Isaiah 29
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 29
The Siege of Jerusalem
1 [a]Woe to Ariel, Ariel,[b]
the city where David encamped.
Year after year will pass,
and the festivals will be celebrated annually.
2 Yet I will inflict distress upon Ariel,
and there will be endless mourning and lamentation
as she becomes like an altar of fire.
3 I will encamp against you like David,
completely surround you with my forces
and erect siege-works against you.
4 Then, as you lie prostrate, you will speak,
and from the dust of the earth
your words will come forth.
Your voice will rise from the ground
like that of a ghost,
and your words will whisper out of the dust.
5 But the vast throng of your enemies
will be like fine dust,
and the horde of your ruthless foes
will be like flying chaff.
Then suddenly, in an instant,
6 you will be visited by the Lord of hosts,
accompanied by thunder and earthquake and intense din,
by whirlwind and tempest
and the flame of devouring fire.
7 Then the horde of all the nations
that fight against Ariel,
all who fight against her,
besieging her and causing her great anguish,
will fade away like a dream,
like a vision in the night.
8 Just as when a hungry man dreams of eating
and then awakens with an empty stomach,
or as when a thirsty man dreams of drinking
and then awakens to find his throat still parched,
so will it be with the horde of all the nations
that make war against Mount Zion.
Hypocrisy and Deception
9 If you stupefy yourselves,
you will remain in a stupor.
If you blind yourselves,
you will remain blind.
Be drunk, but not on wine;
stagger, but not from strong drink.
10 For the Lord has poured out on you
a spirit of deep sleep;
he has closed your eyes, you prophets,
and covered your heads, you seers.
11 The prophetic vision of all this has become like the words of a sealed scroll. If you hand it to someone who is able to read and you say to him, “Please read this,” he will answer, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” 12 And if you hand it to someone who cannot read and say to him, “Please read this,” he will reply, “I cannot read.”
13 [c]Then the Lord said:
Because this people draws near to me
only with their words
and honors me only with their lips
while their hearts are far from me,
and their reverence for me has become
nothing but a human commandment
that has been memorized,
14 therefore, I will continue to deal with this people
in shocking and amazing ways.
The wisdom of their wise men will perish,
and the understanding of their discerning men will cease.
15 Woe to those who go to extreme measures
to conceal their plans from the Lord,
who perpetrate their evil deeds in the dark,
saying, “Who sees us? Who knows where we are?”
16 Such people are truly perverse.
Is the potter no better than the clay?
Can what is made say of its maker,
“He did not make me”?
Can a pot say of the potter,
“He really has no particular skill”?
Deliverance
17 It will be but a very short time
before Lebanon will become a fertile field
and its orchards will be regarded as forests.
18 On that day the deaf will hear
the words of a book being read,
and the eyes of the blind will see,
delivered from gloom and darkness.
19 The lowly will once again rejoice in the Lord,
and those who are poor will exult
in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the tyrants will be no more
and the arrogant will cease to exist;
all those who revel in evil deeds will be destroyed:
21 those whose lies cause a man to be judged guilty,
those who set traps to capture just arbiters
and thereby deprive the innocent
from being granted justice.
22 Therefore, thus says the Lord,
the deliverer of Abraham,
in regard to the house of Jacob:
No longer will the house of Jacob be ashamed,
nor will their faces grow pale.
23 For when they see in their midst
their children, the work of my hands,
they will acknowledge my name as holy.
They will reverence the Holy One of Jacob
and stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Those who err in spirit will gain understanding,
and those who are obstinate will receive instruction.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 29:1 The visitation of God is a dramatic moment because it brings both punishment and salvation. Jerusalem will soon experience it.
- Isaiah 29:1 Ariel: “lion of God,” a symbolic name of Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 29:13 Jesus will remind the Pharisees of this passage of Isaiah (Mt 15:7). “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 7:21).
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.
以赛亚书 29
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
耶路撒冷被围
29 耶和华说：“亚利伊勒[a]，亚利伊勒，
大卫安营的城啊！
你有祸了！
尽管你年复一年地守节期，
2 我还是要叫你受苦。
你必悲伤哀号，
在我面前成为一座祭坛。
3 我必把你团团围住，
屯兵围困你，
修筑高台攻打你。
4 你必一败涂地，
躺在尘土中说话，
你细微的声音从土中传来，
好像地下幽灵的声音。
你耳语般的低声从土中传来。
5 但你的众仇敌必像纤细的尘埃一样消散，
众多的残暴之徒必如被风刮去的糠秕。
突然，刹那之间，
6 万军之耶和华必带着雷轰、地震、巨响、旋风、暴风和烈火来临。
7 攻打、围困耶路撒冷及其堡垒的各国军队必如梦幻，
如夜间的异象一样消失。
8 他们好像饥饿的人梦中吃饭，
醒来仍然饥饿；
像口渴的人梦中喝水，
醒来仍然渴得发昏。
攻打锡安山的各国军队结局都必如此。”
9 你们驻足惊奇吧！
你们自我蒙蔽，继续瞎眼吧！
你们醉了，但不是因为酒；
你们东倒西歪，但不是因为烈酒。
10 因为耶和华把沉睡的灵倾倒在你们身上，
祂封住你们的眼睛，
盖住你们的头。
你们的眼睛就是先知，
你们的头就是先见。
11 对你们而言，所有的启示都好像封了印的书卷。你们把书卷交给识字的人读，他会说：“我不能读，这书卷是封着的。” 12 你们把书卷交给不识字的人读，他会说：“我不识字。”
13 主说：“这些人嘴上亲近我，
尊崇我，心却远离我。
他们敬拜我不过是遵行人定的规条。
14 所以，我要再次行奇妙无比的事，使他们震惊。
他们智者的智慧必泯灭，
明哲的聪明必消失。”
15 那些向耶和华深藏计谋的人有祸了！
他们暗中行事，
自以为无人看见也无人知道。
16 他们太愚蠢了！
窑匠怎能跟泥土相提并论？
被造的怎能对造它的说：
“你没有造我”？
陶器怎能对陶匠说：
“你什么也不懂”？
17 再过不久，黎巴嫩将变成沃野，
沃野上庄稼茂密如林。
18 那时，聋子必听见那书卷上的话，
黑暗中的瞎子必能看见。
19 卑微的人必因耶和华而欢喜，
贫穷的人必因以色列的圣者而快乐。
20 残暴之徒必消失，
嘲讽者必绝迹，
所有心怀不轨者必被铲除。
21 他们诬陷人，
暗算审判官，
冤枉无辜。
22 因此，关于雅各家，
救赎亚伯拉罕的耶和华说：
“雅各的子孙必不再羞愧，
脸上再无惧色。
23 因为他们看见我赐给他们的子孙时，
必尊我的名为圣，
必尊雅各的圣者为圣，
必敬畏以色列的上帝。
24 心里迷惘的必明白真理，
发怨言的必欣然受教。”
Footnotes
- 29:1 “亚利伊勒”在此处用来指锡安/耶路撒冷，2节、7节同。
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