,
With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.
7 And it will be that the (K)multitude of all the nations who wage war against [i]Ariel,
Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,
Will be like a dream, a (L)vision of the night.
8 And it will be as when a hungry man dreams—
And behold, he is eating;
But he awakens, and his soul is empty,
Or as when a thirsty man dreams—
And behold, he is drinking,
But he awakens, and behold, he is faint,
And his soul is not quenched.
(M)Thus the multitude of all the nations will be
Who wage war against Mount Zion.
9 (N)Astonish yourselves and be astonished,
Blind yourselves and be blind;
They (O)become drunk, but not with wine;
They stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For Yahweh has poured over you a spirit of deep (P)sleep;
He has (Q)shut your eyes, the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, the seers.
11 The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed [j](R)book, which when they give it to the one who [k]is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 Then the [l]book will be given to the one who [m]does not know how to read a book, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I [n]do not know how to read a book.”
13 Then the Lord said,
“Because (S)this people draw near with their mouth
And honor Me with their lips,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their fear of Me is in the command of men learned by rote,
14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal (T)marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;
And (U)the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the discernment of their discerning men will be hidden.”
15 Woe to those who deeply (V)hide their counsel from Yahweh,
And whose (W)deeds are done in a dark place,
And they say, “(X)Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
16 You turn things around!
Shall the potter be considered [o]as equal with the clay,
That (Y)what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;
Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?
The Afflicted Will Rejoice
17 Is it not yet just a little while
[p]Before Lebanon will be turned into a (Z)fruitful orchard,
And the fruitful orchard will be counted as a forest?
18 On that day the (AA)deaf will hear (AB)words of a book,
And out of [q]darkness and thick darkness the (AC)eyes of the blind will see.
19 The (AD)afflicted also will increase their gladness in Yahweh,
And the (AE)needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the (AF)ruthless will come to an end and the (AG)scoffer will be finished,
Indeed (AH)all who are watching out to do evil will be cut off;
21 Who [r]cause a person to sin by a word,
And (AI)ensnare him who reproves at the gate,
And [s](AJ)defraud the one in the right with [t]meaningless arguments.
22 Therefore thus says Yahweh, who redeemed (AK)Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob (AL)shall not now be ashamed, and now his face shall not turn pale;
23 But when [u]he sees his (AM)children, the (AN)work of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My name;
Indeed, they will (AO)sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
And will stand trembling before the God of Israel.
24 Those who (AP)err in spirit will (AQ)know discernment,
And those who [v]criticize will [w](AR)gain learning.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 29:1 Lion of God, lion of Jerusalem
- Isaiah 29:1 Lion of God, lion of Jerusalem
- Isaiah 29:1 Lit let your feasts run their round
- Isaiah 29:2 See v 1, note 1
- Isaiah 29:3 Lit like a circle
- Isaiah 29:4 Or ghost
- Isaiah 29:5 Lit strangers
- Isaiah 29:5 Lit passes away
- Isaiah 29:7 v 1, note 1
- Isaiah 29:11 Or scroll
- Isaiah 29:11 Lit knows books
- Isaiah 29:12 Or scroll
- Isaiah 29:12 Lit does not know books
- Isaiah 29:12 Lit do not know books
- Isaiah 29:16 Lit like
- Isaiah 29:17 Lit And
- Isaiah 29:18 Lit thick darkness and darkness, cf. 8:22; 9:2
- Isaiah 29:21 Lit bring a person under condemnation
- Isaiah 29:21 Lit turn aside
- Isaiah 29:21 Lit confusion
- Isaiah 29:23 Or his children see
- Isaiah 29:24 Lit murmur
- Isaiah 29:24 Lit learn
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
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