Isaiah 29
New Living Translation
A Message about Jerusalem
29 “What sorrow awaits Ariel,[a] the City of David.
Year after year you celebrate your feasts.
2 Yet I will bring disaster upon you,
and there will be much weeping and sorrow.
For Jerusalem will become what her name Ariel means—
an altar covered with blood.
3 I will be your enemy,
surrounding Jerusalem and attacking its walls.
I will build siege towers
and destroy it.
4 Then deep from the earth you will speak;
from low in the dust your words will come.
Your voice will whisper from the ground
like a ghost conjured up from the grave.
5 “But suddenly, your ruthless enemies will be crushed
like the finest of dust.
Your many attackers will be driven away
like chaff before the wind.
Suddenly, in an instant,
6 I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will act for you
with thunder and earthquake and great noise,
with whirlwind and storm and consuming fire.
7 All the nations fighting against Jerusalem[b]
will vanish like a dream!
Those who are attacking her walls
will vanish like a vision in the night.
8 A hungry person dreams of eating
but wakes up still hungry.
A thirsty person dreams of drinking
but is still faint from thirst when morning comes.
So it will be with your enemies,
with those who attack Mount Zion.”
9 Are you amazed and incredulous?
Don’t you believe it?
Then go ahead and be blind.
You are stupid, but not from wine!
You stagger, but not from liquor!
10 For the Lord has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep.
He has closed the eyes of your prophets and visionaries.
11 All the future events in this vision are like a sealed book to them. When you give it to those who can read, they will say, “We can’t read it because it is sealed.” 12 When you give it to those who cannot read, they will say, “We don’t know how to read.”
13 And so the Lord says,
“These people say they are mine.
They honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
And their worship of me
is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.[c]
14 Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites
with amazing wonders.
The wisdom of the wise will pass away,
and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.”
15 What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the Lord,
who do their evil deeds in the dark!
“The Lord can’t see us,” they say.
“He doesn’t know what’s going on!”
16 How foolish can you be?
He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay!
Should the created thing say of the one who made it,
“He didn’t make me”?
Does a jar ever say,
“The potter who made me is stupid”?
17 Soon—and it will not be very long—
the forests of Lebanon will become a fertile field,
and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops.
18 In that day the deaf will hear words read from a book,
and the blind will see through the gloom and darkness.
19 The humble will be filled with fresh joy from the Lord.
The poor will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 The scoffer will be gone,
the arrogant will disappear,
and those who plot evil will be killed.
21 Those who convict the innocent
by their false testimony will disappear.
A similar fate awaits those who use trickery to pervert justice
and who tell lies to destroy the innocent.
22 That is why the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the people of Israel,[d]
“My people will no longer be ashamed
or turn pale with fear.
23 For when they see their many children
and all the blessings I have given them,
they will recognize the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob.
They will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Then the wayward will gain understanding,
and complainers will accept instruction.
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
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