Isaiah 29

English Standard Version Anglicised

29 Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
    the city ^(A)where David encamped!
Add year to year;
    let the feasts run their round.
² Yet 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 round,
    and will besiege you ^(C)with towers
    and I will raise siege works 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.
⁵ But 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.
⁷ And ^(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 he is eating
    and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or as when a thirsty man dreams 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.
⁹ Astonish yourselves^[b] and be astonished;
    blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk, but not with wine;
    ^(L)stagger, 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).

¹³ And the Lord said:
“Because ^(O)this people ^(P)draw near with their mouth
    and honour me with their lips,
    while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
¹⁴ therefore, 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.”
¹⁵ Ah, ^(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”?
¹⁷ Is 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?
¹⁸ In 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.
²⁰ For the ruthless shall come to nothing
    and ^(AA)the scoffer cease,
    and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
²¹ who 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.

“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
    no more shall his face grow pale.
²³ For 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.
²⁴ And those ^(AG)who go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
    and those who murmur will accept instruction.”