Isaiah

Woe to David’s City

1Woe to you, O Ariel,the city of Ariel where David camped!Year upon yearlet your festivals recur.

2And I will constrain Ariel,and there will be mourning and lamentation; she will be like an altar hearthbefore Me.

3I will camp in a circle around you;I will besiege you with towers and set up siege works against you.

4You will be brought low,you will speak from the ground,and out of the dustyour words will be muffled.Your voice will be like a spirit from the ground;your speech will whisper out of the dust.

5But your many foes will be like fine dust,the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff.Then suddenly, in an instant,

6you will be visited by the LORD of Hostswith thunder and earthquake and loud noise,with windstorm and tempest and consuming flame of fire.

7All the many nationsgoing out to battle against Ariel—even all who war against her,laying siege and attacking her—will be like a dream,like a vision in the night,

8as when a hungry man dreams he is eating,then awakens still hungry;as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking,then awakens faint and parched.So will it be for all the many nationswho go to battle against Mount Zion.

9Stop and be astonished;blind yourselves and be sightless;be drunk, but not with wine;stagger, but not from strong drink.

10For the LORD has poured out on youa spirit of deep sleep.He has shut your eyes, O prophets;He has covered your heads, O seers.

11And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.”

12Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.”

13Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouthsand honor Me with their lips,but their hearts are far from Me.Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.

14Therefore I will again confound these peoplewith wonder upon wonder.The wisdom of the wise will vanish,and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”

15Woe to those who dig deepto hide their plans from the LORD.In darkness they do their works and say,“Who sees us, and who will know?”

16You have turned things upside down,as if the potter were regarded as clay.Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,“He did not make me”?Can the pottery say of the potter,“He has no understanding”?

Sanctification for the Godly

17In a very short time,will not Lebanon become an orchard, and the orchard seem like a forest?

18On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

19The humble will increase their joy in the LORD,and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

20For the ruthless will vanish,the mockers will disappear,and all who look for evilwill be cut down—

21those who indict a man with a word,who ensnare the mediator at the gate,and who with false chargesdeprive the innocent of justice.

22Therefore the LORD who redeemed Abraham says of the house of Jacob: “No longer will Jacob be ashamedand no more will his face grow pale.

23For when he sees his children around him,the work of My hands,they will honor My name,they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,and they will stand in aweof the God of Israel.

24Then the wayward in spirit will come to understanding,and those who grumble will accept instruction.”

1Woe to Ariel! Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts come around;

2then I will distress Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation. She shall be to me as an altar hearth.

3I will encamp against you all around you, and will lay siege against you with posted troops. I will raise siege works against you.

4You will be brought down, and will speak out of the ground. Your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will be as of one who has a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and your speech will whisper out of the dust.

5But the multitude of your foes will be like fine dust, and the multitude of the ruthless ones like chaff that blows away. Yes, it will be in an instant, suddenly.

6She will be visited by the LORD of Armies with thunder, with earthquake, with great noise, with whirlwind and storm, and with the flame of a devouring fire.

7The multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, will be like a dream, a vision of the night.

8It will be like when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he eats; but he awakes, and his hunger isn’t satisfied; or like when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and behold, he is faint, and he is still thirsty. The multitude of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion will be like that.

9Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

10For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, the prophets; and he has covered your heads, the seers.

11All vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is educated, saying, “Read this, please;” and he says, “I can’t, for it is sealed;”

12and the book is delivered to one who is not educated, saying, “Read this, please;” and he says, “I can’t read.”

13The Lord said, “Because this people draws near with their mouth and honors me with their lips, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught;

14therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will be hidden.”

15Woe to those who deeply hide their counsel from the LORD, and whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us?” and “Who knows us?”

16You turn things upside down! Should the potter be thought to be like clay, that the thing made should say about him who made it, “He didn’t make me;” or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

17Isn’t it yet a very little while, and Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field will be regarded as a forest?

18In that day, the deaf will hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind will see out of obscurity and out of darkness.

19The humble also will increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

20For the ruthless is brought to nothing, and the scoffer ceases, and all those who are alert to do evil are cut off—

21who cause a person to be indicted by a word, and lay a snare for one who reproves in the gate, and who deprive the innocent of justice with false testimony.

22Therefore the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall no longer be ashamed, neither shall his face grow pale.

23But when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in the middle of him, they will sanctify my name. Yes, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

24They also who err in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will receive instruction.”