Isaiah 29

New International Version

Woe to David’s City

29 Woe^(A) to you, Ariel, Ariel,^(B)
    the city^(C) where David settled!
Add year to year
    and let your cycle of festivals^(D) go on.
²Yet I will besiege Ariel;^(E)
    she will mourn and lament,^(F)
    she will be to me like an altar hearth.^[a]^(G)
³I will encamp against you on all sides;
    I will encircle^(H) you with towers
    and set up my siege works^(I) against you.
⁴Brought low, you will speak from the ground;
    your speech will mumble^(J) out of the dust.^(K)
Your voice will come ghostlike^(L) from the earth;
    out of the dust your speech will whisper.^(M)

⁵But your many enemies will become like fine dust,^(N)
    the ruthless^(O) hordes like blown chaff.^(P)
Suddenly,^(Q) in an instant,
⁶    the Lord Almighty will come^(R)
with thunder^(S) and earthquake^(T) and great noise,
    with windstorm and tempest^(U) and flames of a devouring fire.^(V)
⁷Then the hordes of all the nations^(W) that fight against Ariel,^(X)
    that attack her and her fortress and besiege her,
will be as it is with a dream,^(Y)
    with a vision in the night—
⁸as when a hungry person dreams of eating,
    but awakens^(Z) hungry still;
as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking,
    but awakens faint and thirsty still.^(AA)
So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
    that fight against Mount Zion.^(AB)

⁹Be stunned and amazed,^(AC)
    blind yourselves and be sightless;^(AD)
be drunk,^(AE) but not from wine,^(AF)
    stagger,^(AG) but not from beer.
¹⁰The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep:^(AH)
    He has sealed your eyes^(AI) (the prophets);^(AJ)
    he has covered your heads (the seers).^(AK)

¹¹For you this whole vision^(AL) is nothing but words sealed^(AM) in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.” ¹²Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”

¹³The Lord says:

“These people^(AN) come near to me with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,^(AO)
    but their hearts are far from me.^(AP)
Their worship of me
    is based on merely human rules they have been taught.^[b]^(AQ)
¹⁴Therefore once more I will astound these people
    with wonder upon wonder;^(AR)
the wisdom of the wise^(AS) will perish,
    the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.^(AT)”
¹⁵Woe to those who go to great depths
    to hide^(AU) their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
    “Who sees us?^(AV) Who will know?”^(AW)
¹⁶You turn things upside down,
    as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!^(AX)
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed^(AY) it,
    “You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,^(AZ)
    “You know nothing”?^(BA)

¹⁷In a very short time,^(BB) will not Lebanon^(BC) be turned into a fertile field^(BD)
    and the fertile field seem like a forest?^(BE)
¹⁸In that day^(BF) the deaf^(BG) will hear the words of the scroll,
    and out of gloom and darkness^(BH)
    the eyes of the blind will see.^(BI)
¹⁹Once more the humble^(BJ) will rejoice in the Lord;
    the needy^(BK) will rejoice in the Holy One^(BL) of Israel.
²⁰The ruthless^(BM) will vanish,^(BN)
    the mockers^(BO) will disappear,
    and all who have an eye for evil^(BP) will be cut down—
²¹those who with a word make someone out to be guilty,
    who ensnare the defender in court^(BQ)
    and with false testimony^(BR) deprive the innocent of justice.^(BS)

²²Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed^(BT) Abraham,^(BU) says to the descendants of Jacob:

“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;^(BV)
    no longer will their faces grow pale.^(BW)
²³When they see among them their children,^(BX)
    the work of my hands,^(BY)
they will keep my name holy;^(BZ)
    they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One^(CA) of Jacob,
    and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
²⁴Those who are wayward^(CB) in spirit will gain understanding;^(CC)
    those who complain will accept instruction.”^(CD)

Footnotes

Isaiah 29:2 The Hebrew for altar hearth sounds like the Hebrew for Ariel.
Isaiah 29:13 Hebrew; Septuagint They worship me in vain; / their teachings are merely human rules