Isaiah 29 - 33 - Legacy Standard Bible

Isaiah 29 - 33

Woe to Ariel

Woe, O Ariel, Ariel the city where David once camped!

Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.

I will bring distress to Ariel,

And she will be a city of mourning and moaning;

And she will be like an Ariel to me.

And I will camp against you encircling you,

And I will fortify siegeworks against you,

And I will raise up fortifications against you.

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 spirit from the ground,

And your speech will whisper from the dust.

But it will be that the multitude of your enemies will become like fine dust,

And the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away;

And it will happen instantly, suddenly.

From Yahweh of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise,

With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.

And it will be that the multitude of all the nations who wage war against Ariel,

Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,

Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.

And it will be as when a hungry man dreams—

And behold, he is eating;

But he awakens, and his soul is empty,

Or as when a thirsty man dreams—

And behold, he is drinking,

But he awakens, and behold, he is faint,

And his soul is not quenched.

Thus the multitude of all the nations will be

Who wage war against Mount Zion.

Astonish yourselves and be astonished,

Blind yourselves and be blind;

They become drunk, but not with wine;

They stagger, but not with strong drink.

For Yahweh has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep;

He has shut your eyes, the prophets;

And He has covered your heads, the seers.

11 The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 Then the book will be given to the one who does not know how to read a book, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I do not know how to read a book.” 13 Then the Lord said,

“Because this people draw near with their mouth

And honor Me with their lips,

But they remove their hearts far from Me,

And their fear of Me is in the command of men learned by rote,

Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;

And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,

And the discernment of their discerning men will be hidden.”

Woe to those who deeply hide their counsel from Yahweh,

And whose deeds are done in a dark place,

And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”

You turn things around!

Shall the potter be considered as 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”?

The Afflicted Will Rejoice

Is it not yet just a little while

Before Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful orchard,

And the fruitful orchard will be counted as a forest?

On that day the deaf will hear words of a book,

And out of darkness and thick darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

The afflicted also will increase their gladness in Yahweh,

And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

For the ruthless will come to an end and the scoffer will be finished,

Indeed all who are watching out to do evil will be cut off;

Who cause a person to sin by a word,

And ensnare him who reproves at the gate,

And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.

22 Therefore thus says Yahweh, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

“Jacob shall not now be ashamed, and now his face shall not turn pale;

But when he 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 trembling before the God of Israel.

Those who err in spirit will know discernment,

And those who criticize will gain learning.

Alliance with Egypt Condemned

“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares Yahweh,

“Who execute counsel, but not Mine,

And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,

In order to add sin to sin,

Who go down to Egypt—

But did not ask Me—

To find strength in the strong defense of Pharaoh

And to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!

Therefore the strong defense of Pharaoh will be your shame

And the refuge in the shadow of Egypt, your dishonor.

For their princes are at Zoan

And their messengers reach Hanes.

Everyone will be ashamed because of a people who cannot profit them,

Who are not for help or profit, but for shame and also for reproach.”

6 The oracle concerning the beasts of the Negev.

Through a land of distress and anguish,

From where come lioness and lion, viper and flying fiery serpent,

They carry their wealth on the backs of young donkeys

And their treasures on camels’ humps,

To a people who cannot profit them;

Even Egypt, whose help is vain and empty.

Therefore, I have called her

“Rahab who has ceased.”

Now go, write it on a tablet before them

And inscribe it on a scroll,

That it may be in the time to come

As a witness forever.

For this is a rebellious people, false sons,

Sons who are not willing to listen

To the law of Yahweh,

Who say to the seers, “You must not see,”

And to those who have visions, “You must not behold visions for us of what is right,

Speak to us pleasant words,

Behold visions of illusions.

Get out of the way, turn aside from the path,

Cease speaking before us about the Holy One of Israel.”

12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,

“Since you have rejected this word

And have put your trust in oppression and deviousness and have relied on them,

Therefore this iniquity will be to you

Like a breach about to fall,

A bulge in a high wall,

Whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant,

Whose breaking is like the breaking of a potter’s jar,

So ruthlessly shattered

That a potsherd will not be found among its pieces

To take fire from a hearth

Or to scoop water from a cistern.”

