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Isaiah 29
Common English Bible
Isaiah 29
Common English Bible
Ariel besieged but spared
29 Oh, Ariel, Ariel,
town where David encamped!
Year by year, let the festivals come around—
2 but I will oppress Ariel.
There will be mourning and lamentation;
she will be like an Ariel to me.
3 I will surround you like a wall,
and I will lay a siege against you with assault towers,
and I will raise up siegeworks against you.
4 You will be brought down;
from the ground you will speak;
from low in the dust your speech will come.
Your voice will be like a ghost’s from the earth;
from the dust your words will whisper.
5 But your many enemies will be like fine dust,
the terrible horde like passing chaff.
Suddenly, in an instant, 6 the Lord of heavenly forces will come to you with thunder, earthquake, and a mighty voice,
with whirlwind, tempest, and flames of devouring fire.
7 The horde of nations fighting against Ariel,
and all who make war on her and her fortress and besiege her,
will be like a dream, a vision of the night.
8 It will be like when a hungry person dreams of eating
but wakes up and the mouth is empty.
Or when a thirsty person dreams of drinking
but wakes up and has a dry throat.
So will it be for all the horde of nations
who fight against Mount Zion.
9 Be shocked and stunned;
blind yourselves; be blind!
Be drunk, but not on wine;
stagger, but not on account of beer!
10 The Lord has poured on you a spirit of deep sleep,
and has shut your eyes, you prophets,
and covered your heads, you seers.
11 This entire vision has become for you like the words of a sealed scroll. When they give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” that one will say, “I can’t, because it’s sealed.” 12 And when the scroll is given to one who can’t read, saying, “Read this,” that one will say, “I can’t read.”
The wisdom of their wise
13 The Lord says:
Since these people turn toward me with their mouths,
and honor me with lip service
while their heart is distant from me,
and their fear of me is just a human command that has been memorized,
14 I will go on doing amazing things to these people,
shocking and startling things.
The wisdom of their wise will perish,
and the discernment of their discerning will be hidden.
15 Doom to those who hide their plan deep, away from the Lord,
whose deeds are in the dark,
who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16 You have everything backward!
Should the potter be thought of as clay?
Should what is made say of its maker,
“He didn’t make me”?
Should what is shaped say of the one who shaped it,
“He doesn’t understand”?
17 In just a little while won’t Lebanon become farmland once again,
and the farmland be considered a forest?
18 On that day: The deaf will hear the words of a scroll and, freed from dimness and darkness, the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The poor will again find joy in the Lord,
and the neediest of people will rejoice in the holy one of Israel.
20 The tyrant will be no more,
the mocker will perish,
and all who plot evil will be eliminated:
21 all who incriminate others wrongly,
who entrap the judge in the gate,
and pointlessly postpone justice for the innocent.
22 Therefore, proclaims the Lord,
the God of[a] the house of Jacob,
who redeemed Abraham:
Jacob won’t be ashamed now,
and his face won’t grow pale now.
23 When he sees his children among them,
the work of my hands,
proclaiming my name holy,
they will make holy the holy one of Jacob,
and stand in awe of Israel’s God.
24 Those who wander in spirit will have understanding,
and those who grumble will gain insight.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 29:22 Or to
Isaiah 29
New International Version
Isaiah 29
New International Version
Woe to David’s City
29 Woe(A) to you, Ariel, Ariel,(B)
the city(C) where David settled!
Add year to year
and let your cycle of festivals(D) go on.
2 Yet I will besiege Ariel;(E)
she will mourn and lament,(F)
she will be to me like an altar hearth.[a](G)
3 I will encamp against you on all sides;
I will encircle(H) you with towers
and set up my siege works(I) against you.
4 Brought low, you will speak from the ground;
your speech will mumble(J) out of the dust.(K)
Your voice will come ghostlike(L) from the earth;
out of the dust your speech will whisper.(M)
5 But your many enemies will become like fine dust,(N)
the ruthless(O) hordes like blown chaff.(P)
Suddenly,(Q) in an instant,
6 the Lord Almighty will come(R)
with thunder(S) and earthquake(T) and great noise,
with windstorm and tempest(U) and flames of a devouring fire.(V)
7 Then the hordes of all the nations(W) that fight against Ariel,(X)
that attack her and her fortress and besiege her,
will be as it is with a dream,(Y)
with a vision in the night—
8 as when a hungry person dreams of eating,
but awakens(Z) hungry still;
as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking,
but awakens faint and thirsty still.(AA)
So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.(AB)
9 Be stunned and amazed,(AC)
blind yourselves and be sightless;(AD)
be drunk,(AE) but not from wine,(AF)
stagger,(AG) but not from beer.
10 The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep:(AH)
He has sealed your eyes(AI) (the prophets);(AJ)
he has covered your heads (the seers).(AK)
11 For you this whole vision(AL) is nothing but words sealed(AM) in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.” 12 Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”
13 The Lord says:
“These people(AN) come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,(AO)
but their hearts are far from me.(AP)
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.[b](AQ)
14 Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;(AR)
the wisdom of the wise(AS) will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.(AT)”
15 Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide(AU) their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us?(AV) Who will know?”(AW)
16 You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!(AX)
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed(AY) it,
“You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,(AZ)
“You know nothing”?(BA)
17 In a very short time,(BB) will not Lebanon(BC) be turned into a fertile field(BD)
and the fertile field seem like a forest?(BE)
18 In that day(BF) the deaf(BG) will hear the words of the scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness(BH)
the eyes of the blind will see.(BI)
19 Once more the humble(BJ) will rejoice in the Lord;
the needy(BK) will rejoice in the Holy One(BL) of Israel.
20 The ruthless(BM) will vanish,(BN)
the mockers(BO) will disappear,
and all who have an eye for evil(BP) will be cut down—
21 those who with a word make someone out to be guilty,
who ensnare the defender in court(BQ)
and with false testimony(BR) deprive the innocent of justice.(BS)
22 Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed(BT) Abraham,(BU) says to the descendants of Jacob:
“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;(BV)
no longer will their faces grow pale.(BW)
23 When they see among them their children,(BX)
the work of my hands,(BY)
they will keep my name holy;(BZ)
they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One(CA) of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Those who are wayward(CB) in spirit will gain understanding;(CC)
those who complain will accept instruction.”(CD)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 29:2 The Hebrew for altar hearth sounds like the Hebrew for Ariel.
- Isaiah 29:13 Hebrew; Septuagint They worship me in vain; / their teachings are merely human rules
Isaiah 29
King James Version
Isaiah 29
King James Version
29 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.
3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
4 And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
6 Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
8 It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
19 The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
21 That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
22 Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
23 But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New International Version (NIV) 
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