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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Isaiah 29: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Isaiah 29
29
1Ho Ariel, Ariel,
the city where David encamped!
Add year to year;
let the feasts run their round.
2Yet I will distress Ariel,
and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
and she shall be to me like an Ariel.
3And I will encamp against you round about,
and will besiege you with towers
and I will raise siegeworks against you.
4Then deep from the earth you shall speak,
from low in the dust your words shall come;
your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost,
and your speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5But the multitude of your foes#29.5 Cn: Heb strangers shall be like small dust,
and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
And in an instant, suddenly,
6you 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.
7And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.
8As when a hungry man dreams he is eating
and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or as when a thirsty man dreams 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.
9Stupefy yourselves and be in a stupor,
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk, but not with wine;
stagger, but not with strong drink!
10For 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.
11And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”
13 #
Mt 15.8-9; Mk 7.6-7. And the Lord said:
“Because this people 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 of men learned by rote;
14 #
1 Cor 1.19. therefore, behold, I will again
do marvelous things with this people,
wonderful and marvelous;
and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hid.”
15Woe to those who hide deep from the Lord their counsel,
whose deeds are in the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16 #
Is 45.9; Rom 9.20. 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”?
17Is it not yet a very little while
until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
18 #
Mt 11.5. In that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind shall see.
19The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
20For the ruthless shall come to naught and the scoffer cease,
and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
21who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right.
22Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
no more shall his face grow pale.
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 of the God of Israel.
24And those who err in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who murmur will accept instruction.”
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America