Isaias (Isaiah) 29
29
1WOE to Ariel, to Ariel the city which David took! Year is added to year: the solemnities are at an end.
2And I will make a trench about Ariel, and it shall be in sorrow and mourning, and it shall be to me as Ariel.
3And I will make a circle round about thee, and will cast up a rampart against thee, and raise up bulwarks to besiege thee.
4Thou shalt be brought down: thou shalt speak out of the earth. And thy speech shall be heard out of the ground: and thy voice shall be from the earth like that of the python: and out of the ground thy speech shall mutter.
5And the multitude of them that fan thee shall be like small dust: and, as ashes passing away, the multitude of them that have prevailed against thee.
6And it shall be at an instant suddenly. A visitation shall come from the Lord of hosts in thunder, and with earthquake, and with a great noise of whirlwind and tempest, and with the flame of devouring fire.
7And the multitude of all nations that have fought against Ariel shall be as the dream of a vision by night, and all that have fought, and besieged and prevailed against it.
8And as he that is hungry dreameth and eateth, but when he is awake, his soul is empty: and as he that is thirsty dreameth and drinketh, and after he is awake is yet faint with thirst, and his soul is empty: so shall be the multitude of all the Gentiles that have fought against mount Sion.
9Be astonished and wonder waver and stagger: be drunk, and not with wine: stagger, and not with drunkenness.
10For the Lord hath mingled for you the spirit of a deep sleep: he will shut up your eyes: he will cover your prophets and princes, that see visions.
11And the vision of all shall be unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which when they shall deliver to one that is learned, they shall say: Read this. And he shall answer: I cannot, for it is sealed.
12And the book shall be given to one that knoweth no letters, and it shall be said to him: Read. And he shall answer: I know no letters.
13And the Lord said: Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips glorify me, but their heart is far from me, and they have feared me with the commandment and doctrines of men:
14Therefore, behold, I will proceed to cause an admiration in this people, by a great and wonderful miracle: for wisdom shall perish from their wise men, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
15Woe to you that are deep of heart, to hide your counsel from the Lord! And their works are in the dark, and they say: Who seeth us, and who knoweth us?
16This thought of yours is perverse: as if the clay should think against the potter, and the work should say to the maker thereof: Thou madest me not. Or the thing framed should say to him that fashioned it: Thou understandest not.
17Is it not yet a very little while, and Libanus shall be turned into charmel, and Charmel shall be esteemed as a forest?
18And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book: and out of darkness and obscurity the eyes of the blind shall see.
19And the meek shall increase their joy in the Lord: and the poor men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20For he that did prevail hath failed; the scorner is consumed; and they are all cut off that watched for iniquity:
21That made men sin by word, and supplanted him that reproved them in the gate, and declined in vain from the just.
22Therefore, thus saith the Lord to the house of Jacob, he that redeemed Abraham: Jacob shall not now be confounded, neither shall his countenance now be ashamed:
23But when he shall see his children, the work of my hands in the midst of him sanctifying my name. And they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob: and shall glorify the God of Israel.
24And they that erred in spirit shall know understanding: and they that murmured shall learn the law.
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Isaias (Isaiah) 29: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Isaiah 29
29
The Fate of Jerusalem
1God's altar, Jerusalem itself, is doomed! The city where David camped is doomed! Let another year or two come and go, with its feasts and festivals, 2and then God will bring disaster on the city that is called “God's altar”. There will be weeping and wailing, and the whole city will be like an altar covered with blood. 3God will attack the city, surround it, and besiege it. 4Jerusalem will be like a ghost struggling to speak from under the ground, a muffled voice coming from the dust.
5Jerusalem, all the foreigners who attack you will be blown away like dust, and their terrifying armies will fly away like straw. Suddenly and unexpectedly 6the LORD Almighty will rescue you with violent thunderstorms and earthquakes. He will send tempests and raging fire; 7then all the armies of the nations attacking the city of God's altar, all their weapons and equipment — everything — will vanish like a dream, like something imagined in the night. 8All the nations that assemble to attack Jerusalem will be like a starving person who dreams he is eating and wakes up hungry, or like someone dying of thirst who dreams he is drinking and wakes with a dry throat.
Disregarded Warnings
9Go ahead and be stupid! Go ahead and be blind! Get drunk without any wine! Stagger without drinking a drop! 10#Rom 11.8The LORD has made you drowsy, ready to fall into a deep sleep. The prophets should be the eyes of the people, but God has blindfolded them. 11The meaning of every prophetic vision will be hidden from you; it will be like a sealed scroll. If you take it to someone who knows how to read and ask him to read it to you, he will say he can't because it is sealed. 12If you give it to someone who can't read and ask him to read it to you, he will answer that he doesn't know how.
13 #
Mt 15.8–9; Mk 7.6–7 The Lord said, “These people claim to worship me, but their words are meaningless, and their hearts are somewhere else. Their religion is nothing but human rules and traditions, which they have simply memorized. 14#1 Cor 1.19So I will startle them with one unexpected blow after another. Those who are wise will turn out to be fools, and all their cleverness will be useless.”
Hope for the Future
15Those who try to hide their plans from the LORD are doomed! They carry out their schemes in secret and think no one will see them or know what they are doing. 16#Is 45.9They turn everything upside down. Which is more important, the potter or the clay? Can a thing which someone has made say to its maker, “You didn't make me”? Or “You don't know what you are doing”?
17As the saying goes, before long the dense forest will become farmland, and the farmland will go back to forest.
18When that day comes, the deaf will be able to hear a book being read aloud, and the blind, who have been living in darkness, will open their eyes and see. 19Poor and humble people will once again find the happiness which the LORD, the holy God of Israel, gives. 20It will be the end of those who oppress others and show contempt for God. Every sinner will be destroyed. 21God will destroy those who slander others, those who prevent the punishment of criminals, and those who tell lies to keep honest men from getting justice.
22So now the LORD, the God of Israel, who rescued Abraham from trouble, says, “My people, you will not be disgraced any longer, and your faces will no longer be pale with shame. 23When you see the children that I will give you, then you will acknowledge that I am the holy God of Israel. You will honour me and stand in awe of me. 24Foolish people will learn to understand, and those who are always grumbling will be glad to be taught.”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.