Isaiah 29
29
Woe to David’s City
1Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel,
the city where David settled!
Add year to year
and let your cycle of festivals go on.
2Yet I will besiege Ariel;
she will mourn and lament,
she will be to me like an altar hearth.#29:2 The Hebrew for altar hearth sounds like the Hebrew for Ariel.
3I will encamp against you on all sides;
I will encircle you with towers
and set up my siege works against you.
4Brought low, you will speak from the ground;
your speech will mumble out of the dust.
Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth;
out of the dust your speech will whisper.
5But your many enemies will become like fine dust,
the ruthless hordes like blown chaff.
Suddenly, in an instant,
6the Lord Almighty will come
with thunder and earthquake and great noise,
with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.
7Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
that attack her and her fortress and besiege her,
will be as it is with a dream,
with a vision in the night—
8as when a hungry person dreams of eating,
but awakens hungry still;
as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking,
but awakens faint and thirsty still.
So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.
9Be stunned and amazed,
blind yourselves and be sightless;
be drunk, but not from wine,
stagger, but not from beer.
10The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep:
He has sealed your eyes (the prophets);
he has covered your heads (the seers).
11For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.” 12Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”
13The Lord says:
“These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.#29:13 Hebrew; Septuagint They worship me in vain; / their teachings are merely human rules
14Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”
15Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us? Who will know?”
16You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,
“You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,
“You know nothing”?
17In a very short time, will not Lebanon be turned into a fertile field
and the fertile field seem like a forest?
18In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
19Once more the humble will rejoice in the Lord;
the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20The ruthless will vanish,
the mockers will disappear,
and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down—
21those who with a word make someone out to be guilty,
who ensnare the defender in court
and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice.
22Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob:
“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;
no longer will their faces grow pale.
23When they see among them their children,
the work of my hands,
they will keep my name holy;
they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding;
those who complain will accept instruction.”
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
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Isaiah 29
29
Woe to Jerusalem
1Woe to Ariel,#29:1 Or Altar Hearth, or Lion of God; Hb obscure, also in v. 2 Ariel,
the city where David camped!#2Sm 5:9
Continue year after year;
let the festivals recur.
2I will oppress Ariel,
and there will be mourning and crying,
and she will be to me like an Ariel.
3I will camp in a circle around you;
I will besiege you with earth ramps,
and I will set up my siege towers against you.
4You will be brought down;
you will speak from the ground,
and your words will come from low in the dust.
Your voice will be like that of a spirit from the ground;#Is 8:19
your speech will whisper from the dust.
5Your many foes#29:5 Lit foreigners will be like fine dust,#Is 17:13; 41:15–16
and many of the ruthless, like blowing chaff.
Then suddenly, in an instant,#Is 17:14; 30:13; 47:11; 1Th 5:3
6you will be punished by the Lord of Armies
with thunder, earthquake, and loud noise,
storm, tempest, and a flame of consuming fire.#Ex 9:23; 19:16,19; 20:18; 1Sm 2:10; 12:18; Jb 40:9; Ps 77:18; Zch 14:5; Rv 4:5; 11:13
7All the many nations#Mc 4:11–12; Zch 12:9
going out to battle against Ariel —
all the attackers, the siege works against her,
and those who oppress her —
will then be like a dream, a vision in the night.#Jb 20:8; Ps 73:20; Is 17:14
8It will be like a hungry one who dreams he is eating,
then wakes and is still hungry;
and like a thirsty one who dreams he is drinking,
then wakes and is still thirsty, longing for water.
So it will be for all the many nations
who go to battle against Mount Zion.
9Stop and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
They are drunk,#29:9 LXX, Tg, Vg read Be drunk but not with wine;
they stagger,#29:9 Tg, Vg read wine; stagger but not with beer.#Lk 1:15
10For the Lord has poured out on you
an overwhelming urge to#29:10 Lit you a spirit of sleep;#Ps 69:23; Is 6:9–10; Mc 3:6
he has shut your eyes (the prophets)
and covered your heads (the seers).#Rm 11:8
11For you the entire vision will be like the words of a sealed document.#Is 8:16; Dn 12:4,9; Mt 13:11; Rv 5:1 If it is given to one who can read and he is asked to read it,#29:11 Lit If one gives it to one who knows the document, saying, “Read this, please” he will say, “I can’t read it, because it is sealed.” 12And if the document is given to one who cannot read and he is asked to read it,#29:12 Lit who does not know the document, saying, “Read this, please” he will say, “I can’t read.”
13The Lord said:
These people approach me with their speeches#Ezk 33:31; Mt 15:8–9; Mk 7:6–7
to honor me with lip-service,#29:13 Lit their mouth and honor me with its lips
yet their hearts are far from me,
and human rules direct their worship of me.#29:13 Lit their fearing of me is a taught command of men
14Therefore, I will again confound these people
with wonder after wonder.#Is 6:9–10; 28:21; 65:7; Hab 1:5
The wisdom of their wise will vanish,#Is 44:25; Jr 8:9; 49:7; 1Co 1:19
and the perception of their perceptive will be hidden.
15Woe to those who go to great lengths
to hide their plans from the Lord.#Ps 10:11,13; Is 28:15; 30:1
They do their works in the dark,
and say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?” #Jb 22:13; Is 57:12; Ezk 8:12
16You have turned things around,
as if the potter were the same as the clay.
How can what is made say about its maker,
“He didn’t make me”?#Rm 9:20
How can what is formed
say about the one who formed it,
“He doesn’t understand what he’s doing”?
17Isn’t it true that in just a little while
Lebanon will become an orchard,
and the orchard will seem like a forest?#Ps 84:6; 107:33,35; Is 32:15
18On that day the deaf will hear#Is 35:5; 42:18–19; 43:8; Mt 11:5; Mk 7:37
the words of a document,
and out of a deep darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
19The humble will have joy
after joy in the Lord,
and the poor people will rejoice#Ps 69:32; Is 49:13
in the Holy One of Israel.#Is 1:4
20For the ruthless one will vanish,
the scorner will disappear,#Is 28:14
and all those who lie in wait with evil intent
will be killed —
21those who, with their speech,
accuse a person of wrongdoing,
who set a trap for the one mediating at the city gate
and without cause deprive the righteous of justice.#Is 32:7; Am 5:10,12
22Therefore, the Lord who redeemed Abraham#Is 41:8; 51:2; 63:16 says this about the house of Jacob:
Jacob will no longer be ashamed,
and his face will no longer be pale.
23For when he sees his children,
the work of my hands within his nation,
they will honor my name,
they will honor the Holy One of Jacob#2Sm 23:1; Ps 24:6; 76:6; 114:7; Is 2:3
and stand in awe of the God of Israel.#Is 5:16; 8:13
24Those who are confused will gain understanding,
and those who grumble will accept instruction.
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