The Siege of Jerusalem

29 Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
    the city (A)where David encamped!
Add year to year;
    let the feasts run their round.
Yet I will distress Ariel,
    and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
    and she shall be to me like an Ariel.[a]
(B)And I will encamp against you all around,
    and will besiege you (C)with towers
    and I will raise siegeworks against you.
(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.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 29:2 Ariel could mean lion of God, or hero (2 Samuel 23:20), or altar hearth (Ezekiel 43:15–16)

Judgment is Coming to Jerusalem

29 “How terrible it will be for you, Aruel, Aruel,[a]
    the city where David encamped!
Year after year,
    let your festivals run their cycle.
Then I’ll besiege Aruel,[b]
    and there will be sorrow and mourning;
        she will become to me like an altar fireplace.[c]
Then I’ll encamp against you like David,[d]
    and I’ll lay siege to you with towers,
raise siege works against you,
and you will be brought down.
You will speak from the ground,
    and your speech will mumble from the dust.
Your voice will come ghostlike from the ground,
    and your speech will whisper from the dust.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 29:1 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read Ariel, Ariel; i.e. a nickname assigned by the prophet for Jerusalem
  2. Isaiah 29:2 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read Ariel, Ariel; i.e. an allusion to Jerusalem
  3. Isaiah 29:2 Lit. an Ariel; i.e. perhaps a pun on the name Aruel
  4. Isaiah 29:3 So 4QIsak MTmss LXX; 1QIsaa MT read you on all sides