| International Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1"How terrible it will be for you, Aruel, Aruel, the city where David encamped! Year after year, let your festivals run their cycle. | 1Woe to Ariel, Ariel, the city where David camped! Continue year after year; let the festivals recur. |
| 2Then I'll besiege Aruel, and there will be sorrow and mourning; she will become to me like an altar fireplace. | 2I will oppress Ariel, and there will be mourning and crying, and she will be to Me like an Ariel. |
| 3Then I'll encamp against you like David, and I'll lay siege to you with towers, raise siege works against you, | 3I will camp in a circle around you; I will besiege you with earth ramps, and I will set up my siege towers against you. |
| 4and you will be brought down. You will speak from the ground, and your speech will mumble from the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the ground, and your speech will whisper from the dust. | 4You will be brought down; you will speak from the ground, and your words will come from low in the dust. Your voice will be like that of a spirit from the ground; your speech will whisper from the dust. |
| 5"But the hordes of your enemies will become like fine dust, and the hordes of tyrants like flying chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant, | 5Your many foes will be like fine dust, and many of the ruthless, like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant, |
| 6you will be visited by the LORD of the Heavenly Armies— with thunder, an earthquake, and great noise, with a windstorm, a tempest, and flames from a devouring fire. | 6you will be visited by the LORD of Hosts with thunder, earthquake, and loud noise, storm, tempest, and a flame of consuming fire. |
| 7Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Aruel, all that attack her and her fortification and besiege her, will become like a dream, with its visions in the night— | 7All the many nations going out to battle against Ariel-- all the attackers, the siege works against her, and those who oppress her-- will then be like a dream, a vision in the night. |
| 8as when a hungry man dreams— he eats, but wakes up still hungry; or when a thirsty man dreams— he drinks, but wakes up faint, with his thirst unquenched. So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion. | 8It will be like a hungry one who dreams he is eating, then wakes and is still hungry; and like a thirsty one who dreams he is drinking, then wakes and is still thirsty, longing for water. So it will be for all the many nations who go to battle against Mount Zion. |
| 9"Act stupid! Be astonished! Act blind, and be blind! Be drunk, but not from wine; stagger around, but not from strong drink. | 9Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with beer. |
| 10For the LORD has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep— he has closed your eyes, you prophets, he has covered your heads, you seers!" | 10For the LORD has poured out on you an overwhelming urge to sleep; He has shut your eyes--the prophets, and covered your heads--the seers. |
| 11"And this entire vision has become for you like the words of a sealed book. When people give it to someone who can read, and say, 'Read this, please,' he answers, 'I cannot, because it is sealed.' | 11For you the entire vision will be like the words of a sealed document. If it is given to one who can read and he is asked to read it, he will say, "I can't read it, because it is sealed." |
| 12Or when they give the book to someone who cannot read, and say, 'Read this, please,' he answers, 'I don't know how to read.'" | 12And if the document is given to one who cannot read and he is asked to read it, he will say, "I can't read." |
| 13Then the Lord said: "Because these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, worship of me has become merely like rules taught by human beings. | 13The Lord said: Because these people approach Me with their mouths to honor Me with lip-service-- yet their hearts are far from Me, and their worship consists of man-made rules learned by rote-- |
| 14Therefore, watch out! "As for me, I will once again do amazing things with this people, wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the insights of their discerning men will stay hidden." | 14therefore I will again confound these people with wonder after wonder. The wisdom of their wise men will vanish, and the understanding of the perceptive will be hidden. |
| 15"How terrible it will be for you who go to great depths to hide your plans from the LORD, you whose deeds have been done in the dark, and who say, 'Who can see us? Who has recognized us?' | 15Woe to those who go to great lengths to hide their plans from the LORD. They do their works in darkness, and say, "Who sees us? Who knows us?" |
| 16He has turned the tables on you — as if the potter were thought to be like heat. Can what is made say of the one who made it, 'He did not make me?' Or can what is formed say of the ones who formed it, 'He has no skill?' | 16You have turned things around, as if the potter were the same as the clay. How can what is made say about its maker," He didn't make me"? How can what is formed say about the one who formed it," He doesn't understand what he's doing"? |
| 17"In a very little while, will not Lebanon be turned into a garden of fruit, and the garden of fruit seem like a forest? | 17Isn't it true that in just a little while Lebanon will become an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest? |
| 18On that day the deaf will hear the words of a scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. | 18On that day the deaf will hear the words of a document, and out of a deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see. |
| 19The humble will again experience joy in the LORD, and the poorest people will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. | 19The humble will have joy after joy in the LORD, and the poor people will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. |
| 20For the ruthless will vanish, and mockers will disappear, and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down— | 20For the ruthless one will vanish, the scorner will disappear, and all those who lie in wait with evil intent will be killed-- |
| 21those who make a person appear to be the offender in a lawsuit, who set a trap for someone who is making his defense in court, and push aside the innocent with specious arguments. | 21those who, with their speech, accuse a person of wrongdoing, who set a trap at the gate for the mediator, and without cause deprive the righteous of justice. |
| 22"Therefore, this is what the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says concerning the house of Jacob: 'No longer will Jacob be ashamed; no longer will his face grow pale. | 22Therefore, the LORD who redeemed Abraham says this about the house of Jacob: Jacob will no longer be ashamed and his face will no longer be pale. |
| 23For when he sees in his midst his children, the work of my hands, they will keep my name holy; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and stand in awe of the God of Israel. | 23For when he sees his children, the work of My hands within his nation, they will honor My name, they will honor the Holy One of Jacob and stand in awe of the God of Israel. |
| 24Moreover, those who go astray in spirit will gain understanding, and those who complain will accept instruction.'" | 24Those who are confused will gain understanding, and those who grumble will accept instruction. |
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