Isaiah 29:1-24
29 “Woe to Arʹi·el,* Arʹi·el, the city where David encamped!+
Continue year after year;Let the cycle of festivals+ continue.
2 But I will bring distress on Arʹi·el,+And there will be mourning and lamentation,+And she will become to me like an altar hearth of God.+
3 I will encamp on all sides against you,And I will besiege you with a palisadeAnd raise up siegeworks against you.+
4 You will be brought low;From the ground you will speak,And what you say will be muffled by dust.
Your voice will come from the ground+Like the voice of a spirit medium,And your words will chirp from the dust.
5 The crowd of your enemies* will be like fine powder,+The crowd of the tyrants just like the blowing chaff.+
And it will happen in an instant, suddenly.+
6 Jehovah of armies will give you his attentionWith thunder and earthquake and a great noise,With storm wind and tempest and the flames of a consuming fire.”+
7 Then the crowd of all the nations waging war against Arʹi·el+—All those waging war against her,The siege towers against her,And those bringing distress on her—Will become like a dream, a vision of the night.
8 Yes, it will be just as when someone hungry dreams that he is eating,But he wakes up hungry,*And as when someone thirsty dreams that he is drinking,But he wakes up tired and thirsty.*
So it will happen with the crowd of all the nationsThat wage war against Mount Zion.+
9 Be stunned and amazed;+Blind yourselves and be blinded.+
They are drunk, but not with wine;They are staggering, but not from alcohol.
10 For Jehovah has poured a spirit of deep sleep on you;+He has closed your eyes, the prophets,+And he has covered your heads, the visionaries.+
11 Every vision becomes for you like the words of a sealed book.+ When they give it to someone who can read, saying: “Read this out loud, please,” he will say: “I cannot, for it is sealed up.”
12 And when they give the book to someone who cannot read, saying: “Read this, please,” he will say: “I cannot read at all.”
13 Jehovah says: “This people approach me with their mouthAnd they honor me with their lips,+But their heart is far removed from me;And their fear of me is based on commands of men that they have been taught.+
14 Therefore, I am the One who will again do wonderful things with this people,+With wonder upon wonder;And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,And the understanding of their discreet men will be hidden.”+
15 Woe to those who go to great lengths to conceal their plans* from Jehovah.+
Their deeds are done in a dark place,While they say: “Who sees us?
Who knows about us?”+
16 How you twist things!*
Should the potter be regarded the same as the clay?+
Should what is made say about its maker:
“He did not make me”?+
And does what is formed say about its former:
“He shows no understanding”?+
17 In just a short time, Lebʹa·non will be turned into an orchard,+And the orchard will be regarded as a forest.+
18 In that day the deaf will hear the words of the book,And out of the gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.+
19 The meek will rejoice greatly in Jehovah,And the poor among men will be joyful in the Holy One of Israel.+
20 For the tyrant will be no more,The boaster will come to his finish,And all those keeping alert to do harm will be destroyed,+
21 Those who with a false word make others guilty,Who lay traps for the defender* in the city gate,+And who with empty arguments deny justice to the righteous one.+
22 So this is what Jehovah, who redeemed Abraham,+ says to the house of Jacob:
“Jacob will no longer be ashamed,And no more will his face grow pale.*+
23 For when he sees his children,Who are the work of my hands, in his midst,+They will sanctify my name;Yes, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,And they will stand in awe of the God of Israel.+
24 Those who are wayward in spirit will acquire understanding,And those who complain will accept instruction.”
Footnotes
^ Possibly meaning “The Altar Hearth of God,” apparently referring to Jerusalem.
^ Lit., “strangers.”
^ Or “and his soul is empty.”
^ Or “and his soul is parched.”
^ Or “counsel.”
^ Or “How perverse of you!”
^ Lit., “the one reproving.”
^ That is, from shame and disappointment.