Isaiah 29

What sorrow awaits Ariel, the city of David! Year after year
You celebrate your feasts. Yet I will bring disaster upon you
And there will be much weeping and sorrow. For Jerusalem will
Become what her name Ariel means: an altar covered with blood
I will be your enemy, surrounding Jerusalem and attacking its walls
I will build siege towers and destroy it. Then, deep from the
Earth you will speak; from low in the dust your words will come
Your voice will whisper from the ground, like a ghost

Conjured up from the grave. But suddenly your ruthless
Enemies will be crushed like the finest of dust; your many
Attackers will be driven away like chaff before the wind
Suddenly, in an instant, I, the Lord of Heaven's Armies, will
Act for you with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with
Whirlwind and storm and consuming fire. All the nations fighting
Against Jerusalem will vanish like a dream; those who are
Attacking her walls will vanish like a vision in the night

A hungry person dreams of eating, but wakes up still
Hungry. A thirsty person dreams of drinking, but is
Still faint from thirst when morning comes. So it will
Be with your enemies, with those who attack Mount Zion

Are you amazed and incredulous? Don't you
Believe it? Then go ahead and be blind
You are stupid, but not from wine; you stagger, but not from
Liquor. For the Lord has poured out on you a spirit of deep
Sleep; he has closed the eyes of your prophets and visionaries
All the future events in this vision are like a sealed book to
Them. When you give it to those who can read, they will say, "
We can't read it, because it is sealed." When you give it to
Those who cannot read, they will say, "We don't know how to read."

And so the Lord says: "These people say they are mine; they
Honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me
And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned
By rote. Because of this I will once again astound these
Hypocrites with amazing wonders. The wisdom of the wise will pass
Away, and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear."

What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the Lord
Who do their evil deeds in the dark! "The Lord can't see us,"
They say. "He doesn't know what's going on." How foolish can you be?
He is the potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay!
Should the created thing say of the one who made it, "He didn'
T make me"? Does a jar ever say, "The potter who made me is stupid"?

Soon—and it will not be very long—the forests of Lebanon will become a
Fertile field, and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops. In
That day the deaf will hear words read from a book
And the blind will see through the gloom and darkness
The humble will be filled with fresh joy from the Lord
The poor will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel

The scoffer will be gone, the arrogant will disappear, and those who
Plot evil will be killed. Those who convict the innocent by their
False testimony will disappear; a similar fate awaits those who use
Trickery to pervert justice and who
Tell lies to destroy the innocent

That is why the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the people of
Israel: "My people will no longer be ashamed or turn pale with fear
For when they see their many children and all the blessings I have
Given them, they will recognize the holiness of the Holy One of
Jacob; they will stand in awe of the God of Israel." Then the wayward
Will gain understanding, and complainers will accept instruction