Isaiah 29
World English Bible
29 Woe to Ariel! Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts come around; 2 then I will distress Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation. She shall be to me as an altar hearth.[a] 3 I will encamp against you all around you, and will lay siege against you with posted troops. I will raise siege works against you. 4 You will be brought down, and will speak out of the ground. Your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will be as of one who has a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and your speech will whisper out of the dust.
5 But the multitude of your foes will be like fine dust, and the multitude of the ruthless ones like chaff that blows away. Yes, it will be in an instant, suddenly. 6 She will be visited by Yahweh of Armies with thunder, with earthquake, with great noise, with whirlwind and storm, and with the flame of a devouring fire. 7 The multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, will be like a dream, a vision of the night. 8 It will be like when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he eats; but he awakes, and his hunger isn’t satisfied; or like when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and behold, he is faint, and he is still thirsty. The multitude of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion will be like that.
9 Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. 10 For Yahweh has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, the prophets; and he has covered your heads, the seers. 11 All vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is educated, saying, “Read this, please;” and he says, “I can’t, for it is sealed;” 12 and the book is delivered to one who is not educated, saying, “Read this, please;” and he says, “I can’t read.”
13 The Lord said, “Because this people draws near with their mouth and honors me with their lips, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught; 14 therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will be hidden.”
15 Woe to those who deeply hide their counsel from Yahweh, and whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us?” and “Who knows us?” 16 You turn things upside down! Should the potter be thought to be like clay; that the thing made should say about him who made it, “He didn’t make me;” or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding?”
17 Isn’t it yet a very little while, and Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field will be regarded as a forest? 18 In that day, the deaf will hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind will see out of obscurity and out of darkness. 19 The humble also will increase their joy in Yahweh, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. 20 For the ruthless is brought to nothing, and the scoffer ceases, and all those who are alert to do evil are cut off— 21 who cause a person to be indicted by a word, and lay a snare for one who reproves in the gate, and who deprive the innocent of justice with false testimony.
22 Therefore Yahweh, who redeemed Abraham, says concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall no longer be ashamed, neither shall his face grow pale. 23 But when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in the middle of him, they will sanctify my name. Yes, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel. 24 They also who err in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will receive instruction.”
Footnotes
- 29:2 or, Ariel
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
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