Isaiah 29
29
Judgment and Deliverance of Jerusalem
1Ah! Ariel, Ariel,#Ariel: a poetic name for Jerusalem. It has been variously interpreted to mean “lion of God,” “altar hearth of God” (Ez 43:15–16), “city of God,” or “foundation of God.” In v. 2 the term refers to “altar hearth,” i.e., a place of burning for its people (cf. 30:33; 31:9). God will attack Jerusalem, as David did long ago.
city where David encamped!
Let year follow year,
and feast follow feast,#2 Sm 5:6–9.
2But I will bring distress upon Ariel,
and there will be mourning and moaning.
You shall be to me like Ariel:#Is 33:7.
3I will encamp like David against you;
I will circle you with outposts
and set up siege works against you.#2 Kgs 25:1; Ez 4:2.
4You shall speak from beneath the earth,
and from the dust below, your words shall come.
Your voice shall be that of a ghost from the earth,
and your words shall whisper from the dust.#Is 8:19; 1 Sm 28:14.
5The horde of your arrogant shall be like fine dust,
a horde of tyrants like flying chaff.#Is 17:13; Ps 18:43; Jb 21:18.
Then suddenly, in an instant,
6you shall be visited by the Lord of hosts,
With thunder, earthquake, and great noise,
whirlwind, storm, and the flame of consuming fire.#Is 30:27, 30.
7#Just when the attackers think their capture of Jerusalem is certain, the Lord will snatch victory from their hands and save the city. The sudden shift from the Lord’s attack on the city to its deliverance by him is surprising and unexplained; it may reflect the account related in 37:36. Then like a dream,
a vision of the night,
Shall be the horde of all the nations
who make war against Ariel:
All the outposts, the siege works against it,
all who distress it.
8As when a hungry man dreams he is eating
and awakens with an empty stomach,
Or when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking
and awakens faint, his throat parched,
So shall the horde of all the nations be,
who make war against Mount Zion.
Blindness and Perversity
9#Despite their show of piety, Judah’s leaders refused to accept the prophet’s words of assurance. They rejected prophetic advice (cf. 30:10–11), did not consult the prophetic oracle in forming their political plans (30:1–2; 31:1), and tried to hide their plans even from God’s prophet (v. 15), who, they thought, simply did not understand military and political reality. Stupefy yourselves and stay stupid;
blind yourselves and stay blind!
You who are drunk, but not from wine,
who stagger, but not from strong drink!#Is 19:14; 28:7–8.
10For the Lord has poured out on you
a spirit of deep sleep.
He has shut your eyes (the prophets)
and covered your heads (the seers).#Prophets…seers: interpretive glosses. #Is 6:10; Rom 11:8.
11For you the vision of all this has become like the words of a sealed scroll. When it is handed to one who can read, with the request, “Read this,” the reply is, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” 12When the scroll is handed to one who cannot read, with the request, “Read this,” the reply is, “I cannot read.”
13The Lord said:
Since this people draws near with words only
and honors me with their lips alone,
though their hearts are far from me,
And fear of me has become
mere precept of human teaching,#Ez 33:31; Mt 15:8–9; Mk 7:6–7.
14Therefore I will again deal with this people
in surprising and wondrous fashion:
The wisdom of the wise shall perish,
the prudence of the prudent shall vanish.#Jer 49:7; 1 Cor 1:19.
15Ah! You who would hide a plan
too deep for the Lord!
Who work in the dark, saying,
“Who sees us, who knows us?”#Is 30:1–2; 31:1; Ez 8:12; Jn 3:19–20.
16Your perversity is as though the potter
were taken to be the clay:
As though what is made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me!”
Or the vessel should say of the potter,
“He does not understand.”#Is 45:9; Jer 18:6; Rom 9:20.
Redemption#The prophet presents the positive aspects of God’s plan in terms of a series of reversals: an end to pride, ignorance, and injustice. Cf. 32:3–5.
17Surely, in a very little while,
Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard,
and the orchard be considered a forest!#Is 32:15.
18On that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a scroll;
And out of gloom and darkness,
the eyes of the blind shall see.#Is 35:5; 42:6–7.
