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
The Siege of Jerusalem
1Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
the city where David encamped!
Add year to year;
let the festivals run their round.
2Yet I will distress Ariel,
and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
and Jerusalem#29.2 Heb she shall be to me like an Ariel.#29.2 Probable meaning, altar hearth; compare Ezek 43.15
3And like David#29.3 Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain I will encamp against you;
I will besiege you with towers
and raise siegeworks against you.
4Then deep from the earth you shall speak,
from low in the dust your words shall come;
your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost,
and your speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5But the multitude of your foes#29.5 Cn: Heb strangers shall be like small dust,
and the multitude of tyrants like flying chaff.
And in an instant, suddenly,
6you will be visited by the Lord of hosts
with thunder and earthquake and great noise,
with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
7And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
all that fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,
shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.
8Just as when a hungry person dreams of eating
and wakes up still hungry,
or a thirsty person dreams of drinking
and wakes up faint, still thirsty,
so shall the multitude of all the nations be
that fight against Mount Zion.
9Stupefy yourselves and be in a stupor,
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk, but not from wine;
stagger, but not from strong drink!
10For the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep;
he has closed your eyes, you prophets,
and covered your heads, you seers.
11The vision of all this has become for you like the words of a sealed document. If it is given to those who can read, with the command, “Read this,” they say, “We cannot, for it is sealed.” 12And if it is given to those who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” they say, “We cannot read.”
13The Lord said:
Because these people draw near with their mouths
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote;
14so I will again do
amazing things with this people,
shocking and amazing.
The wisdom of their wise shall perish,
and the discernment of the discerning shall be hidden.
15Ha! You who hide a plan too deep for the Lord,
whose deeds are in the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay?
Shall the thing made say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of the one who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
Hope for the Future
17Shall not Lebanon in a very little while
become a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field be regarded as a forest?
18On that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a scroll,
and out of their gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind shall see.
19The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the neediest people shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
20For the tyrant shall be no more,
and the scoffer shall cease to be;
all those alert to do evil shall be cut off—
21those who cause a person to lose a lawsuit,
who set a trap for the arbiter in the gate,
and without grounds deny justice to the one in the right.
22Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
No longer shall Jacob be ashamed,
no longer shall his face grow pale.
23For when he sees his children,
the work of my hands, in his midst,
they will sanctify my name;
they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24And those who err in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who grumble will accept instruction.
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.