Isa 29 | LSB | STEP | Woe, O Ariel, Ariel the city where David once camped! Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.

Isaiah 29

Woe to Ariel

1 Woe, O ^{▼▼Lion of God, lion of Jerusalem}Ariel, ^{▼▼Lion of God, lion of Jerusalem}Ariel the city where David once camped!
Add year to year, ^{▼▼Lit let your feasts run their round}observe your feasts on schedule.
2 I will bring distress to ^{▼▼See v 1, note 1}Ariel,
And she will be a city of mourning and moaning;
And she will be like an Ariel to me.
3 And I will camp against you ^{▼▼Lit like a circle}encircling you,
And I will fortify siegeworks against you,
And I will raise up fortifications against you.
4 Then you will be brought low;
From the earth you will speak,
And from the dust where you are prostrate
Your words will come.
Your voice will also be like that of a ^{▼▼Or ghost}spirit from the ground,
And your speech will whisper from the dust.
5 But it will be that the multitude of your ^{▼▼Lit strangers}enemies will become like fine dust,
And the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which ^{▼▼Lit passes away}blows away;
And it will happen instantly, suddenly.
6 From Yahweh of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise,
With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.
7 And it will be that the multitude of all the nations who wage war against ^{▼▼v 1, note 1}Ariel,
Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,
Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.
8 And it will be as when a hungry man dreams—
And behold, he is eating;
But he awakens, and his soul is empty,
Or as when a thirsty man dreams—
And behold, he is drinking,
But he awakens, and behold, he is faint,
And his soul is not quenched.
Thus the multitude of all the nations will be
Who wage war against Mount Zion.
9 Astonish yourselves and be astonished,
Blind yourselves and be blind;
They become drunk, but not with wine;
They stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For Yahweh has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep;
He has shut your eyes, the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, the seers.
11 The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed ^{▼▼Or scroll}book, which when they give it to the one who ^{▼▼Lit knows books}is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 Then the ^{▼▼Or scroll}book will be given to the one who ^{▼▼Lit does not know books}does not know how to read a book, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I ^{▼▼Lit do not know books}do not know how to read a book.”

13 Then the Lord said,

“Because this people draw near with their mouth
And honor Me with their lips,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their fear of Me is in the command of men learned by rote,
14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;
And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the discernment of their discerning men will be hidden.”
15 Woe to those who deeply hide their counsel from Yahweh,
And whose deeds are done in a dark place,
And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
16 You turn things around!
Shall the potter be considered ^{▼▼Lit like}as equal with the clay,
That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;
Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

The Afflicted Will Rejoice

17 Is it not yet just a little while
^{▼▼ Lit And}Before Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful orchard,
And the fruitful orchard will be counted as a forest?
18 On that day the deaf will hear words of a book,
And out of ^{▼▼Lit thick darkness and darkness, cf. 8:22; 9:2}darkness and thick darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The afflicted also will increase their gladness in Yahweh,
And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless will come to an end and the scoffer will be finished,
Indeed all who are watching out to do evil will be cut off;
21 Who ^{▼▼Lit bring a person under condemnation}cause a person to sin by a word,
And ensnare him who reproves at the gate,
And ^{▼▼Lit turn aside}defraud the one in the right with ^{▼▼Lit confusion}meaningless arguments.

22 Therefore thus says Yahweh, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

“Jacob shall not now be ashamed, and now his face shall not turn pale;
23 But when ^{▼▼Or his children see}he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My name;
Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
And will stand trembling before the God of Israel.
24 “Those who err in spirit will know discernment,
And those who ^{▼▼Lit murmur}criticize will ^{▼▼Lit learn}gain learning.