Esias 29

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

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.

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 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.

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 can’t read [it], for it is sealed.

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:

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 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.

13 And the Lord has said, This people draw near to me with their mouth, and they honor 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 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;

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.

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.

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?

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?

16 Shall you not be counted as clay of the potter? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, You did not form me? or the work to the maker, You have not made me wisely?

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?

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?

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

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 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.

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

20 The lawless man has come to nothing, and the proud man has perished, and they that transgress mischievously have been utterly destroyed:

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:

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

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.

22 Therefore thus says 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.