Isaiah 29

1 Ho! Ariel, Ariel, the town against which David made war; put year to year, let the feasts come round:

Wo! Ariel, Ariel, the citee which Dauid ouercam; yeer is addid to yeer, solempnytees ben passyd.

2 And I will send trouble on Ariel, and there will be weeping and cries of grief; and she will be to me as Ariel.

And Y schal cumpasse Ariel, and it schal be soreuful and morenynge; and Jerusalem schal be to me as Ariel.

3 And I will make war on you like David, and you will be shut in by earthworks, and I will make towers round you.

And Y schal cumpasse as a round trendil in thi cumpasse, and Y schal caste erthe ayens thee, and Y schal sette engynes in to thi bisegyng.

4 And you will be made low, and your voice will come out of the earth, and your words will be low out of the dust; and your voice will come out of the earth like that of a spirit, making bird-like noises out of the dust.

Thou schalt be maad low, thou schalt speke of erthe, and thi speche schal be herd fro the erthe; and thi vois schal be as the vois of a deed man reisid bi coniuring, and thi speche schal ofte grutche of the erthe.

5 And the army of your attackers will be like small dust, and all the cruel ones like dry stems gone before the wind; suddenly it will come about.

And the multitude of hem that wyndewen thee, schal be as thynne dust; and the multitude of hem that hadden the maistrie ayens thee, schal be as a deed sparcle passynge.

6 The Lord of armies will come in with thunder and earth-shaking and great noise, with rushing wind and storm, and the flame of burning fire.

And it schal be sudenli, anoon it schal be visitid of the Lord of oostis, in thundur, and in mouyng of the erthe, and in greet vois of whirlwynd, and of tempest, and of flawme of fier deuowrynge.

7 And all the nations making war on Ariel, and all those who are fighting against her and shutting her in with their towers, will be like a dream, like a vision of the night.

And the multitude of alle folkis that fouyten ayens Ariel schal be as the dreem of a nyytis visioun; and alle men that fouyten, and bisegiden, and hadden the maistrie ayens it.

8 And it will be like a man desiring food, and dreaming that he is feasting; but when he is awake there is nothing in his mouth: or like a man in need of water, dreaming that he is drinking; but when he is awake he is feeble and his soul is full of desire: so will all the nations be which make war on Mount Zion.

And as an hungry man dremyth, and etith, but whanne he is awakid, his soule is voide; and as a thirsti man dremeth, and drynkith, and after that he is awakid, he is weri, and thirstith yit, and his soule is voide, so schal be the multitude of alle folkis, that fouyten ayens the hil of Sion.

9 Be surprised and full of wonder; let your eyes be covered and be blind: be overcome, but not with wine; go with uncertain steps, but not because of strong drink.

Be ye astonyed, and wondre; wake ye, and douyte ye; be ye drunken, and not of wyn; be ye moued, and not with drunkenesse.

10 For the Lord has sent on you a spirit of deep sleep; and by him your eyes, the prophets, are shut, and your heads, the seers, are covered.

For the Lord hath meddlid to you the spirit of sleep; he schal close youre iyen, and schal hile youre profetis, and princes that sien visiouns.

11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book which is shut, which men give to one who has knowledge of writing, saying, Make clear to us what is in the book: and he says, I am not able to, for the book is shut:

And the visioun of alle profetis schal be to you as the wordis of a book aseelid; which whanne thei schulen yyue to hym that kan lettris, thei schulen seie, Rede thou this book; and he schal answere, Y may not, for it is aseelid.

12 And they give it to one without learning, saying, Make clear to us what is in the book: and he says, I have no knowledge of writing.

And the book schal be youun to him that kan not lettris, and it schal be seid to hym, Rede thou; and he schal answere, Y kan no lettris.

13 And the Lord said, because this people come near to me with their mouths, and give honour to me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and their fear of me is false, a rule given them by the teaching of men;

And the Lord seide, For that this puple neiyeth with her mouth, and glorifieth me with her lippis, but her herte is fer fro me; and thei dredden me for the comaundement and techyngis of men, therfor lo!

14 For this cause I will again do a strange thing among this people, a thing to be wondered at: and the wisdom of their wise men will come to nothing, and the sense of their guides will no longer be seen.

Y schal adde, that Y make wondryng to this puple, in a greet myracle and wondurful; for whi wisdom schal perische fro wise men therof, and the vndurstondyng of prudent men therof schal be hid.

15 Cursed are those who go deep to keep their designs secret from the Lord, and whose works are in the dark, and who say, Who sees us? and who has knowledge of our acts?

Wo to you that ben hiye of herte, that ye hide counsel fro the Lord; the werkis of whiche ben in derknessis, and thei seien, Who seeth vs, and who knowith vs?

16 You are turning things upside down! Is the wet earth the same to you as the one who is forming it? will the thing made say of him who made it, He made me not: or the thing formed say of him who gave it form, He has no knowledge?

This thouyt of you is weiward, as if cley thenke ayens a pottere, and the werk seie to his makere, Thou madist not me; and a thing `that is maad, seie to his makere, Thou vndurstondist not.

17 In a very short time Lebanon will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will seem like a wood.

Whether not yit in a litil time and schort the Liban schal be turned in to Chermel, and Chermel schal be arettid in to the forest?

18 And in that day those whose ears are stopped will be hearing the words of the book; and the eyes of the blind will see through the mist and the dark.

And in that dai deef men schulen here the wordis of the book, and the iyen of blynde men schulen se fro derknessis and myisty;

19 And the poor will have their joy in the Lord increased, and those in need will be glad in the Holy One of Israel.

and mylde men schulen encreesse gladnesse in the Lord, and pore men schulen make ful out ioie in the hooli of Israel.

20 For the cruel one has come to nothing; and those who make sport of the Lord are gone; and those who are watching to do evil are cut off:

For he that hadde the maistrie, failide, and the scornere is endid, and alle thei ben kit doun that walkiden on wickidnesse;

21 Who give help to a man in a wrong cause, and who put a net for the feet of him who gives decisions in the public place, taking away a man's right without cause.

whiche maden men to do synne in word, and disseyueden a repreuere in the yate, and bowiden awey in veyn fro a iust man.

22 For this reason the Lord, the saviour of Abraham, says about the family of Jacob, Jacob will not now be put to shame, or his face be clouded with fear.

For this thing the Lord, that ayen bouyte Abraham, seith these thingis to the hous of Jacob, Jacob schal not be confoundid now, nether now his cheer schal be aschamed; but whanne he schal se hise sones,

23 But when they, the children of Jacob, see the work of my hands among them, they will give honour to my name; yes, they will give honour to the Holy One of Jacob, and go in fear of the God of Israel.

the werkis of myn hondis, halewynge my name in the myddis of hym. And thei schulen halewe the hooli of Jacob, and thei schulen preche God of Israel;

24 Those whose hearts were turned away from him will get knowledge, and those who made an outcry against him will give attention to his teaching.

and thei that erren in spirit, schulen knowe vndurstondyng, and idil men schulen lerne the lawe.