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29 Woe to Ari’el [fireplace on God’s altar, lion of God] —
Ari’el, the city where David encamped!
Celebrate the feasts for a few more years,
but then I will bring trouble to Ari’el.
There will be mourning and moaning,
as she becomes truly an ari’el for me.
I will encamp all around you, besiege you with towers
and mount siege-works against you.
Prostrate, you will speak from the ground;
your words will be stifled by the dust;
your voice will sound like a ghost in the ground,
your words like squeaks in the dust.

But your many foes will become like fine powder,
the horde of tyrants like blowing chaff,
and it will happen very suddenly.
You will be visited by Adonai-Tzva’ot
with thunder, earthquakes and loud noises,
whirlwinds, tempests, flaming firestorms.

Then, all the nations fighting Ari’el,
every one at war with her,
the ramparts around her, the people that trouble her
will fade like a dream, like a vision in the night.
It will be like a hungry man dreaming he’s eating;
but when he wakes up, his stomach is empty;
or like a thirsty man dreaming he’s drinking;
but when he wakes up, he is dry and exhausted —
it will be like this for the horde of all nations
fighting against Mount Tziyon.

If you make yourselves stupid, you will stay stupid!
If you blind yourselves, you will stay blind!
You are drunk, but not from wine;
you are staggering, but not from strong liquor.
10 For Adonai has poured over you a spirit of lethargy;
he has closed your eyes (that is, the prophets)
and covered your heads (that is, the seers).
11 For you this whole prophetic vision
has become like the message in a sealed-up scroll.
When one gives it to someone who can read and says,
“Please read this,” he answers, “I can’t, because it’s sealed.”
12 If the scroll is given to someone who can’t read
with the request, “Please read this,” he says, “I can’t read.”

13 Then Adonai said:

“Because these people approach me with empty words,
and the honor they bestow on me is mere lip-service;
while in fact they have distanced their hearts from me,
and their ‘fear of me’ is just a mitzvah of human origin —
14 therefore, I will have to keep shocking these people
with astounding and amazing things,
until the ‘wisdom’ of their ‘wise ones’ vanishes,
and the ‘discernment’ of their ‘discerning ones’ is hidden away.”

15 Woe to those who burrow down deep
to hide their plans from Adonai!
They work in the dark and say to themselves,
“Nobody sees us, nobody knows us.”
16 How you turn things upside down! —
Is the potter not better than the clay,
Does something made say of its maker,
“He didn’t make me”?
Does the product say of its producer,
“He has no discernment”?

17 In but a little while the L’vanon
will be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field regarded as a forest.
18 On that day the deaf
will hear the words of a book,
and out of gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The humble will again rejoice in Adonai
and the poor exult in the Holy One of Isra’el,
20 for the tyrant is now nothing, the scoffer is finished,
and all alert to do evil are cut off —
21 those whose words make a man out to be a sinner,
those who set traps for the arbitrator at the city gate,
and those who groundlessly deny justice
to the one in the right.

22 Therefore, here are the words of Adonai, who redeemed Avraham, concerning the house of Ya‘akov:
“Ya‘akov will no longer be ashamed,
no longer will his face grow pale.
23 When his descendants see the work of my hands
among them, they will consecrate my name.
Yes, they will consecrate the Holy one of Ya‘akov
and stand in awe of the God of Isra’el.
24 Those whose spirits stray will come to understand,
and those who complain will learn their lesson.

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.
Yet I will besiege Ariel;(E)
    she will mourn and lament,(F)
    she will be to me like an altar hearth.[a](G)
I will encamp against you on all sides;
    I will encircle(H) you with towers
    and set up my siege works(I) against you.
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)

But your many enemies will become like fine dust,(N)
    the ruthless(O) hordes like blown chaff.(P)
Suddenly,(Q) in an instant,
    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)
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—
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)

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

  1. Isaiah 29:2 The Hebrew for altar hearth sounds like the Hebrew for Ariel.
  2. Isaiah 29:13 Hebrew; Septuagint They worship me in vain; / their teachings are merely human rules