Isaiah 29

Jerusalem Is Warned

29WOE TO Ariel [Jerusalem], to Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add yet another year; let the feasts run their round [but only one year more].H1945H740H740H7151H1732H2583H5595H8141H8141H5362H22822Then will I distress Ariel; and there shall be mourning and lamentation, yet she shall be to Me like an Ariel [an altar hearth, a hearth of burning, the altar of God].H6693H740H8386H592H7403And I will encamp against you round about; and I will hem you in with siege works and I will set up fortifications against you.H2583H1754H6696H4674H6965H46944And you shall be laid low [Jerusalem], speaking from beneath the ground, and your speech shall come humbly from the dust. And your voice shall be like that of a ghost [produced by a medium] coming from the earth, and your speech shall whisper {and} squeak as it chatters from the dust.H8213H1696H776H565H7817H6083H6963H178H776H565H6850H60835But the multitude of your [enemy] strangers that assail you shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the ruthless {and} terrible ones like chaff that blows away. And in an instant, suddenly,H1995H2114H1851H80H1995H6184H4671H5674H6621H65976You shall be visited {and} delivered by the Lord of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a devouring fire.H6485H3068H6635H7482H7494H1419H6963H5492H5591H3851H398H7847And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel [Jerusalem], even all that fight against her and her stronghold and that distress her, shall be as a dream, a vision of the night.H1995H1471H6633H740H6638H4685H6693H2472H3915H23778It shall be as when a hungry man dreams that he is eating, but he wakens with his craving not satisfied; or as when a thirsty man dreams that he is drinking, but he wakens and is faint, and his thirst is not quenched. So shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion.H7457H2492H398H6974H5315H7386H834H6771H2492H8354H6974H5889H5315H8264H1995H1471H6633H2022H67269Stop and wonder [at this prophecy, if you choose, whether you understand it or not; soon you will witness the actual event] and be confounded [reluctantly]! Blind yourselves [now, if you choose; take your pleasure] and then be blinded [at the actual occurrence]. They are drunk, but not from wine; they stagger, but not from strong drink [but from spiritual stupor].H4102H8539H8173H8173H7937H3196H5128H794110For the Lord has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep. And He has closed your eyes, the prophets; and your heads, the seers, He has covered {and} muffled.H3068H5258H7307H8639H6105H5869H5030H7218H2374H368011And the vision of all this has become for you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, Read this, I pray you, he says, I cannot, for it is sealed.H2380H1697H5612H2856H5414H3045H559H7121H559H3201H285612And when the book is given to him who is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray you, he says, I cannot read.H5612H5414H3045H5612H559H7121H559H304513And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips but remove their hearts {and} minds far from Me, and their fear {and} reverence for Me are a commandment of men that is learned by repetition [without any thought as to the meaning],H136H559H3282H5971H5066H6310H8193H3513H7368H3820H7368H3374H3925H4687H58214Therefore, behold! I will again do marvelous things with this people, marvelous and astonishing things; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their discerning men will vanish {or} be hidden.H3254H6381H5971H6381H6382H2451H2450H6H998H995H564115Woe to those who [seek to] hide deep from the Lord their counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, Who sees us? Who knows us?H1945H6009H5641H6098H3068H4639H4285H559H7200H304516[Oh, your perversity!] You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be considered of no more account than the clay? Shall the thing that is made say of its maker, He did not make me; or the thing that is formed say of him who formed it, He has no understanding?H2017H2803H3335H2563H4639H559H6213H6213H3336H559H3335H995

Blessing after Discipline

17Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field and the fruitful field esteemed as a forest?H4213H4592H3844H7725H3759H3759H2803H329318And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and out of obscurity {and} gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.H3117H2795H8085H1697H5612H5869H5787H7200H652H282219The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice {and} exult in the Holy One of Israel.H6035H3254H8057H3068H34H120H1523H6918H347820For the terrible one [the Assyrian enemy] shall come to nought, and the scoffer shall cease, and all those who watch for iniquity [as an occasion for accusation] shall be cut off--H6184H656H3887H3615H8245H205H377221Those who make a man an offender {and} bring condemnation upon him with a word, and lay a trap for him who upholds justice at the city gate, and thrust aside the innocent {and} truly righteous with an empty plea.H120H2398H1697H6983H3198H8179H5186H6662H841422Therefore thus says the Lord, Who redeemed Abraham [out of Ur and idolatry], concerning the house of Jacob: Jacob shall not then be ashamed; not then shall his face become pale [with fear and disappointment because of his children's degeneracy].H559H3068H6299H85H1004H3290H3290H954H6440H235723For when he sees his children [walking in the way of piety and virtue], the work of My hands in his midst, they will revere My name; they will revere the Holy One of Jacob and reverently fear the God of Israel.H7200H3206H4639H3027H7130H6942H8034H6942H6918H3290H6206H430H347824Those who err in spirit will come to understanding, and those who murmur [discontentedly] will accept instruction.H8582H7307H3045H998H7279H3925H3948