Isaiah 29

Ariel and the Hidden Work of God

1Woe, Ariel, Ariel, city where David camped!
Add year to year; let the festivals come around. 2I will press Ariel hard;
there will be mourning and moaning.
She will become like an altar hearth to me. 3I will encamp all around you,
lay siege to you with posts,
and raise siegeworks against you. 4Brought low, you will speak from the ground;
your words will sink into the dust.
Your voice will come from the ground like a ghost’s,
your speech will chirp from the dust.

5Yet the throng of your foreigners will become fine dust,
the throng of the ruthless like drifting chaff.
Suddenly, in an instant, 6the LORD of hosts will visit you
with thunder, earthquake, and great noise,
whirlwind, tempest, and devouring flame. 7The throng of all nations fighting Ariel,
all who wage war against her and her stronghold,
all who press her hard,
will be like a dream, a vision at night. 8As a hungry person dreams of eating
and wakes with an empty stomach,
as a thirsty person dreams of drinking
and wakes faint and still thirsty,
so will be the throng of all nations
fighting Mount Zion.

9Stupefy yourselves and be stupefied!
Blind yourselves and be blind!
They are drunk, but not from wine;
they stagger, but not from strong drink. 10For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep.
He has closed your eyes—the prophets—
and covered your heads—the seers. 11For you the whole vision has become like the words of a sealed scroll. Give it to someone who can read and say, “Please read this,” and the answer is, “I cannot; it is sealed.” 12Give the scroll to someone who cannot read and say, “Please read this,” and the answer is, “I cannot read.”

13The Lord said:
“This people approaches me with its mouth
and honors me with its lips,
but its heart is far from me.
Its fear of me is a human command learned by rote. 14So I will again astound this people,
with wonder upon wonder.
The wisdom of its wise will perish,
and the discernment of its discerning will disappear.” 15Woe to those who bury their plans deep from the LORD,
whose deeds are done in darkness,
who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?” 16You turn things upside down!
Should the potter be regarded as clay?
Should a thing made say of its maker, “He did not make me,”
or a formed thing say of its former, “He has no understanding”?

17In just a little while,
will not Lebanon become fruitful land,
and fruitful land be regarded as forest? 18On that day the deaf will hear a scroll’s words,
and out of gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind will see. 19The lowly will find fresh joy in the LORD;
the poorest people will rejoice in Israel’s Holy One. 20For the ruthless will be gone, the mocker finished,
and all who watch for a chance to do evil will be cut off—

21those who make a person guilty by a word,
set a trap for the one who argues a case at the gate,
and with empty claims deny justice to the righteous. 22Therefore the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says to Jacob’s house:
“Jacob will no longer be ashamed;
his face will no longer grow pale. 23When he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst,
they will honor my name as holy;
they will honor Jacob’s Holy One as holy
and stand in awe of Israel’s God. 24Those whose spirits wander will gain understanding;
those who grumble will learn instruction.”