Isaiah 29
29
1Tragedy is coming to you Ariel, Ariel the city where David lived! Year after year you have your festivals. 2But I'm going to cause trouble for Ariel; the city will cry and mourn, it will be like an altar hearth#29:2. “Altar hearth”: the part where the sacrifice was burned, generally a messy area of animal remains and ash. In Hebrew the word Ariel can mean “altar” (Ezekiel 43:15-16) or “lion of God.” to me. 3I will surround you, I will besiege you with towers and build ramps to attack you. 4You will be brought down, you will speak from where you're lying on the ground, mumbling in the dust. Your words will come like a ghost from the grave; your voice will be a whisper from the dust.
5But then all your enemies will become like fine dust; all your cruel oppressors like chaff that's blown away. Then suddenly, in no time at all, 6the Lord Almighty will arrive with thunder, earthquake, and tremendous noise, with whirlwind, storm, and flames of fire that burn everything up. 7The nations besieging Ariel, attacking its fortifications and tormenting the people, they will all disappear as if it was a dream! 8It will be like someone hungry dreaming that they're eating but who wakes up still hungry. It will be like someone thirsty dreaming of drinking but who wakes up still weak and thirsty. This is what it will be like for all your enemies, the ones attacking Mount Zion.
9Be shocked and amazed! Make yourselves blind so you can't see! Get drunk, but not from wine! Stagger around, but not from beer! 10For the Lord has made you very sleepy, and he has shut the eyes and covered the heads of those who speak for God and see visions.
11This entire vision is like words in a scroll that is sealed shut. If you give it to someone who knows how to read and say, “Please read it,” they'll say, “I can't read it because it's sealed shut.” 12If you give it to someone who doesn't know how to read and say, “Please read it,” they'll say, “I don't know how to read.”
13The Lord says, “These people come and praise me with their words, and honor me with lip service, but their thoughts are miles away. Their worship of me only consists of them following rules people have taught them. 14So once again I will surprise these people with miracle upon miracle. The wisdom of the wise will die, and the insight of the insightful will disappear.”
15Tragedy is coming to people who take such trouble to hide their plans from the Lord. They work in the dark and say to themselves, “Nobody can see us, can they? Nobody will know, will they?”
16How perverse you are! It's as if the clay was thought of as making the potter! Should something made say to its maker, “You didn't make me”? Can the pot tell the potter, “You don't understand anything”?
17It won't be long and the forests of Lebanon will be turned into a productive field, and a productive field will seem like a forest. 18At that time the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and the eyes of the blind will see through the gloomy darkness what's written there.#29:18. “What's written there”: supplied for clarity. 19The humble will be even happier in the Lord, and the poor will find their joy in the Holy One of Israel. 20Cruel people will no longer exist, the scornful will vanish, and those looking to do evil will be destroyed— 21those who say things to trick others into sin, those who trap people by legal arguments in court, those who lie to mislead the innocent.
22So this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob: “You don't need to be ashamed anymore; your faces won't grow pale with fright any longer. 23When you see all your children and everything I've done for you, then you will regard my character as holy, and you will respect the Holy One of Jacob. You will have reverence for the God of Israel. 24Those who've gone astray will understand their mistakes; those who grumble will learn how to receive instruction.”
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
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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