Isaiah 29

International Standard Version

Judgment is Coming to Jerusalem

29 “How terrible it will be for you, Aruel, Aruel,^[a]
    the city where David encamped!
Year after year,
    let your festivals run their cycle.
²Then I’ll besiege Aruel,^[b]
    and there will be sorrow and mourning;
        she will become to me like an altar fireplace.^[c]
³Then I’ll encamp against you like David,^[d]
    and I’ll lay siege to you with towers,
raise siege works against you,
⁴and you will be brought down.
You will speak from the ground,
    and your speech will mumble from the dust.
Your voice will come ghostlike from the ground,
    and your speech will whisper from the dust.

⁵“But the hordes of your enemies^[e]
    will become like fine dust,
        and the hordes of tyrants like flying chaff.
Then suddenly, in an instant,
⁶you will be visited by the Lord of the Heavenly Armies—
with thunder, an earthquake, and great noise,
    with a windstorm, a tempest,
        and flames from a devouring fire.
⁷Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Aruel,^[f]
    all that attack her and her fortification^[g] and besiege her,
        will become like a dream, with its visions in the night—
⁸as when a hungry man dreams—
    he eats, but wakes up still hungry;
or when a thirsty man dreams—
    he drinks, but wakes up faint,
        with his thirst unquenched.
So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
    that fight against Mount Zion.

Blind to God’s Words

⁹“Act stupid!
    Be astonished!
Act blind,
    and be blind!
Be drunk,^[h] but not from^[i] wine;
    stagger around,^[j] but not from strong drink.
¹⁰For the Lord has poured out upon you
    a spirit of deep sleep—
he has closed your eyes, you prophets,
    he has covered your heads, you seers!”

¹¹“And this entire vision has become for you like the words of a sealed book. When people give it to someone who can read, and say, ‘Read this, please,’ he answers,^[k] ‘I cannot, because it is sealed.’ ¹²Or when they give the book^[l] to someone who cannot read, and say, ‘Read this, please,’ he answers,^[m] ‘I don’t know how to read.’”

A Rebuke of Hypocritical Worship

¹³Then the Lord said:

“Because these people draw near with their mouths
    and honor me with their lips,
        but their hearts are far from me,
worship of me^[n] has become
    merely like^[o] rules taught by human beings.
¹⁴Therefore, watch out!

“As for me,^[p] I will once again
    do amazing things with this people,
        wonder upon wonder.
The wisdom of their wise men will perish,
    and the insights^[q] of their discerning men will stay hidden.”

A Rebuke to the Deceptive

¹⁵“How terrible it will be for you who go to great depths
    to hide your plans from the Lord,
you whose deeds have been^[r] done^[s] in the dark,
    and who say, ‘Who can see us?
        Who has recognized^[t] us?’
¹⁶He has turned the tables on you^[u]—
    as if the potter were thought to be like heat.^[v]
Can what is made say of the one who made it,
    ‘He did not make me?’
Or can what is formed say of the ones^[w] who formed it,
    ‘He has no skill?’

¹⁷“In a very little while,
    will not Lebanon be turned into a garden of fruit,^[x]
        and the garden of fruit^[y] seem like a forest?
¹⁸On that day the deaf will hear
    the words of a scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness
    the eyes of the blind will see.
¹⁹The humble will again experience joy in the Lord,
    and the poorest people will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
²⁰For the ruthless will vanish,
    and mockers will disappear,
        and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down—
²¹those who make a person appear to be the offender in a lawsuit,
    who set a trap for someone
        who is making his defense in court,^[z]
and push aside the innocent
    with specious arguments.

²²“Therefore, this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says concerning the house of Jacob:

‘No longer will Jacob be ashamed;
    no longer will his face grow pale.
²³For when he sees in his midst his children,
    the work of my hands,
they will keep my name holy;
    they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
        and stand in awe of the God of Israel.
²⁴Moreover, those who go astray in spirit will gain^[aa] understanding,
    and those who complain will accept instruction.’”

Footnotes

Isaiah 29:1 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read Ariel, Ariel; i.e. a nickname assigned by the prophet for Jerusalem
Isaiah 29:2 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read Ariel, Ariel; i.e. an allusion to Jerusalem
Isaiah 29:2 Lit. an Ariel; i.e. perhaps a pun on the name Aruel
Isaiah 29:3 So 4QIsa^k MT^mss LXX; 1QIsa^a MT read you on all sides
Isaiah 29:5 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads foreigners; LXX reads the ungodly
Isaiah 29:7 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read Ariel, Ariel; i.e. an allusion to Jerusalem
Isaiah 29:7 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads her mountain stronghold; LXX reads Jerusalem
Isaiah 29:9 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads They have become drunk
Isaiah 29:9 So 1QIsa^a LXX; MT lacks from
Isaiah 29:9 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads They stagger around
Isaiah 29:11 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read he will answer
Isaiah 29:12 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read the book will be given
Isaiah 29:12 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read he will answer
Isaiah 29:13 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads Their worship of me
Isaiah 29:13 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX lack like
Isaiah 29:14 So 1QIsa^a LXX; the Heb. lacks as for me
Isaiah 29:14 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read insight
Isaiah 29:15 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read deeds are (or will be)
Isaiah 29:15 DSS MT lack done
Isaiah 29:15 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read recognizes
Isaiah 29:16 So 1QIsa^a; MT reads You turn things upside down!
Isaiah 29:16 I.e. the fire in a kiln; so 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read clay
Isaiah 29:16 So 1QIsa^a; MT LXX read one
Isaiah 29:17 Lit. into Carmel
Isaiah 29:17 Lit. and Carmel
Isaiah 29:21 Lit. in the gate
Isaiah 29:24 Lit. discover

International Standard Version (ISV)