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
Christian Standard Bible
Woe to Jerusalem
29 Woe to Ariel,[a] Ariel,
the city where David camped!(A)
Continue year after year;
let the festivals recur.
2 I will oppress Ariel,
and there will be mourning and crying,
and she will be to me like an Ariel.
3 I will camp in a circle around you;
I will besiege you with earth ramps,
and I will set up my siege towers against you.
4 You will be brought down;
you will speak from the ground,
and your words will come from low in the dust.
Your voice will be like that of a spirit from the ground;(B)
your speech will whisper from the dust.
5 Your many foes[b] will be like fine dust,(C)
and many of the ruthless, like blowing chaff.
Then suddenly, in an instant,(D)
6 you will be punished by the Lord of Armies
with thunder, earthquake, and loud noise,
storm, tempest, and a flame of consuming fire.(E)
7 All the many nations(F)
going out to battle against Ariel—
all the attackers, the siege works against her,
and those who oppress her—
will then be like a dream, a vision in the night.(G)
8 It will be like a hungry one who dreams he is eating,
then wakes and is still hungry;
and like a thirsty one who dreams he is drinking,
then wakes and is still thirsty, longing for water.
So it will be for all the many nations
who go to battle against Mount Zion.
9 Stop and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
They are drunk,[c] but not with wine;
they stagger,[d] but not with beer.(H)
10 For the Lord has poured out on you
an overwhelming urge to[e] sleep;(I)
he has shut your eyes (the prophets)
and covered your heads (the seers).(J)
11 For you the entire vision will be like the words of a sealed document.(K) If it is given to one who can read and he is asked to read it,[f] he will say, “I can’t read it, because it is sealed.” 12 And if the document is given to one who cannot read and he is asked to read it,[g] he will say, “I can’t read.”
13 The Lord said:
These people approach me with their speeches(L)
to honor me with lip-service,[h]
yet their hearts are far from me,
and human rules direct their worship of me.[i]
14 Therefore, I will again confound these people
with wonder after wonder.(M)
The wisdom of their wise will vanish,(N)
and the perception of their perceptive will be hidden.
15 Woe to those who go to great lengths
to hide their plans from the Lord.(O)
They do their works in the dark,
and say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?” (P)
16 You have turned things around,
as if the potter were the same as the clay.
How can what is made say about its maker,
“He didn’t make me”?(Q)
How can what is formed
say about the one who formed it,
“He doesn’t understand what he’s doing”?
17 Isn’t it true that in just a little while
Lebanon will become an orchard,
and the orchard will seem like a forest?(R)
18 On that day the deaf will hear(S)
the words of a document,
and out of a deep darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The humble will have joy
after joy in the Lord,
and the poor people will rejoice(T)
in the Holy One of Israel.(U)
20 For the ruthless one will vanish,
the scorner will disappear,(V)
and all those who lie in wait with evil intent
will be killed—
21 those who, with their speech,
accuse a person of wrongdoing,
who set a trap for the one mediating at the city gate
and without cause deprive the righteous of justice.(W)
22 Therefore, the Lord who redeemed Abraham(X) says this about the house of Jacob:
Jacob will no longer be ashamed,
and his face will no longer be pale.
23 For when he sees his children,
the work of my hands within his nation,
they will honor my name,
they will honor the Holy One of Jacob(Y)
and stand in awe of the God of Israel.(Z)
24 Those who are confused will gain understanding,
and those who grumble will accept instruction.
Footnotes
- 29:1 Or Altar Hearth, or Lion of God; Hb obscure, also in v. 2
- 29:5 Lit foreigners
- 29:9 LXX, Tg, Vg read Be drunk
- 29:9 Tg, Vg read wine; stagger
- 29:10 Lit you a spirit of
- 29:11 Lit If one gives it to one who knows the document, saying, “Read this, please”
- 29:12 Lit who does not know the document, saying, “Read this, please”
- 29:13 Lit their mouth and honor me with its lips
- 29:13 Lit their fearing of me is a taught command of men
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.