CHAPTER 29

1 Alas! Ariel, Ariel,
The city which David inhabited,
Add ye year to year,
That the lambs may be slain.

2 Yet I will bring Ariel into distress,
And there shall be grief and sorrow,
And it shall be to me as Ariel.

3 And I will encamp against thee round about,
And will attack thee with a military force,
And will erect ramparts against thee.

4 Then shalt thou be brought low,
Thou shalt speak out of the earth,
And thy speech shall come out of the dust,
And thy voice shall be like that of a sorcerer out of the earth,
And thy speech shall mutter out of the dust.

5 And the sound of thy foreigners shall be as the small dust,
And the multitude of thy mighty men as the passing chaff,
And it shall be in a moment suddenly.

6 Thou shalt be visited by Jehovah of hosts
With thunder, and earthquake, and great noise,
With whirlwind and tempest,
And with the flame of devouring fire.

7 And as a dream of a vision of the night shall be
The multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
Of every one that fighteth,
And that raiseth fortifications against her,
And that distresseth her.

8 It shall therefore be
As when a hungry man dreameth, and behold! he eateth,
But when he awaketh, his soul is empty;
And as when a thirsty man dreameth, And behold! He drinketh,
But when he awaketh, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite;
So shall be the multitude of all the nations
That fight against Mount Zion.

9 Tarry and wonder;
They are blinded and they blind;
They are drunken, but not with wine;
They stagger, and not with strong drink.

10 For Jehovah hath overpowered you with the spirit of slumber,
And hath closed your eyes;
Your prophets And principal seers
He hath struck with darkness.

11 Therefore every vision hath become to you
As the words of a sealed book;
Which if they deliver to one who knoweth letters,
And say, Read in it, I pray,
Then shall he say, I cannot,
For it is sealed:

12 And if the book be delivered to one who hath not learned letters,
And it be said, Read in it, I pray,
Then shall he say, I know not letters.

13 Therefore the Lord saith:
Because this people draw near to me with their mouth,
And honour me with their lips,
And have removed their heart far from me,
And their fear toward me hath been taught by the commandment of men;

14 Therefore, behold! I add to do
A wonderful work among this people,
A miracle and a prodigy;
For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
And the prudence of their prudent men shall vanish away.

15 Wo to them that conceal themselves from Jehovah,
That they may hide counsel;
For their works are in the dark, and they say,
Who seeth us? and, Who knoweth us?

16 Is your turning reckoned like potters clay?
Doth a work say of its author, He did not make me?
And doth a thing framed say of its framer, He did not understand?

17 Is it not yet a little, a little,
And Lebanon shall be changed into Carmel,
And Carmel shall be reckoned a forest?

18 And in that day shall the deaf hear
The words of the book,
And the eyes of the blind shall see
Out of obscurity and out of darkness.

19 Then shall the humble again take joy in Jehovah,
And the poor of men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

20 For the violent man is brought to nought,
The mocker is despised;
And they who hastened early to iniquity are ruined.

21 Who make a man to offend in word,
Who have laid snares for him that reproveth in the gate,
And have turned aside the righteous man for nothing.

22 Therefore Jehovah, who redeemed Abraham,
Speaketh thus to the house of Jacob:
Jacob shall not now be confounded,
Nor shall his face now become pale.

23 For when he shall see in the midst of him
His children, the work of my hands,
They shall sanctify my name,
They shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
They shall fear the God of Israel.

24 Then they that erred in spirit shall learn understanding,
And the murmurers shall learn doctrine.