19The lowly shall again find joy in the Lord,
the poorest rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.#Is 61:1–2.
20For the tyrant shall be no more,
the scoffer shall cease to be;
All who are ready for evil shall be cut off,#Is 28:22.
21those who condemn with a mere word,
Who ensnare the defender at the gate,
and leave the just with an empty claim.#Is 5:23; 10:1–2; Am 5:10, 12.
22Therefore thus says the Lord,
the God of the house of Jacob,
who redeemed Abraham:#Who redeemed Abraham: perhaps by revealing himself and delivering Abraham from idolatrous worship; cf. Gn 12:1–3; 17:1; Jos 24:2–3.
No longer shall Jacob be ashamed,
no longer shall his face grow pale.#Is 45:17.
23For when his children see
the work of my hands in his midst,
They shall sanctify my name;
they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
be in awe of the God of Israel.#Is 8:12–13.
24Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding,
those who find fault shall receive instruction.
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Isaiah 29: NABRE
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Isaiah 29
29
A Message about Jerusalem
1“What sorrow awaits Ariel,#29:1 Ariel sounds like a Hebrew term that means “hearth” or “altar.” the City of David.
Year after year you celebrate your feasts.
2Yet I will bring disaster upon you,
and there will be much weeping and sorrow.
For Jerusalem will become what her name Ariel means—
an altar covered with blood.
3I will be your enemy,
surrounding Jerusalem and attacking its walls.
I will build siege towers
and destroy it.
4Then deep from the earth you will speak;
from low in the dust your words will come.
Your voice will whisper from the ground
like a ghost conjured up from the grave.
5“But suddenly, your ruthless enemies will be crushed
like the finest of dust.
Your many attackers will be driven away
like chaff before the wind.
Suddenly, in an instant,
6I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will act for you
with thunder and earthquake and great noise,
with whirlwind and storm and consuming fire.
7All the nations fighting against Jerusalem#29:7 Hebrew Ariel.
will vanish like a dream!
Those who are attacking her walls
will vanish like a vision in the night.
8A hungry person dreams of eating
but wakes up still hungry.
A thirsty person dreams of drinking
but is still faint from thirst when morning comes.
So it will be with your enemies,
with those who attack Mount Zion.”
9Are you amazed and incredulous?
Don’t you believe it?
Then go ahead and be blind.
You are stupid, but not from wine!
You stagger, but not from liquor!
10For the Lord has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep.
He has closed the eyes of your prophets and visionaries.
11All the future events in this vision are like a sealed book to them. When you give it to those who can read, they will say, “We can’t read it because it is sealed.” 12When you give it to those who cannot read, they will say, “We don’t know how to read.”
13And so the Lord says,
“These people say they are mine.
They honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
And their worship of me
is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.#29:13 Greek version reads Their worship is a farce, / for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God. Compare Mark 7:7.
14Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites
with amazing wonders.
The wisdom of the wise will pass away,
and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.”
15What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the Lord,
who do their evil deeds in the dark!
“The Lord can’t see us,” they say.
“He doesn’t know what’s going on!”
16How foolish can you be?
He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay!
Should the created thing say of the one who made it,
“He didn’t make me”?
Does a jar ever say,
“The potter who made me is stupid”?
17Soon—and it will not be very long—
the forests of Lebanon will become a fertile field,
and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops.
18In that day the deaf will hear words read from a book,
and the blind will see through the gloom and darkness.
19The humble will be filled with fresh joy from the Lord.
The poor will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20The scoffer will be gone,
the arrogant will disappear,
and those who plot evil will be killed.
21Those who convict the innocent
by their false testimony will disappear.
A similar fate awaits those who use trickery to pervert justice
and who tell lies to destroy the innocent.
22That is why the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the people of Israel,#29:22 Hebrew of Jacob. See note on 14:1.
“My people will no longer be ashamed
or turn pale with fear.
23For when they see their many children
and all the blessings I have given them,
they will recognize the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob.
They will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24Then the wayward will gain understanding,
and complainers will accept instruction.
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