Isaiah 29
Jerusalem Is Warned
Add yet another year; let the feasts run their course [but only one year more].
And she will be a city of mourning and lamenting (crying out in grief)
Yet she will be like an Ariel [an altar hearth] to Me.
And I will hem you in with siege works,
And I will raise fortifications against you.
You will speak from the earth,
And from the dust where you lie face down
Your muffled words will come.
Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the earth [like one produced by a medium],
And your speech will whisper and squeak from the dust.
And the multitude of the tyrants like the chaff which blows away;
And it will happen in an instant, suddenly [that your enemy is destroyed].
With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.
Even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,
Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.
That he is eating,
But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied;
Or as when a thirsty man dreams
That he is drinking,
But when he awakens, in fact, he is faint
And his thirst is not quenched.
So will the multitude of all the nations be
Who fight against Mount Zion.
Blind yourselves and be blinded [at its fulfillment by your spiritual incompetence].
They are drunk, but not from wine;
They stagger, but not from strong drink.
He has closed your eyes, [you who are] the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, [you who are] the seers.
11The entire vision [of all these things] will be to you like the words of a scroll that is sealed, which they give to one who can read, saying, “Read this, please,” he shall say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12Then the book will be given to the one who cannot read, saying, “Read this, please.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”
13Then the Lord said,
And honors Me [only] with their lip service,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their reverence for Me is a tradition that is learned by rote [without any regard for its meaning],
And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the understanding of their discerning men will be hidden.”
Whose deeds are done in a dark place,
And who say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
Shall the potter be considered equal with the clay,
That the thing that is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;
Or the thing that is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?
Until Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field,
And the fertile field regarded as a forest?
And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see [the words of the book].
And the needy of mankind will rejoice and celebrate in the Holy One of Israel.
Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off—
And lay a trap for him who upholds justice at the [city] gate,
And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.
22Therefore, the LORD, who redeemed Abraham [from paganism] says this, concerning the house of Jacob (Israel):
They will sanctify My Name;
They will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
And will stand in awe and reverent fear of the God of Israel.
And those who criticize and murmur discontentedly will accept instruction.
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