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
1“Woe #Ezek. 24:6, 9to Ariel, to Ariel, the city #2 Sam. 5:9where David dwelt!
Add year to year;
Let feasts come around.
2Yet I will distress Ariel;
There shall be heaviness and sorrow,
And it shall be to Me as Ariel.
3I will encamp against you all around,
I will lay siege against you with a mound,
And I will raise siegeworks against you.
4You shall be brought down,
You shall speak out of the ground;
Your speech shall be low, out of the dust;
Your voice shall be like a medium’s, #Is. 8:19out of the ground;
And your speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5“Moreover the multitude of your #Is. 25:5foes
Shall be like fine dust,
And the multitude of the terrible ones
Like #Job 21:18; Is. 17:13chaff that passes away;
Yes, it shall be #Is. 30:13; 47:11; 1 Thess. 5:3in an instant, suddenly.
6#Is. 28:2; 30:30You will be punished by the Lord of hosts
With thunder and #1 Sam. 2:10; Zech. 14:4; Matt. 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11; Rev. 16:18, 19earthquake and great noise,
With storm and tempest
And the flame of devouring fire.
7#Is. 37:36; Mic. 4:11, 12; Zech. 12:9The multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel,
Even all who fight against her and her fortress,
And distress her,
Shall be #Job 20:8as a dream of a night vision.
8#Ps. 73:20It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams,
And look—he eats;
But he awakes, and his soul is still empty;
Or as when a thirsty man dreams,
And look—he drinks;
But he awakes, and indeed he is faint,
And his soul still craves:
So the multitude of all the nations shall be,
Who fight against Mount Zion.”
The Blindness of Disobedience
9Pause and wonder!
Blind yourselves and be blind!
#Is. 28:7, 8They are drunk, #Is. 51:21but not with wine;
They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.
10For #Ps. 69:23; Is. 6:9, 10; Mic. 3:6; Rom. 11:8the Lord has poured out on you
The spirit of deep sleep,
And has #Ps. 69:23; Is. 6:10closed your eyes, namely, the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, namely, #1 Sam. 9:9; Is. 44:18; Mic. 3:6; (2 Thess. 2:9–12)the seers.
11The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book #Is. 8:16that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.”
#Dan. 12:4, 9; (Matt. 13:11–16); Rev. 5:1–5, 9And he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”
12Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.”
And he says, “I am not literate.”
13Therefore the Lord said:
#Ps. 78:36; Ezek. 33:31; Matt. 15:8, 9; Mark 7:6, 7“Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honor Me #Col. 2:22with their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
14#Is. 6:9, 10; 28:21; Hab. 1:5Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work
Among this people,
A marvelous work and a wonder;
#Is. 44:25; Jer. 49:7; Obad. 8; 1 Cor. 1:19For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”
15#Is. 30:1Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord,
And their works are in the dark;
#Ps. 10:11; 94:7; Is. 47:10; Ezek. 8:12; Mal. 2:17They say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”
16Surely you have things turned around!
Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay;
For shall the #Is. 45:9; Jer. 18:1–6; (Rom. 9:19–21)thing made say of him who made it,
“He did not make me”?
Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
Future Recovery of Wisdom
17Is it not yet a very little while
Till #Is. 32:15Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?
18#Is. 35:5; Matt. 11:5; Mark 7:37In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book,
And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
19#(Ps. 25:9; 37:11; Is. 11:4; 61:1; Matt. 5:5; 11:29)The humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord,
And #Is. 14:30; (Matt. 5:3; 11:5; James 2:5)the poor among men shall rejoice
In the Holy One of Israel.
20For the terrible one is brought to nothing,
#Is. 28:14The scornful one is consumed,
And all who #Is. 59:4; Mic. 2:1watch for iniquity are cut off—
21Who make a man an offender by a word,
And #Amos 5:10, 12lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
And turn aside the just #Prov. 28:21by empty words.
22Therefore thus says the Lord, #Josh. 24:3who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall not now be #Is. 45:17ashamed,
Nor shall his face now grow pale;
23But when he sees his children,
#(Is. 45:11; 49:20–26; Eph. 2:10)The work of My hands, in his midst,
They will hallow My name,
And hallow the Holy One of Jacob,
And fear the God of Israel.
24These also #Is. 28:7who erred in spirit will come to understanding,
And those who complained will learn doctrine.”
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.