Isaiah 29
English Standard Version
The Siege of Jerusalem
29 Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
the city (A)where David encamped!
Add year to year;
let the feasts run their round.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel,
and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
and she shall be to me like an Ariel.[a]
3 (B)And I will encamp against you all around,
and will besiege you (C)with towers
and I will raise siegeworks against you.
4 (D)And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak,
and from the dust your speech will be bowed down;
your voice shall come from the ground like (E)the voice of a ghost,
and from the dust your speech shall whisper.
5 But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like (F)small dust,
and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
(G)And in an instant, suddenly,
6 (H)you will be visited by the Lord of hosts
with thunder and with earthquake and great noise,
with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
7 And (I)the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
shall be (J)like a dream, a vision of the night.
8 (K)As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating,
and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking,
and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,
so shall the multitude of all the nations be
that fight against Mount Zion.
9 Astonish yourselves[b] and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk,[c] but not with wine;
(L)stagger,[d] but not with strong drink!
10 (M)For the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep,
and has closed your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).
11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is (N)sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”
13 And the Lord said:
“Because (O)this people (P)draw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
14 therefore, behold, (Q)I will again
do wonderful things with this people,
with wonder upon wonder;
and (R)the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
15 Ah, (S)you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
whose deeds are (T)in the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16 (U)You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
17 Is it not yet a very little while
(V)until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
18 In that day (W)the deaf shall hear
(X)the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
(Y)the eyes of the blind shall see.
19 (Z)The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless shall come to nothing
and (AA)the scoffer cease,
and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
21 who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
and (AB)lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
and with an empty plea (AC)turn aside him who is in the right.
22 Therefore thus says the Lord, (AD)who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
no more shall his face grow pale.
23 For when he sees his children,
(AE)the work of my hands, in his midst,
they will sanctify my name;
(AF)they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 And those (AG)who go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who murmur will accept instruction.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 29:2 Ariel could mean lion of God, or hero (2 Samuel 23:20), or altar hearth (Ezekiel 43:15–16)
- Isaiah 29:9 Or Linger awhile
- Isaiah 29:9 Or They are drunk
- Isaiah 29:9 Or they stagger
Matthew 15
English Standard Version
Traditions and Commandments
15 (A)Then Pharisees and (B)scribes came to Jesus (C)from Jerusalem and said, 2 (D)“Why do your disciples break (E)the tradition of the elders? (F)For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, (G)‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, (H)‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”[a] 6 he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have (I)made void the word[b] of God. 7 (J)You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
8 (K)“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
9 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as (L)doctrines the commandments of men.’”
What Defiles a Person
10 And he called the people to him and said to them, (M)“Hear and understand: 11 (N)it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were (O)offended when they heard this saying?” 13 He answered, (P)“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted (Q)will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; (R)they are blind guides.[c] And (S)if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, (T)“Explain the parable to us.” 16 And he said, (U)“Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that (V)whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?[d] 18 But (W)what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come (X)evil thoughts, (Y)murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, (Z)slander. 20 (AA)These are what defile a person. But (AB)to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 (AC)And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, (AD)a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, (AE)“Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, (AF)“Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, (AG)“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and (AH)knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and (AI)throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat (AJ)the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, (AK)great is your faith! (AL)Let it be done for you as you desire.” (AM)And her daughter was (AN)healed instantly.[e]
Jesus Heals Many
29 (AO)Jesus went on from there and walked (AP)beside the Sea of Galilee. And he (AQ)went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 And great crowds came to him, bringing with them (AR)the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, 31 (AS)so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, (AT)the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And (AU)they glorified (AV)the God of Israel.
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
32 (AW)Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, (AX)“I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” 33 And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?” 34 And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, (AY)“Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and (AZ)having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And (BA)they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 38 Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of (BB)Magadan.
Footnotes
- Matthew 15:5 Or is an offering
- Matthew 15:6 Some manuscripts law
- Matthew 15:14 Some manuscripts add of the blind
- Matthew 15:17 Greek is expelled into the latrine
- Matthew 15:28 Greek from that hour
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
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