Isaiah 29
29
XXIX
1Wo to Ariel, to Ariel,
The city where David dwelt!
Add ye year to year;
Let the feasts go round in their course.
2Yet I will bring distress upon Ariel;
And there shall be mourning and sorrow:
And it shall be unto me as Ariel.
3And I will encamp against thee round about,
And I will distress thee by a garrison;
And I will erect bulwarks against thee.
4And thou shalt be brought low; and thou shalt speak out of the ground,
And from out of the dust shall thy speech be heard in a low tone;
And thy voice shall come out of the ground, like that of a necromancer:
And from out of the dust shall thy speech whisper.
5Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust,
And like the flitting chaff the multitude of the terrible ones;
Yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
6From Jehovah of hosts cometh the visitation,
With thunder, and earthquake, and a mighty voice;
With storm, and tempest, and flame of devouring fire.
7And like a dream, a night vision, shall be
The multitude of all the nations,
That fight against Ariel;
Even all that fight against her, and her fortresses,
And that distress her.
8It shall even be,
As when a hungry man dreameth, and behold, he eateth;
But he awaketh, and his soul is empty:
Or, as when a thirsty man dreameth, and behold, he drinketh;
But he awaketh, and behold, he is faint; and his soul hath a craving desire:
So shall the multitude of all nations be,
That fight against mount Zion.
9Stare ye now, and wonder!
Be ye dazzled and blinded!
They are drunken, but not with wine;
They stagger, but not with strong drink.
10For Jehovah hath poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep,
And he hath closed up your eyes:
The prophets, and your rulers, the seers hath he blindfolded.
11So that the whole vision is to you like the words of a sealed book,
Which men deliver to one that knoweth letters,
Saying, Read this, I pray thee;
And he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed up:
12And the book is delivered to one that knoweth not letters,
Saying, Read this, I pray thee;
And he saith, I know not letters.
13Wherefore the Lord hath said:
Forasmuch as this people draw near me
With their mouth, and with their lips do honour me,
But have removed their heart far from me;
And their fear of me is a precept taught of men:
14Therefore, behold, I will proceed to deal wonderfully
With this people; so wonderfully and astonishingly,
That the wisdom of the wise shall perish.
And the understanding of the prudent shall disappear.
15Wo unto them that seek with deep cunning to hide their counsel from Jehovah;
Whose deeds are in the dark;
And they say,
Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
16O your perverseness!
Shall the potter be esteemed as the day?
Shall the work say of the workman, He hath not made me?
And shall the thing formed say of the former of it, He hath no understanding?
17Is it not yet a very little while,
And Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
18And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of this book;
And out of obscurity, and out of darkness,
Shall the eyes of the blind see.
19The meek also shall increase their joy in Jehovah;
And the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20For the oppressor hath ceased, and the scoffer is no more;
And all that were watching to do evil are utterly cut off:
21They who would bring in a man guilty for a word,
And lay snare for him when pleading his cause in the gate;
And for nought turn aside the just.
22Wherefore thus saith Jehovah to the house of Jacob,
He who hath redeemed Abraham:
Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
Neither shall his face any more wax pale:
23For when his children shall see the work of my hands in the midst of themselves,
They shall sanctify my name:
Yea, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
And shall fear the God of Israel.
24They also that have erred in spirit shall be full of understanding,
And murmurers shall learn knowledge.
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Isaiah 29: TEG
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.
Isaiah 29
29
God Punishes Jerusalem
1 God says, “Look at Ariel,#29:1 Ariel A name for the altar at the Temple in Jerusalem. This name means “hearth” or “fireplace” but sounds like the word meaning “Lion of God.” Also in verse 7. the city where David camped. Keep on having your festivals, year after year. 2But I will punish Ariel. The city will be filled with sadness and crying, but it will always be my Ariel.
3“I will put armies all around you, Ariel. I will raise war towers against you. 4You will be pulled to the ground. Your voice will rise from the ground like the voice of a ghost. Your words come like a whisper from the dirt.”
5There will be so many foreigners that they will be like dust. Cruel people will be like the chaff blowing in the wind. Then suddenly, 6the Lord All-Powerful will punish you with earthquakes, thunder, and loud noises. There will be storms, strong winds, and a burning, destructive fire. 7Many nations will fight against Ariel. It will be a nightmare. Armies will surround Ariel and punish her. 8But it will also be like a dream to those armies. They will not get what they want. It will be like a hungry man dreaming about food. When the man wakes up, he is still hungry. It will be like a thirsty man dreaming about water. When the man wakes up, he is still thirsty. The same thing is true about all the nations fighting against Zion. Those nations will not get what they want.
9Be surprised and amazed!
You will become drunk, but not from wine.
Look and be amazed!
You will stumble and fall, but not from beer.
10The Lord will make you sleepy.
He will close your eyes. (The prophets are your eyes.)
He will cover your heads. (The prophets are your heads.)
11To you my words are like the words in a book that is closed and sealed.#29:11 sealed A piece of clay or wax was put on the closed book to show that the book should not be opened. You can give the book to someone who can read and tell that person to read it. But that person will say, “I cannot read the book. It is closed and I cannot open it.” 12Or you can give the book to someone who cannot read and tell that person to read it. That person will say, “I cannot read the book because I don’t know how to read.”
13The Lord says, “These people come to honor me with words, but I am not really important to them. The worship they give me is nothing but human rules they have memorized. 14So I will continue to amaze them by doing powerful and amazing things. Their wise men will lose their wisdom. Even the most intelligent among them will not be able to understand.”
15Look at them! They try to hide things from the Lord. They think he will not understand. They do their evil things in darkness. They tell themselves: “No one can see us. No one will know who we are.”
16You turn things upside down. You think the clay is equal to the potter. You think that something that is made can tell the one who made it, “You did not make me!” This is like a pot telling its maker, “You know nothing.”
A Better Time Is Coming
17This is the truth: After a very short time, Lebanon will become rich farmland, and the farmland will be like thick forests. 18The deaf will hear the words in the book. The blind will see through the darkness and fog. 19The Lord will make poor people happy. The poorest people will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20This will happen when the people who are mean and cruel have come to an end. It will happen when those who enjoy doing bad things are gone. 21(They lie about good people. They try to trap people in court. They try to destroy innocent people.)
22So the Lord, who made Abraham free, speaks to Jacob’s family. He says, “Now the people of Jacob will not be embarrassed and ashamed. 23Yes, when they see all their children, the children I myself have made for them, they will honor my name as holy. They will honor#29:23 honor Or “treat as holy.” the Holy One of Jacob, and they will respect the God of Israel. 24Many of these people did not understand, so they did what was wrong. They complained, but now they will learn their lesson.”
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