Isaiah 29:1-12
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Siege of Jerusalem
29 Woe to Ariel, Ariel,
the city where David encamped!
Add year to year;
let the festivals run their round.(A)
2 Yet I will oppress Ariel,
and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
and you[a] shall be to me like an Ariel.[b](B)
3 And like David[c] I will encamp against you;
I will besiege you with towers
and raise siegeworks against you.(C)
4 Then 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.(D)
5 But the multitude of your arrogant ones[d] shall be like fine dust
and the multitude of tyrants like flying chaff.
And in an instant, suddenly,(E)
6 you 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.(F)
7 And 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.(G)
8 Just 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.(H)
9 Be astounded and stunned;
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk but not from wine;
stagger but not from strong drink!(I)
10 For the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep;
he has closed your eyes (the prophets)
and covered your heads (the seers).(J)
11 The 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.”(K) 12 And if it is given to those who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” they say, “We cannot read.”
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