Esias 29

1 Alas for the city of Ariel, which David besieged. Gather ye fruits year by year; eat ye, for ye shall eat with Moab.

Woe [to] Ariel, Ariel, The city of the encampment of David! Add year to year, let festivals go round.

2 For I will grievously afflict Ariel: and her strength and her wealth shall be mine.

And I have sent distress to Ariel, And it hath been lamentation and mourning, And it hath been to me as Ariel.

3 And I will compass thee about like David, and will raise a mound about thee, and set up towers round thee.

And I encamped, O babbler, against thee, And I laid siege against thee — a camp. And I raised up against thee bulwarks.

4 And thy words shall be brought down to the earth, and thy words shall sink down to the earth, and thy voice shall be as they that speak out of the earth, and thy voice shall be lowered to the ground.

And thou hast been low, From the earth thou speakest, And from the dust makest thy saying low, And thy voice hath been from the earth, As one having a familiar spirit, And from the dust thy saying whisperest,

5 But the wealth of the ungodly shall be as dust from a wheel, and the multitude of them that oppress thee as flying chaff, and it shall be suddenly as a moment,

And as small dust hath been The multitude of those scattering thee, And as chaff passing on the multitude of the terrible, And it hath been at an instant — suddenly.

6 from the Lord of Hosts: for there shall be a visitation with thunder, and earthquake, and a loud noise, a rushing tempest, and devouring flame of fire.

By Jehovah of Hosts thou art inspected, With thunder, and with an earthquake, And great noise, hurricane, and whirlwind, And flame of devouring fire.

7 And the wealth of all the nations together, as many as have fought against Ariel, and all they that war against Jerusalem, and all who are gathered against her, and they that distress her, shall be as one that dreams in sleep by night.

And as a dream, a vision of night, hath been The multitude of all the nations Who are warring against Ariel, And all its warriors, and its bulwark, Even of those distressing her.

8 And as men drink and eat in sleep, and when they have arisen, the dream is vain: and as a thirsty man dreams as if he drank, and having arisen is still thirsty, and his soul has desired in vain: so shall be the wealth of all the nations, as many as have fought against the mount Sion.

And it hath been, as when the hungry dreameth, And lo, he is eating, And he hath waked, and empty [is] his soul, And as when the thirsty dreameth, And lo, he is drinking, and he hath waked, And lo, he is weary, and his soul is longing, So is the multitude of all the nations Who are warring against mount Zion.

9 Faint ye, and be amazed, and be overpowered, not with strong drink nor with wine.

Tarry and wonder, look ye, yea, look, Be drunk, and not with wine, Stagger, and not with strong drink.

10 For the Lord has made you to drink a spirit of deep sleep; and he shall close their eyes, and [the eyes] of their prophets and of their rulers, who see secret things.

For poured out on you hath Jehovah a spirit of deep sleep, And He closeth your eyes — the prophets, And your heads — the seers — He covered.

11 And all these things shall be to you as the words of this sealed book, which if they shall give to a learned man, saying, Read this, he shall then say, I cannot read [it], for it is sealed.

And the vision of the whole is to you, As words of the sealed book, That they give unto one knowing books, Saying, 'Read this, we pray thee,' And he hath said, 'I am not able, for it [is] sealed;'

12 And this book shall be given into the hands of a man that is unlearned, and [one] shall say to him, Read this; and he shall say, I am not learned.

And the book is given to him who hath not known books, Saying, 'Read this, we pray thee,' And he hath said, 'I have not known books.'

13 And the Lord has said, This people draw nigh to me with their mouth, and they honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me: but in vain do they worship me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men.

And the Lord saith: Because drawn near hath this people, with its mouth, And with its lips they have honoured Me, And its heart it hath put far off from Me, And their fear of Me is — A precept of men is taught!

14 Therefore behold I will proceed to remove this people, and I will remove them: and I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will hide the understanding of the prudent.

Therefore, lo, I am adding to do wonderfully with this people, A wonder, and a marvel, And perished hath the wisdom of its wise ones, And the understanding of its intelligent ones hideth itself.'

15 Woe to them that deepen their counsel, and not by the Lord. Woe to them that take secret counsel, and whose works are in darkness, and they say, Who has seen us? and who shall know us, or what we do?

Woe [to] those going deep from Jehovah to hide counsel, And whose works have been in darkness. And they say, 'Who is seeing us? And who is knowing us?'

16 Shall ye not be counted as clay of the potter? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Thou didst not form me? or the work to the maker, Thou hast not made me wisely?

Your perversion! as clay is the potter esteemed? That the work saith of its maker, 'He hath not made me?' And the framed thing said of its framer, 'He did not understand?'

17 [Is it] not yet a little while, and Libanus shall be changed as the mountains of Chermel, and Chermel shall be reckoned as a forest?

Is it not yet a very little, And turned hath Lebanon to a fruitful field, And the fruitful field for a forest is reckoned?

18 And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and they that are in darkness, and they that are in mist: the eyes of the blind shall see,

And heard in that day have the deaf the words of a book, And out of thick darkness, and out of darkness, The eyes of the blind do see.

19 and the poor shall rejoice with joy because of the Lord, and they that had no hope among men shall be filled with joy.

And the humble have added joy in Jehovah, And the poor among men In the Holy One of Israel rejoice.

20 The lawless man has come to nought, and the proud man has perished, and they that transgress mischievously have been utterly destroyed:

For ceased hath the terrible one, And consumed hath been the scorner, And cut off have been all watching for iniquity,

21 and they that cause men to sin by a word: and men shall make all that reprove in the gates an offence, because they have unjustly turned aside the righteous.

Causing men to sin in word, And for a reprover in the gate lay a snare, And turn aside into emptiness the righteous.

22 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the house of Jacob, whom he set apart from Abraam, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall he now change countenance.

Therefore, thus said Jehovah, Who ransomed Abraham, Concerning the house of Jacob: 'Not now ashamed is Jacob, Nor now doth his face become pale,

23 But when their children shall have seen my works, they shall sanctify my name for my sake, and they sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.

For in his seeing his children, The work of My hand, in his midst, They sanctify My name, And have sanctified the Holy One of Jacob, And the God of Israel they declare fearful.

24 And they that erred in spirit shall know understanding, and the murmurers shall learn obedience, and the stammering tongues shall learn to speak peace.

And the erring in spirit have known understanding, And murmurers learn doctrine!'