Isaiah 29
29
The LORD’s Word Will Be Hidden from Some but Revealed to Others
1How horrible it will be for you Ariel, Ariel,#29:1 Ariel is an unknown Hebrew word which may mean “lion of God,” “mountain of God,” or “fireplace.”
the city where David camped.
Let year after year go by.
Let your annual festivals go on.
2I will torment Ariel,
and the city will be filled with people grieving and mourning.
The city will become like Ariel.
3I will set up war camps all around you.
I will blockade you with towers.
I will put up mounds of dirt around you.
4When you have fallen, you will speak as you lie on the ground.
Your words will be muffled by the dust.
Your voice will come out of the ground like that of a ghost.
Your words will be whispered from the dust.
5Your many enemies will be like fine dust.
Your many foes will be like husks blown by the wind.
All of this will happen suddenly, unexpectedly.
6The Lord of Armies will punish you
with thunder, earthquakes, and loud noises,
with windstorms, rainstorms, and fire storms.
7The armies from all the nations will go to war against Ariel.
They will go to war against it, blockade it, and torment it.
All of this will be like a dream, like a vision in the night.
8They will be like hungry people who dream that they’re eating
and wake up to find they’re hungry.
They will be like thirsty people who dream that they’re drinking
and wake up to find they’re lightheaded and parched with thirst.
This is what will happen to the armies from all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.
9If you confuse yourselves, you will be confused.
If you blind yourselves, you will be blinded.
You are drunk, but not from wine.
You stagger, but not from liquor.
10The Lord has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep.
He will shut your eyes. (Your eyes are the prophets.)
He will cover your heads. (Your heads are the seers.#29:10 A seer is a prophet.)
11To you all these visions will be like words in a book that is closed and sealed. You give this book to someone who can read, saying, “Please read this.”
He answers, “I can’t read it. It’s sealed.”
12Then you give the book to someone who can’t read, saying, “Please read this.”
He answers, “I can’t read.”
13The Lord says,
“These people worship me with their mouths
and honor me with their lips.
But their hearts are far from me,
and their worship of me is ⌞based on⌟ rules made by humans.
14That is why I am going to do something completely amazing
for these people once again.
The wisdom of their wise people will disappear.
The intelligence of their intelligent people will be hidden.”
15How horrible it will be for those
who try to hide their plans from the Lord.
Their deeds are done in the dark,
and they say, “No one can see us”
and “No one can recognize us.”
16You turn things upside down!
Is the potter no better than his clay?
Can something that has been made
say about its maker, “He didn’t make me”?
Can a piece of pottery
say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?
17In a very short time Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field
and the fertile field will be considered a forest.
18When that day comes, the deaf will hear the words written in the book.
The blind will see out of their gloom and darkness.
19Humble people again will find joy in the Lord.
The poorest of people will find joy in the Holy One of Israel.
20Tyrants will be gone.
Mockers will be finished.
All who look for ways to do wrong will come to an end:
21those who make people sin with words,
those who lay traps for judges,
those who, without any reason, deny justice
to people who are in the right.
22This is what the Lord, who saved Abraham, says about the descendants of Jacob:
Jacob will no longer be ashamed.
Jacob’s face will no longer turn pale.
23When they see all their children,
the children I made with my hands,
they will acknowledge my name as holy.
They will treat the Holy One of Jacob as holy.
They will stand in terror of the God of Israel.
24Then those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding,
and those who complain will accept instruction.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 29
29
Woe to Jerusalem
1Ah! Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped!
Add year to year,
let festivals recur.
2Yet#Or “And” I will inflict Ariel,
and there shall be mourning and lamentation,
and it shall be to me like an altar hearth.#Hebrew “Ariel,” which might mean “altar hearth”
3And I will encamp in a circle#The Hebrew text literally reads “like the ball”; the LXX supports an emendation to “David” against you,
and I will lay siege to you with towers#Hebrew “tower”
and I will raise up siegeworks against you.
4Then#Or “And” you shall be low;
you shall speak from the earth,
and your words#Hebrew “word” will be low, from dust.
And your voice will be from the earth, like a ghost,
and your word will whisper from the dust.
5But#Or “And” the multitude of your strangers shall be like fine dust,
and the multitude of tyrants like chaff that passes by.
And it will happen in an instant, suddenly.
6You will be punished by Yahweh of hosts
with thunder and earthquake and great sound,
storm wind and tempest and the flame of a devouring fire.
7And the multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel,
all those who fight against her and her stronghold,
and those who inflict her shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.
8And it shall be as when the hungry person dreams—look, he is eating! And he wakes up and his inner self is empty.
Or#Or “And” as when the thirsty person dreams—look, he is drinking! And he wakes up and look, he is faint, and his inner self is longing for water.
So shall be the multitude of all the nations who fight against Mount Zion.
9Be astonished and be amazed!
Blind yourselves and be blinded!
They are drunk but#Or “and” not from wine;
they stagger but#Or “and” not from strong drink.
10For Yahweh has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep,
and he has shut your eyes, the prophets,
and he has covered your heads, the seers.
11And the vision of all this has become for you like the words of a sealed document.
When they give it to one who knows the#The reading tradition (Qere) has “a” instead of “the” document, saying, “Read#Literally “Call” this now!” He says, “I am not able, for it is sealed.”
12And if the document is given to one who does not know how to read,#Literally “know a document” saying, “Read#Literally “Call” this now!” he says, “I do not know how to read.”#Literally “know a document”
13And the Lord said,
“Because this people draw near with its mouth,
and with its lips it honors me,
and its heart is far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught,
14therefore look, I am again doing something spectacular and a spectacle with this spectacular people.
And the wisdom of its wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of its discerning ones shall keep itself hidden.”
15Ah! Those who make a plan deep, to hide it from Yahweh,
and their deeds are#The Hebrew is singular in a dark place.
And they say, “Who sees us?
And who knows us?”
16Your perversity!
As if a potter#Literally “of the one who creates” shall be regarded as the clay! That the product of its maker says, “He did not make me,”
and the thing made into shape says of its potter,#Literally “one who creates” “He has no understanding.”
Blessing after Punishment
17In a very little while#Literally “Not still a trifling of time” shall not Lebanon change into a fruitful land,
and the fruitful land be regarded as a forest?
18And on that day, the deaf shall hear the words of a scroll,
and the eyes of the blind shall see out of gloom and darkness.
19And the meek have joy after joy#Literally “shall add joy” in Yahweh,
and the needy of the people shall rejoice in the holy one of Israel.
20For the tyrant shall be no more,
and the scoffer shall come to an end.
And all those lying in wait for evil shall be cut off;
21those who mislead a person into sin with a word
and set a trap for the arbitrator#Literally “one who argues” in the gate
and guide away the righteous by emptiness.
22Therefore Yahweh, who redeemed Abraham, says this to the house of Jacob:
“Jacob will no longer be ashamed,
and his face will no longer grow pale.
23For when he sees his children,
the work of my hands, in his midst,
they will treat my name as holy,
and they will treat the holy one of Jacob as holy,
and they will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24And those who err in spirit will acquire#Literally “know” understanding,
and those who grumble will learn instruction.
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