Isaiah 29
29
Warnings to Jerusalem
1How terrible it will be for you, Jerusalem.
You are the city where David camped.
Her festivals have continued
year after year.
2I will attack Jerusalem.
That city will be filled with sadness and crying.
It will be like an altar to me.
3I will put armies all around you, Jerusalem.
I will surround you with towers.
I will build devices around you to attack you.
4You will be pulled down and will speak from the ground.
I will hear your voice rising from the ground.
It will sound like the voice of a ghost.
Your words will come like a whisper from the dirt.
5Your many enemies will become like fine dust.
The groups of cruel people will be like chaff that is blown away.
Everything will happen very quickly.
6The Lord of heaven’s armies will come.
He will come with thunder, earthquakes and great noises.
He will come with storms, strong winds and a fire that destroys.
7Then all the nations that fight against Jerusalem
will be like a dream.
All the nations that surround and attack her
will be like a vision in the night.
8They will be like a hungry man who dreams he is eating.
But when he wakes up, he is still hungry.
They will be like a thirsty man who dreams he is drinking.
But when he wakes up, he is still weak and thirsty.
It will be the same way with all the nations
who fight against Mount Zion.
9Be surprised and amazed.
Blind yourselves so that you cannot see.
Become drunk, but not from wine.
Trip and fall, but not from beer.
10The Lord has made you go into a deep sleep.
He has closed your eyes. (The prophets are your eyes.)
He has covered your heads. (The seers are your heads.)
11This vision is like the words of a book that is closed and sealed. You may give the book to someone who can read. And you may tell that person to read it. But he will say, “I can’t read the book. It is closed, and I can’t open it.” 12Or you may give the book to someone who cannot read. You may tell him to read the book. But he will say, “I can’t read it because I don’t know how to read.”
13The Lord says:
“These people say they love me.
They show honor to me with words.
But their hearts are far from me.
The honor they show me
is nothing but human rules they have memorized.
14So I will continue to amaze these people
by doing more and more miracles.
Their wise men will lose their wisdom.
Their wise men will not be able to understand.”
Warnings About Other Nations
15How terrible it will be for those who try
to hide things from the Lord.
How terrible it will be for those who do their work in darkness.
They think no one will see them or know what they do.
16You are confused.
You think the clay is equal to the potter.
You think that an object can tell the person who made it,
“You didn’t make me.”
This is like a pot telling its maker,
“You don’t know anything.”
A Better Time Is Coming
17In a very short time, Lebanon will become rich farmland.
And the rich farmland will seem like a forest.
18At that time the deaf will hear the words in a book.
Instead of having darkness and gloom, the blind will see.
19The Lord will make the poor people happy.
They will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20Then the people without mercy will come to an end.
Those who do not respect God will disappear.
Those who enjoy doing evil will be gone.
21Those who lie about others in court will be gone.
Those who trap people in court will be gone.
Those who lie and take justice from innocent people in court will be gone.
22The Lord set Abraham free. This Lord speaks to the family of Jacob.
“Now the people of Jacob will not be ashamed.
They will not be disgraced any longer.
23They will see all their children,
the children I made with my hands.
And they will say my name is holy.
The people will agree that the Holy One of Jacob is holy.
They will respect the God of Israel.
24People who do wrong will now understand.
Those who complain will accept being taught.”
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Isaiah 29: ICB
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Isaiah 29
29
Jerusalem Is Warned
1Woe (judgment is coming) to #Hebrew for “Lion of God,” referring to Jerusalem.Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David [once] camped!
Add #Lit year to year.yet another year; let the feasts run their course [but only one year more].
2Then I will harass Ariel,
And she will be a city of mourning and lamenting (crying out in grief)
Yet she will be like an #“Ariel” and the Hebrew word for “altar hearth” are spelled and pronounced the same.Ariel [an altar hearth] to Me.
3I will camp against you and encircle you,
And I will hem you in with siege works,
And I will raise fortifications against you.
4Then you [Jerusalem] will be brought low,
You will speak from the earth,
And from the dust where you lie face down
Your muffled words will come.
Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the earth [like one produced by a medium],
And your speech will whisper and squeak from the dust.
5But the multitude of your enemies [that assault you] will become like fine dust,
And the multitude of the tyrants like the chaff which #Lit passes.blows away;
And it will happen in an instant, suddenly [that your enemy is destroyed].
6You will be punished by the Lord of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise,
With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.
7And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel (Jerusalem),
Even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,
Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.
8It will be as when a hungry man dreams
That he is eating,
But when he awakens, his #Lit soul is empty.hunger is not satisfied;
Or as when a thirsty man dreams
That he is drinking,
But when he awakens, in fact, he is faint
And his thirst is not quenched.
So will the multitude of all the nations be
Who fight against Mount Zion.
9Stop and take some time and wonder [at this prophecy],
Blind yourselves and be blinded [at its fulfillment by your spiritual incompetence].
They are drunk, but not from wine;
They stagger, but not from strong drink.
10For the Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep.
He has closed your eyes, [you who are] the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, [you who are] the seers.
11The entire vision [of all these things] will be to you like the words of a scroll that is sealed, which they give to one who can read, saying, “Read this, please,” he shall say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12Then the book will be given to the one who cannot read, saying, “Read this, please.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”
13Then the Lord said,
“Because this nation approaches [Me only] with their words
And honors Me [only] with their lip service,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their reverence for Me is a tradition that is learned by rote [without any regard for its meaning],
14Therefore, listen carefully, I will again do marvelous and amazing things with this people, wonderful and astonishing things;
And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the understanding of their discerning men will be hidden.”
15Woe (judgment is coming) to those who [try to] deeply hide their plans from the Lord,
Whose deeds are done in a dark place,
And who say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
16You turn things upside down [with your perversity]!
Shall the potter be considered equal with the clay,
That the thing that is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;
Or the thing that is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?
Blessing after Discipline
17Is it not yet a very little while
Until Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field,
And the fertile field regarded as a forest?
18On that day the deaf will hear the words of a book,
And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see [the words of the book].
19The afflicted also will increase their joy in the Lord,
And the needy of mankind will rejoice and celebrate in the Holy One of Israel.
20For the tyrant will come to an end and the scorner will be finished,
Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off—
21Those who cause a person to be condemned with a [false] word,
And lay a trap for him who upholds justice at the [city] gate,
And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.
22Therefore, the Lord, who redeemed Abraham [from paganism] says this, concerning the house of Jacob (Israel):
“Jacob will not be ashamed, nor will his face turn pale [with disappointment because of his children’s degenerate behavior];
23For when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My Name;
They will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
And will stand in awe and reverent fear of the God of Israel.
24Those who err in mind will know the truth,
And those who criticize and murmur discontentedly will accept instruction.
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