Isaiah 29

Wycliffe Bible

29 Woe! [to] Ariel, Ariel, the city which David overcame; year is added to year, solemnities be passed (the feasts have come and gone).

² And I shall compass Ariel, and it shall be sorrowful and mourning; and Jerusalem shall be to me as Ariel. (And I shall surround Ariel, and it shall be sorrowful and mourning; and Jerusalem shall be like Ariel to me.)

³ And I shall compass as a round spear, either trundle, in thy compass, and I shall cast [an heap] (of) earth against thee, and I shall set strongholds, either engines, into thy besieging. (And I shall surround thee with my army, and I shall throw a heap of earth against thee, and I shall set up strongholds, or engines, to besiege thee.)

⁴ Thou shalt be made low, thou shalt speak (out) of [the] earth, and thy speech shall be heard from the earth; and thy voice shall be as the voice of a dead man raised (up) by conjuring, and thy speech shall oft grutch of the earth (and thy words shall grumble, or groan, out of the earth).

⁵ And the multitude of them that winnowed thee, shall be (made) as thin dust; and the multitude of them that had the mastery against thee, shall be (made) as [a] dead spark passing (away). And it shall be (that) suddenly,

⁶ anon it shall be visited of the Lord of hosts, in thunder, and in moving of the earth, and in great voice of whirlwind, and of tempest, and of flame of fire devouring. (at once thou shalt be punished by the Lord of hosts, with thunder, and with earth-shaking, and with the great noise of a whirlwind, and of a tempest, and with a flame of devouring fire.)

⁷ And the multitude of all folks that fought against Ariel shall be as the dream of a night’s vision; and all men that fought, and besieged (it), and had the mastery against it. (And the multitude of all the nations that fought against Ariel, that is, of all those who fought against it, and besieged it, and had the mastery over it, shall vanish like the dream of a night’s vision.)

⁸ And as an hungry man dreameth, and eateth, but when he is awaked, his soul is void; and as a thirsty man dreameth, and drinketh, and after that he is awaked, he is weary, and thirsteth yet, and his soul is void; so shall be the multitude of all folks, that fought against the hill of Zion. (And like when a hungry man dreameth, and eateth in it, but when he awakeneth, his body is still empty; or like when a thirsty man dreameth, and drinketh in it, but after that he awakeneth, he is still weary, and still thirsteth, and his body is empty; so shall be the multitude of all the nations, that fought against Mount Zion.)

⁹ Be ye astonied, and wonder; wake ye, and doubt ye; be ye drunk, and not of wine; be ye moved, and not with drunkenness. (Be ye astonished, and wonder; wake ye, and doubt ye; be ye drunk, but not with wine; be ye moved, but not with drunkenness.)

¹⁰ For the Lord hath meddled to you the spirit of sleep; he shall close your eyes, and [he] shall cover your prophets, and princes that see visions. (For the Lord hath mixed for you the spirit of sleep; he shall close your eyes, that is, your prophets, and he shall cover your heads, that is, your leaders, who see visions.)

¹¹ And the vision of all prophets shall be to you as the words of a book asealed; which when they shall give to him that knoweth letters, they shall say, Read thou this book; and he shall answer, I may not, for it is asealed. (And the vision of all the prophets shall be to you like the words of a sealed book; which when they shall give to him who knoweth how to read, they shall say, Read thou this book; and he shall answer, I cannot, for it is sealed.)

¹² And the book shall be given to him that knoweth not letters, and it shall be said to him, Read thou; and he shall answer, I know no letters. (And the book shall be given to him who cannot read, and it shall be said to him, Read thou; and he shall answer, I do not know how to read.)

¹³ And (then) the Lord said, For that (that) this people nigheth with their mouth, and glorifieth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; and they dreaded me for the commandment and (the) teachings of men,

¹⁴ therefore lo! I shall add, that I make [great] wondering to this people, in a great miracle and wonderful (and so lo! I shall add, that I make a great wonder before this people, yea, a great and wonderful miracle); for why wisdom shall perish from (the) wise men thereof, and the understanding of prudent men thereof shall be hid.

¹⁵ Woe to you that be deep of heart, that ye hide (your) counsel from the Lord (Woe to you who go deep into your hearts, in order to hide your plans from the Lord); the works of which be in darknesses, and they say, Who seeth us, and who knoweth us?

¹⁶ This thought of you is wayward, as if clay think against a potter, and the work say to his maker, Thou madest not me; and a thing made, say to his maker, Thou understandest not. (This thought of yours is wayward, like if a piece of clay think against a potter, and the work say to its maker, Thou madest me not, and a made thing say to its maker, Thou understandest not how to do this.)

¹⁷ Whether not yet in a little time and short, the Lebanon shall be turned into Carmel, and Carmel shall be areckoned into the forest? (Whether not yet in a brief, or a short, time, Lebanon shall be turned into a plentiful land, and the plentiful land shall be reckoned as a forest?)

¹⁸ And in that day deaf men shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of blind men shall see from darknesses and misty (And on that day, the deaf shall hear the words read from a book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of their darkness and mist;)

¹⁹ and mild men shall increase gladness in the Lord, and poor men shall make full out joy in the Holy of Israel. (and the meek, or the humble, shall increase their happiness in the Lord, and the poor shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.)

²⁰ For he that had the mastery, failed, and the scorner is ended, and all they be cut down that waked on wickedness; (For he who had the mastery, hath failed, and the mocker is ended, and all those who watch for wickedness shall be cut down;)

²¹ which made men to do sin in word, and deceived a reprover in the gate, and bowed away in vain from a just man. (who made people to do sin in word, and deceived a rebuker at the gate, and bowed away justice from the upright, for an empty and a futile thing.)

²² For this thing the Lord, that again-bought Abraham, saith these things to the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not be confounded now, neither now his cheer shall be ashamed; (For this thing the Lord who bought back, or ransomed, Abraham, saith these things to the house of Jacob, Jacob shall no longer be ashamed, nor shall his face now become pale;)

²³ but when he shall see his sons, the works of mine hands, hallowing my name in the midst of him. And they shall hallow the Holy of Jacob, and they shall preach [the] God of Israel; (but when he seeth his sons and daughters, the work of my hands, in his midst, they shall hallow my name, yea, they shall hallow the Holy One of Jacob, and they shall have reverence for the God of Israel;)

²⁴ and they that err in spirit, shall know understanding, and idle men, either grutchers, shall learn the law. (and they who err in spirit, shall gain understanding, and those who be idle, or the grumblers, shall learn the Law.)