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
The Siege of Jerusalem
1Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
the city #[2 Sam. 5:9]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.#29:2 Ariel could mean lion of God, or hero (2 Samuel 23:20), or altar hearth (Ezekiel 43:15–16)
3 # [2 Kgs. 25:1; Ezek. 4:2] And I will encamp against you all around,
and will besiege you #[Ezek. 21:22; 26:8]with towers
and I will raise siegeworks against you.
4 # [ch. 2:11, 12] 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 #See ch. 8:19the voice of a ghost,
and from the dust your speech shall whisper.
5But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like #ch. 17:13; Ps. 18:42 small dust,
and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
# [ch. 17:14; 37:36; 2 Kgs. 19:35] And in an instant, suddenly,
6 # [1 Kgs. 19:11, 12] you 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 #[Zech. 12:9]; See Mic. 4:11-13 the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
shall be #ch. 17:14; [Job 20:8]like a dream, a vision of the night.
8 # [Ps. 73:20; 90:5] As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating,
and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, 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.
9Astonish yourselves#29:9 Or Linger awhile and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk,#29:9 Or They are drunk but not with wine;
# [ch. 19:14; 24:20] stagger,#29:9 Or they stagger but not with strong drink!
10 # [ch. 6:10; Rom. 11:8] For 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 #ch. 8:16; Dan. 12:4sealed. 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.”
13And the Lord said:
“Because #Cited Matt. 15:8, 9; Mark 7:6, 7; [Ezek. 33:31] this people #[ch. 1:12; 58:2]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 taught by men,
14therefore, behold, #Hab. 1:5; See ch. 3:1-4 I will again
do wonderful things with this people,
with wonder upon wonder;
and #Jer. 49:7; Cited 1 Cor. 1:19the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
15Ah, #[ch. 30:1] you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
whose deeds are #Ezek. 8:12in the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16 # See ch. 10:15 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
# [Ps. 107:33, 35] until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
18In that day #[ch. 32:3; 35:5; Matt. 11:5] the deaf shall hear
# ver. 12 the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
# [ch. 35:5; Matt. 11:5] the eyes of the blind shall see.
19 # ch. 61:1; [ch. 14:32; Zeph. 3:12; Matt. 5:3] The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
20For the ruthless shall come to nothing
and #ch. 28:14, 22the 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 #Amos 5:10; [Ps. 127:5] lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
and with an empty plea #Amos 5:12turn aside him who is in the right.
22Therefore thus says the Lord, #[ch. 51:2]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,
# ch. 19:25; 60:21; [Ps. 100:3] the work of my hands, in his midst,
they will sanctify my name;
# ch. 8:13 they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24And those #[ch. 28:7]who go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who murmur will accept instruction.”
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