Isaiah 29
1Woe
to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
2Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall
be unto me as Ariel.
3And I will camp against
thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
4And 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.
5Moreover 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.
6Thou
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.
7And 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.
8It 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.
9Stay
yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
10For 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.
11And 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:
12And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray
thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
13Wherefore
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:
14Therefore, 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.
15Woe 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?
16Surely 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?
17Is 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?
18And
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.
19The meek also shall increase their joy in
the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity
are cut off:
21That 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.
22Therefore 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.
23But 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.
24They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.