29:1 Woe, ①Ariel, ②Ariel the city where David once camped!
Add year to year, ③keep your feasts on schedule.
▷ ①I.e., Lion of God, or Jerusalem ②I.e., Lion of God, or Jerusalem ③Lit let your feasts run their round
29:2 I will bring distress to Ariel,
And she will be a city of grieving and mourning;
And she will be like an ①Ariel to me.
▷ ①Ariel (i.e., Jerusalem) is a Heb word for “altar hearth” where offerings were burned
29:3 I will camp against you ①encircling you,
And I will set up siegeworks against you,
And I will raise up battle towers against you.
▷ ①Lit like a circle
29:4 Then you will be brought low;
From the earth you will speak,
And from the dust where you are prostrate
Your words will come.
Your voice will also be like that of a ①spirit from the ground,
And your speech will whisper from the dust.
▷ ①Or ghost
29:5 But the multitude of your ①enemies will become like fine dust,
And the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which ②blows away;
And it will happen instantly, suddenly.
▷ ①Lit strangers ②Lit passes away
29:6 From the LORD of armies you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise,
With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.
29:7 And the multitude of all the nations who wage war against ①Ariel,
Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,
Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.
▷ ①See note 1 v 1
29:8 It will be as when a hungry person dreams—
And behold, he is eating;
But when he awakens, his ①hunger is not satisfied,
Or as when a thirsty person dreams—
And behold, he is drinking,
But when he awakens, behold, he is faint
And his ②thirst is not quenched.
So will the multitude of all the nations be
Who wage war against Mount Zion.
▷ ①Lit soul ②Lit soul
29:9 Be delayed and horrified,
Blind yourselves and be blind;
They become drunk, but not with wine,
They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.
29:10 For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep,
He has shut your eyes—the prophets;
And He has covered your heads—the seers.
29:11 The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed ①book, which, when they give it to the one who ②is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.”
▷ ①Or scroll ②Lit knows books
29:12 Then the ①book will be given to the one who ②is illiterate, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I ③cannot read.”
▷ ①Or scroll ②Lit does not know books ③Lit do not know books
29:13 Then the Lord said,
“Because this people approaches Me with their ①words
And honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me,
And their ②reverence for Me ③consists of the commandment of men that is taught;
▷ ①Lit mouth ②Lit fear of Me ③Lit is
29:14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;
And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the understanding of their men who have understanding will be concealed.”
29:15 Woe to those who deeply hide their ①plans from the LORD,
And whose deeds are done in a dark place,
And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
▷ ①Lit counsel
29:16 You turn things around!
Shall the potter be considered ①as equal with the clay,
That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;
Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?
▷ ①Lit like
29:17 Is it not yet just a little while
①Before Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field,
And the fertile field will be considered as a forest?
▷ ①Lit And
29:18 On that day those who are deaf will hear words of a book,
And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of those who are blind will see.
29:19 The afflicted also will increase their joy in the LORD,
And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
29:20 For the ruthless will come to an end and the scorner will be finished,
Indeed all who ①are intent on doing evil will be eliminated,
▷ ①Lit watch evil
29:21 Who ①cause a person to be indicted by a word,
And set a trap for the arbitrator at the gate,
And ②defraud the one in the right with ③meaningless arguments.
▷ ①Lit bring a person under condemnation ②Lit turn aside ③Lit confusion
29:22 Therefore this is what the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob will not be ashamed now, nor will his face turn pale now;
29:23 But when ①he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My name;
Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
▷ ①Or his children see
29:24 Those who err in ①mind will know ②the truth,
And those who ③criticize will ④accept instruction.
▷ ①Lit spirit ②Lit understanding ③Lit murmur ④Lit learn