15 For thus Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, has said,

“In repentance and rest you will be saved,

In quietness and trust is your might.”

But you were not willing,

And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses,”

Therefore you shall flee!

“And we will ride on swift horses,”

Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.

One thousand will flee at the threat of one man;

You will flee at the threat of five,

Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top

And as a standard on a hill.

Yahweh Is Gracious and Just

Therefore Yahweh waits with longing to be gracious to you,

And therefore He is on high to have compassion on you.

For Yahweh is a God of justice;

How blessed are all those who wait for Him.

19 O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. 20 The Lord has given you bread of distress and water of oppression; He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will see your Teacher. 21 And your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left. 22 And you will defile your graven images overlaid with your silver, and your molten images plated with your gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing and say to them, “Be gone!” 23 Then He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the produce of the ground, and it will be rich and fat; on that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture. 24 Also the oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will eat salted fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And it will be that on every lofty mountain and on every lifted up hill there will be streams running with water on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 And the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day Yahweh binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted. 27

Behold, the name of Yahweh comes from afar;

Burning is His anger and heavy is His smoke;

His lips are filled with indignation

And His tongue is like a consuming fire;

His breath is like an overflowing torrent,

Which reaches to the neck,

To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve of worthlessness,

And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which staggers one to ruin.

You will have songs as in the night when you set yourself apart as holy for the festival,

And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute,

To go to the mountain of Yahweh, to the Rock of Israel.

And Yahweh will cause His splendid voice to be heard,

And the descending of His arm to be seen in raging anger,

And in the flame of a consuming fire

In cloudburst, downpour, and hailstones.

For at the voice of Yahweh Assyria will be dismayed,

When He strikes with the rod.

And every blow of the appointed staff,

Which Yahweh will cause to rest upon him,

Will be with the music of tambourines and lyres;

And in battles, waving weapons He will fight them.

For Topheth has long been ready,

Indeed, it has been prepared for the king.

He has made it deep and large,

A pyre of fire with plenty of wood;

The breath of Yahweh, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.

Woe to Those Who Go down to Egypt

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help

And rely on horses,

And trust in chariots because they are many

And in horsemen because they are very mighty,

But they do not regard at the Holy One of Israel, nor seek Yahweh!

Yet He also is wise and will bring about an evil demise

And does not turn His words aside,

But will arise against the house of evildoers

And against the help of the workers of iniquity.

Now the Egyptians are men and not God,

And their horses are flesh and not spirit;

So Yahweh will stretch out His hand,

And he who helps will stumble,

And he who is helped will fall,

And all of them will come to an end together.

4 For thus says Yahweh to me,

“As the lion or the young lion growls over its prey,

Against which a multitude of shepherds is called out,

And it will not be dismayed at their voice nor afflicted at their noise,

So will Yahweh of hosts come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill.”

Like flying birds so Yahweh of hosts will defend Jerusalem.

He will defend and deliver it;

He will pass over and provide a way of escape.

6 Return to Him against whom you have deeply rebelled, O sons of Israel. 7 For in that day every man will reject his silver idols and his gold idols, which your hands have made for you as a sin. 8

And the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man,

And a sword not of man will devour him.

So he will flee from the sword,

And his choice men will become forced laborers.

“His rock will pass away because of terror,

And his princes will be dismayed at the standard,”

Declares Yahweh, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

A King Will Reign Righteously

Behold, a king will reign righteously

And princes will rule justly.

Each will be like a refuge from the wind

And a shelter from the storm,

Like streams of water in a dry country,

Like the shade of a huge rock in a weary land.

Then the eyes of those who see will not be blinded,

And the ears of those who hear will pay attention.

And the heart of the hasty will discern knowledge,

And the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak clearly.

No longer will the wicked fool be called noble,

Or the rogue be spoken of as generous.

