Isaiah 29
King James Version
29 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.
3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
4 And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
6 Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
8 It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of 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 terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
21 That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
22 Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
23 But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
Isaiah 29
New King James Version
Woe to Jerusalem
29 “Woe (A)to [a]Ariel, to Ariel, the city (B)where David dwelt!
Add year to year;
Let feasts come around.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel;
There shall be heaviness and sorrow,
And it shall be to Me as Ariel.
3 I will encamp against you all around,
I will lay siege against you with a mound,
And I will raise siegeworks against you.
4 You shall be brought down,
You shall speak out of the ground;
Your speech shall be low, out of the dust;
Your voice shall be like a medium’s, (C)out of the ground;
And your speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5 “Moreover the multitude of your (D)foes
Shall be like fine dust,
And the multitude of the terrible ones
Like (E)chaff that passes away;
Yes, it shall be (F)in an instant, suddenly.
6 (G)You will be punished by the Lord of hosts
With thunder and (H)earthquake and great noise,
With storm and tempest
And the flame of devouring fire.
7 (I)The multitude of all the nations who fight against [b]Ariel,
Even all who fight against her and her fortress,
And distress her,
Shall be (J)as a dream of a night vision.
8 (K)It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams,
And look—he eats;
But he awakes, and his soul is still empty;
Or as when a thirsty man dreams,
And look—he drinks;
But he awakes, and indeed he is faint,
And his soul still craves:
So the multitude of all the nations shall be,
Who fight against Mount Zion.”
The Blindness of Disobedience
9 Pause and wonder!
Blind yourselves and be blind!
(L)They are drunk, (M)but not with wine;
They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.
10 For (N)the Lord has poured out on you
The spirit of deep sleep,
And has (O)closed your eyes, namely, the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, namely, (P)the seers.
11 The whole vision has become to you like the words of a [c]book (Q)that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.”
(R)And he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”
12 Then the book is delivered to one who [d]is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.”
And he says, “I am not literate.”
13 Therefore the Lord said:
(S)“Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honor Me (T)with their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
14 (U)Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work
Among this people,
A marvelous work and a wonder;
(V)For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”
15 (W)Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord,
And their works are in the dark;
(X)They say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”
16 Surely you have things turned around!
Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay;
For shall the (Y)thing made say of him who made it,
“He did not make me”?
Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
Future Recovery of Wisdom
17 Is it not yet a very little while
Till (Z)Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?
18 (AA)In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book,
And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
19 (AB)The humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord,
And (AC)the poor among men shall rejoice
In the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the [e]terrible one is brought to nothing,
(AD)The scornful one is consumed,
And all who (AE)watch for iniquity are cut off—
21 Who make a man an offender by a word,
And (AF)lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
And turn aside the just (AG)by empty words.
22 Therefore thus says the Lord, (AH)who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall not now be (AI)ashamed,
Nor shall his face now grow pale;
23 But when he sees his children,
(AJ)The work of My hands, in his midst,
They will hallow My name,
And hallow the Holy One of Jacob,
And fear the God of Israel.
24 These also (AK)who erred in spirit will come to understanding,
And those who complained will learn doctrine.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 29:1 Jerusalem, lit. Lion of God
- Isaiah 29:7 Jerusalem
- Isaiah 29:11 scroll
- Isaiah 29:12 Lit. does not know books
- Isaiah 29:20 terrifying
Isaiah 29
Good News Translation
The Fate of Jerusalem
29 God's altar, Jerusalem itself, is doomed! The city where David camped is doomed! Let another year or two come and go, with its feasts and festivals, 2 and then God will bring disaster on the city that is called “God's altar.” There will be weeping and wailing, and the whole city will be like an altar covered with blood. 3 God will attack the city, surround it, and besiege it. 4 Jerusalem will be like a ghost struggling to speak from under the ground, a muffled voice coming from the dust.
5 Jerusalem, all the foreigners who attack you will be blown away like dust, and their terrifying armies will fly away like straw. Suddenly and unexpectedly 6 the Lord Almighty will rescue you with violent thunderstorms and earthquakes. He will send windstorms and raging fire; 7 then all the armies of the nations attacking the city of God's altar, all their weapons and equipment—everything—will vanish like a dream, like something imagined in the night. 8 All the nations that assemble to attack Jerusalem will be like a starving person who dreams he is eating and wakes up hungry, or like someone dying of thirst who dreams he is drinking and wakes with a dry throat.
Disregarded Warnings
9 Go ahead and be stupid! Go ahead and be blind! Get drunk without any wine! Stagger without drinking a drop! 10 (A)The Lord has made you drowsy, ready to fall into a deep sleep. The prophets should be the eyes of the people, but God has blindfolded them. 11 The meaning of every prophetic vision will be hidden from you; it will be like a sealed scroll. If you take it to someone who knows how to read and ask him to read it to you, he will say he can't because it is sealed. 12 If you give it to someone who can't read and ask him to read it to you, he will answer that he doesn't know how.
13 (B)The Lord said, “These people claim to worship me, but their words are meaningless, and their hearts are somewhere else. Their religion is nothing but human rules and traditions, which they have simply memorized. 14 (C)So I will startle them with one unexpected blow after another. Those who are wise will turn out to be fools, and all their cleverness will be useless.”
Hope for the Future
15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are doomed! They carry out their schemes in secret and think no one will see them or know what they are doing. 16 (D)They turn everything upside down. Which is more important, the potter or the clay? Can something you have made say, “You didn't make me”? Or can it say, “You don't know what you are doing”?
17 As the saying goes, before long the dense forest will become farmland, and the farmland will go back to forest.
18 When that day comes, the deaf will be able to hear a book being read aloud, and the blind, who have been living in darkness, will open their eyes and see. 19 Poor and humble people will once again find the happiness which the Lord, the holy God of Israel, gives. 20 It will be the end of those who oppress others and show contempt for God. Every sinner will be destroyed. 21 God will destroy those who slander others, those who prevent the punishment of criminals, and those who tell lies to keep honest people from getting justice.
22 So now the Lord, the God of Israel, who rescued Abraham from trouble, says, “My people, you will not be disgraced any longer, and your faces will no longer be pale with shame. 23 When you see the children that I will give you, then you will acknowledge that I am the holy God of Israel. You will honor me and stand in awe of me. 24 Foolish people will learn to understand, and those who are always grumbling will be glad to be taught.”
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
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
