Isaiah 29

1 Alas for Ariel, Ariel, The city against which, David encamped, —Add ye a year to a year. Let the festivals, come round;

Woe to Ariel, to Ariel the city against which David fought: year has been added to year, the solemnities have unfolded.

2 Yet will I bring Ariel into straits, —And she shall become a bewailing and wailing, Yea she shall become to me a veritable Hearth of God.

And I will surround Ariel with siege works, and it will be in sorrow and mourning, and it will be like Ariel to me.

3 And I will encamp round about against thee, —And lay siege against thee with a fort, And raise against thee siege-works;

And I will surround you like a sphere all around you, and I will raise up a rampart against you, and I will set up fortifications to blockade you.

4 And thou shalt be brought low—Out of the earth, shalt thou speak, And out of the dust, shalt thou lower thine utterance, —And as one that hath a familiar spirit, Out of the earth, shall come thy voice, And out of the dust, thy speech shall chirp;

You will be brought low. You will speak from the ground, and your eloquence will be heard from the dirt. And, from the ground, your voice will be like that of the python, and your eloquence will mumble from the dirt.

5 Then shall be as fine dust the multitude of thy foreigners, —And as chaff that passeth away, the multitude of tyrants; And it shall come to pass, in a twinkling, Suddenly,

And the multitude of those who fan you will be like fine dust. And the multitude of those who have prevailed against you will be like embers fading away.

6 From Yahweh of hosts, shalt thou be visited, With thunder, and with earthquake and a great noise, hurricane and storm and flame of fire devouring;

And this will happen suddenly and swiftly. It will be visited from the Lord of hosts with thunder and earthquakes, and with the great noise of a whirlwind and a storm, and with a flame of devouring fire.

7 And it shall be like the dream of a night vision, With the multitude of all the nations who have been making war against Ariel, —Even with all who have been making war against her and her stronghold and who have been laying siege to her;

And the multitude of all the nations that have struggled against Ariel will be like the dream of a vision by night, along with all who have battled, and besieged, and prevailed against it.

8 Yea it shall be As when the hungry man dreameth and lo! he is eating, But he awaketh, and his soul, is empty, Or as when the thirsty man dreameth and lo! he is drinking, But he awaketh and lo! he is faint and his soul, is craving, So, shall it be with the multitude of all the nations, that have come forth to war against Mount Zion.

And it will be like one who is hungry and dreams of eating, but, when he has been awakened, his soul is empty. And it will be like one who is thirsty and dreams of drinking, but, after he has been awakened, he still languishes in thirst, and his soul is empty. So shall the multitude of all the nations be, who have struggled against Mount Zion.

9 Stand ye stock still and stare, Besmear your eyes and be blind, —They are drunken but not with wine, They reel, but not with strong drink;

Be stupefied and in wonder! Shake and quiver! Be inebriated, but not from wine! Stagger, but not from drunkenness!

10 For Yahweh, hath poured out upon you, a spirit of deep sleep, Yea hath tightly shut your eyes—the prophets, —And, your heads—the seers, hath he covered,

For the Lord has mixed for you a spirit of deep sleep. He will close your eyes. He will cover your prophets and leaders, who see visions.

11 And so all vision hath become unto you as the words of a writing that is sealed, Which is delivered unto one acquainted with writing, saying, Pray thee read this, And he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed;

And the vision of all will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which, when they have given it to someone who knows how to read, they will say, “Read this,” but he will respond, “I cannot; for it has been sealed.”

12 And then the writing is delivered to one unacquainted with writing, saying, Pray thee read this, And he saith I am not acquainted with writing.

But if the book is given to someone who does not know how to read, and it is said to him, “Read,” then he will respond, “I do not know how to read.”

13 Wherefore My Lord hath said, —Because this people, hath drawn near with their mouth, And with their lips, have honoured me, But their heart, have they moved far from me, And so their reverence of me hath become A commandment of men in which they have been schooled,

And the Lord said: Since this people have drawn near to me only with their mouth, and their lips glorify me while their heart is far from me, and their fear of me is based on the commandments and doctrines of men,

14 Therefore, behold me! again dealing wonderfully with this people, doing wonderfully a wonderful thing, —So shall perish, the wisdom of their wise men, And the intelligence of their intelligent men, shall vanish!

for this reason, behold, I will proceed to accomplish a wonder for this people, a great and mystifying miracle. For wisdom will perish from their wise, and the understanding of their prudent will be concealed.

15 Alas! for them who would fain have been too deep for Yahweh by giving secret counsel, —and therefore in the dark, have been their doings, and they have said Who can see us? and—Who can understand us?

Woe to you who use the depths of the heart, so that you may hide your intentions from the Lord. Their works are done in darkness, and so they say: “Who sees us?” and “Who knows us?”

16 Your perverseness! As if like clay, the potter could be reckoned; For shall, the thing made say of him that made it, he made me not? Or hath the thing fashioned ever said of him that fashioned it, He hath no understanding.

This intention of yours is perverse. It is as if the clay were to plan against the potter, or as if the work were to say to its maker: “You did not make me.” Or it is as if what has been formed were to say to the one who formed it, “You do not understand.”

17 Is it not yet a very little while, And Lebanon shall be turned, into garden land, —And garden land, for a forest, be reckoned?

In not more than a little while and a brief time, Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field, and a fruitful field will be considered to be a forest.

18 Therefore, in that day, shall the deaf hear the words of a book, —And out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see;

And in that day, the deaf will hear the words of a book, and out of darkness and obscurity the eyes of the blind will see.

19 And again shall the humbled in Yahweh, have joy, —And the needy of mankind in the Holy One of Israel, exult;

And the meek will increase their rejoicing in the Lord, and the poor among men will exult in the Holy One of Israel.

20 For the tyrant, hath vanished, And the scoffer, is no more, Yea cut off are all who watch for iniquity: —

For the one who was prevailing has failed, the one who was mocking has been consumed, and all those who were standing guard over iniquity have been cut down.

21 Who bring a man into condemnation with a rumour, And for him that decideth in the gate, lay a snare, —And have driven away, for a thing of nought, one who was righteous.

For they caused men to sin by a word, and they supplanted him who argued against them at the gates, and they turned away from justice in vain.

22 Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh, concerning the house of Jacob, [even he saith it] who redeemed Abraham, —Not now, shall, Jacob turn pale, And, not now, shall their faces whiten;

Because of this, thus says the Lord, he who has redeemed Abraham, to the house of Jacob: From now on, Jacob will not be confounded; from now on his countenance will not blush with shame.

23 For, when he seeth his children the work of my hands, in his midst, They will hallow my Name, —Yea they will hallow the Holy One of Jacob, And the God of Israel, will they regard with awe.

Instead, when he sees his children, they will be the work of my hands in his midst, sanctifying my name, and they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and they will preach the God of Israel.

24 Then will they who erred in spirit comprehend, And the murmurers, accept instruction.

And those who had gone astray in spirit will know understanding, and those who had murmured will learn the law.