For a wicked fool speaks wicked folly,

And his heart does wickedness:

To do ungodliness and to speak error against Yahweh,

In order to make the hungry person empty;

He even causes the thirsty to lack a drink.

As for a rogue, his weapons are evil;

He counsels wicked schemes

To wreak destruction on the afflicted with lying words,

Even though the needy one speaks justly.

But the noble man counsels noble plans;

And by noble plans he rises up.

Rise up, you women who are at ease,

And hear my voice;

Give ear to my word,

You complacent daughters.

Within a year and a few days

You will quake, O complacent daughters;

For the grape harvest is ended,

And the fruit gathering will not come.

Tremble, you women who are at ease;

Quake, you complacent daughters;

Strip, undress, and put sackcloth on your waist,

Beat your breasts for the desirable fields, for the fruitful vine,

For the land of my people in which thorns and briars shall come up,

Indeed, against all the joyful houses and the exultant city.

Because the palace has been abandoned, the populated city forsaken.

Hill and watchtower have become caves forever,

A joy for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks,

Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high,

And the wilderness becomes a fruitful orchard,

And the fruitful orchard is counted as a forest.

Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,

And righteousness will live in the fruitful orchard.

And the work of righteousness will be peace,

And the service of righteousness, quietness and security forever.

Then my people will live in a peaceful abode,

And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places;

And it will hail when the forest comes down,

And the city will be utterly laid low.

How blessed will you be, you who sow beside all waters,

Who let out freely the ox and the donkey.

The King in His Beauty

Woe to you, O destroyer,

While you were not destroyed;

And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him.

As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;

As soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.

O Yahweh, be gracious to us; we have hoped in You.

Be their strength every morning,

Our salvation also in the time of distress.

At the sound of the tumult peoples flee;

At the lifting up of Yourself nations scatter.

Your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;

As locusts rushing about men rush about on it.

Yahweh is exalted, for He dwells on high;

He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

And He will be the stability of your times,

A wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;

The fear of Yahweh is his treasure.

Behold, their brave men cry in the streets;

The messengers of peace weep bitterly.

The highways are desolate, the traveler has ceased;

He has broken the covenant, he has rejected the cities;

He has no regard for man.

The land mourns and languishes,

Lebanon is humiliated and withers;

Sharon is like a desert plain,

And Bashan and Carmel lose their foliage.

“Now I will be on high,” says Yahweh,

“Now I will be lifted up, now I will be lifted up.

You have conceived chaff, you will give birth to stubble;

My breath will consume you like a fire.

The peoples will be burned to lime,

Like cut thorns which are burned in the fire.

“You who are far away, hear what I have done;

And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”

Sinners in Zion are in dread;

Trembling has seized the godless.

“Who among us can sojourn with the consuming fire?

Who among us can sojourn with continual burning?”

He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly;

He who rejects greedy gain of oppression,

And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe;

He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed

And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil;

He will dwell on the heights,

His refuge will be the strongholds of the cliffs;

His bread will be given him,

His water will be sure.

Your eyes will behold the King in His beauty;

They will see a far‑distant land.

Your heart will meditate on terror:

“Where is he who counts?

Where is he who weighs?

Where is he who counts the towers?”

You will no longer see a fierce people,

A people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends,

Of a stammering tongue which no one understands.

Behold Zion, the city of our appointed times;

Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an abode at ease,

A tent which will not be folded;

Its stakes will never be pulled up,

Nor any of its cords ever be torn apart.

But there the Mighty One, Yahweh, will be for us

A place of rivers and wide canals

On which no boat with oars will go,

And on which no mighty ship will pass—

For Yahweh is our judge,

Yahweh is our lawgiver,

Yahweh is our king;

He will save us—

Your cords hang slack;

They cannot hold the base of their mast firmly,

Nor spread out the sail.

Then the prey of an abundant spoil will be divided;

The lame will take the plunder.

And no one who dwells there will say, “I am sick”;

The people who inhabit there will be forgiven their iniquity.