Isaiah 29
Modern English Version
Woe to the City of David
29 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel,
the city where David lived!
Add year to year,
observe your feasts on schedule.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel,
and she shall be a city of lamenting and sorrow,
and she shall be as an Ariel to me.
3 I will encamp against you all around,
and will lay siege against you with a mound,
and I will raise forts against you.
4 You shall be brought down, and shall speak from the ground,
and from the dust where you are prostrate your speech shall come;
your voice shall also be as that of a ghost from the ground;
and your speech shall whisper from the dust.
5 Moreover the multitude of your enemies shall become like fine dust,
and the multitude of the ruthless ones as chaff which blows away;
and it shall happen in an instant, suddenly.
6 You shall be punished from the Lord of Hosts
with thunder and earthquake and loud noise,
with storm and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
7 The multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel,
even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,
shall be as a dream
of a night vision.
8 It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, and he eats;
but when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied;
or as when a thirsty man dreams, and he is drinking;
but when he awakens, he is faint, and his thirst is not quenched;
so shall the multitude of all the nations be
who fight against Mount Zion.
9 Be delayed and wait,
blind yourselves and be blind.
They are drunk, but not with wine.
They stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For the Lord has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep
and has closed your eyes, the prophets;
and He has covered your heads, the seers.
11 The whole vision will be to you as the words of a book that is sealed, which when they deliver it to one who is learned, saying, “Read this, please,” he shall say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 Then the book shall be delivered to him who is not learned, saying, “Read this, please.” And he shall say, “I cannot read.”
13 Therefore, the Lord said:
Because this people draw near with their mouths
and honor Me with their lips,
but have removed their hearts far from Me,
and their fear toward Me
is tradition by the precept of men,
14 therefore I will once again do a marvelous work among this people,
even a marvelous work and a wonder;
for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.
15 Woe to those who deeply
hide their counsel from the Lord
and whose works are done in the dark, and they say,
“Who sees us?” and “Who knows us?”
16 Surely you turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be esteemed as the potter’s clay?
Shall what is made say to its maker,
“He did not make me”?
Or shall the thing formed say to him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
17 Is it not yet a very little while before Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field shall be counted as a forest?
18 And on that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book,
and the eyes of the blind shall see
out of obscurity and darkness.
19 The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord,
and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless shall come to nothing,
and the scorner will be consumed,
and all who are intent on doing iniquity shall be cut off—
21 those who cause a man to be indicted by a word,
and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
and turn aside the righteous with meaningless arguments.
22 Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
Jacob shall not now be ashamed,
nor shall his face now turn pale;
23 but when he sees his children,
the work of My hands, in his midst,
they shall sanctify My name
and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
and fear the God of Israel.
24 Those also who err in spirit shall know the truth,
and those who murmured shall accept instruction.
Isaiah 29
Lexham English Bible
Woe to Jerusalem
29 Ah! Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped!
Add year to year,
let festivals recur.
2 Yet[a] I will inflict Ariel,
and there shall be mourning and lamentation,
and it shall be to me like an altar hearth.[b]
3 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.
4 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.
5 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.
6 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.
7 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.
8 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.
9 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
- Isaiah 29:2 Or “And”
- Isaiah 29:2 Hebrew “Ariel,” which might mean “altar hearth”
- Isaiah 29:3 The Hebrew text literally reads “like the ball”; the LXX supports an emendation to “David”
- Isaiah 29:3 Hebrew “tower”
- Isaiah 29:4 Or “And”
- Isaiah 29:4 Hebrew “word”
- Isaiah 29:5 Or “And”
- Isaiah 29:8 Or “And”
- Isaiah 29:9 Or “and”
- Isaiah 29:9 Or “and”
- Isaiah 29:11 The reading tradition (Qere) has “a” instead of “the”
- Isaiah 29:11 Literally “Call”
- Isaiah 29:12 Literally “know a document”
- Isaiah 29:12 Literally “Call”
- Isaiah 29:12 Literally “know a document”
- Isaiah 29:15 The Hebrew is singular
- Isaiah 29:16 Literally “of the one who creates”
- Isaiah 29:16 Literally “one who creates”
- Isaiah 29:17 Literally “Not still a trifling of time”
- Isaiah 29:19 Literally “shall add joy”
- Isaiah 29:21 Literally “one who argues”
- Isaiah 29:24 Literally “know”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
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