Isaiah 29

English Standard Version

The Siege of Jerusalem

29 Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
    the city ^(A)where David encamped!
Add year to year;
    let the feasts run their round.
²Yet I will distress Ariel,
    and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
    and she shall be to me like an Ariel.^[a]
³^(B)And I will encamp against you all around,
    and will besiege you ^(C)with towers
    and I will raise siegeworks against you.
⁴^(D)And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak,
    and from the dust your speech will be bowed down;
your voice shall come from the ground like ^(E)the voice of a ghost,
    and from the dust your speech shall whisper.

⁵But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like ^(F)small dust,
    and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
^(G)And in an instant, suddenly,
⁶    ^(H)you will be visited by the Lord of hosts
with thunder and with earthquake and great noise,
    with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
⁷And ^(I)the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
    all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
    shall be ^(J)like a dream, a vision of the night.
⁸^(K)As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating,
    and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking,
    and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,
so shall the multitude of all the nations be
    that fight against Mount Zion.

⁹Astonish yourselves^[b] and be astonished;
    blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk,^[c] but not with wine;
    ^(L)stagger,^[d] but not with strong drink!
¹⁰^(M)For the Lord has poured out upon you
    a spirit of deep sleep,
and has closed your eyes (the prophets),
    and covered your heads (the seers).

¹¹And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is ^(N)sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” ¹²And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”

¹³And the Lord said:
“Because ^(O)this people ^(P)draw near with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,
    while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
¹⁴therefore, behold, ^(Q)I will again
    do wonderful things with this people,
    with wonder upon wonder;
and ^(R)the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
    and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

¹⁵Ah, ^(S)you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
    whose deeds are ^(T)in the dark,
    and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
¹⁶^(U)You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
    “He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
    “He has no understanding”?

¹⁷Is it not yet a very little while
    ^(V)until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
    and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
¹⁸In that day ^(W)the deaf shall hear
    ^(X)the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
    ^(Y)the eyes of the blind shall see.
¹⁹^(Z)The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
    and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
²⁰For the ruthless shall come to nothing
    and ^(AA)the scoffer cease,
    and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
²¹who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
    and ^(AB)lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
    and with an empty plea ^(AC)turn aside him who is in the right.

²²Therefore thus says the Lord, ^(AD)who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
    no more shall his face grow pale.
²³For when he sees his children,
    ^(AE)the work of my hands, in his midst,
    they will sanctify my name;
^(AF)they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
    and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
²⁴And those ^(AG)who go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
    and those who murmur will accept instruction.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 29:2 Ariel could mean lion of God, or hero (2 Samuel 23:20), or altar hearth (Ezekiel 43:15–16)
Isaiah 29:9 Or Linger awhile
Isaiah 29:9 Or They are drunk
Isaiah 29:9 Or they stagger