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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Isaiah 29: ERV
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Isaiah 29
29
Woe to David’s City
(Luke 19:41–44)
1Woe to you, O Ariel,#29:1 Or Altar Hearth or Lion of God; probably a nickname for Jerusalem; twice in this verse, twice in verse 2, and once in verse 7
the city of Ariel where David camped!
Year upon year
let your festivals recur.
2And I will constrain Ariel,
and there will be mourning and lamentation;
she will be like an altar hearth #29:2 Or like Ariel; see the footnote for verse 1. before Me.
3I will camp in a circle around you;
I will besiege you with towers
and set up siege works against you.
4You will be brought low,
you will speak from the ground,
and out of the dust
your words will be muffled.
Your voice will be like a spirit from the ground;
your speech will whisper out of the dust.
5But your many foes will be like fine dust,
the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff.
Then suddenly, in an instant,
6you will be visited by the Lord of Hosts
with thunder and earthquake and loud noise,
with windstorm and tempest and consuming flame of fire.
7All the many nations
going out to battle against Ariel—
even all who war against her,
laying siege and attacking her—
will be like a dream,
like a vision in the night,
8as when a hungry man dreams he is eating,
then awakens still hungry;
as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking,
then awakens faint and parched.
So will it be for all the many nations
who go to battle against Mount Zion.
9Stop and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be sightless;
be drunk, but not with wine;
stagger, but not from strong drink.
10For the Lord has poured out on you
a spirit of deep sleep.
He has shut your eyes, O prophets;
He has covered your heads, O seers.
11And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” 12Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.”
13Therefore the Lord said:
“These people draw near to Me with their mouths
and honor Me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from Me.
Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.#29:13 Hebrew; LXX They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men. Cited in Matthew 15:8–9 and Mark 7:6–7
14Therefore I will again confound these people
with wonder upon wonder.
The wisdom of the wise will vanish,
and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.#29:14 Hebrew; LXX I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will hide the intelligence of the intelligent. Cited in 1 Corinthians 1:19”
15Woe to those who dig deep
to hide their plans from the Lord.
In darkness they do their works and say,
“Who sees us, and who will know?”
16You have turned things upside down,
as if the potter were regarded as clay.
Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,
“He did not make me”?#29:16 Cited in Romans 9:20
Can the pottery say of the potter,
“He has no understanding”?
Sanctification for the Godly
17In a very short time,
will not Lebanon become an orchard,
and the orchard seem like a forest?
18On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,
and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
19The humble will increase their joy in the Lord,
and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20For the ruthless will vanish,
the mockers will disappear,
and all who look for evil
will be cut down—
21those who indict a man with a word,
who ensnare the mediator at the gate,
and who with false charges
deprive the innocent of justice.
22Therefore the Lord who redeemed Abraham says of the house of Jacob:
“No longer will Jacob be ashamed
and no more will his face grow pale.
23For when he sees his children around him,
the work of My hands,
they will honor My name,
they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
and they will stand in awe
of the God of Israel.
24Then the wayward in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who grumble will accept instruction.”
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The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain.