| International Standard Version | NET 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. | 1Ariel is as good as dead--Ariel, the town David besieged! Keep observing your annual rituals, celebrate your festivals on schedule. |
| 2Then I'll besiege Aruel, and there will be sorrow and mourning; she will become to me like an altar fireplace. | 2I will threaten Ariel, and she will mourn intensely and become like an altar hearth before me. |
| 3Then I'll encamp against you like David, and I'll lay siege to you with towers, raise siege works against you, | 3I will lay siege to you on all sides; I will besiege you with troops; I will raise siege works 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 fall; while lying on the ground you will speak; from the dust where you lie, your words will be heard. Your voice will sound like a spirit speaking from the underworld; from the dust you will chirp as if muttering an incantation. |
| 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, | 5But the horde of invaders will be like fine dust, the horde of tyrants like chaff that is blown away. It will happen suddenly, in a flash. |
| 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. | 6Judgment will come from the LORD who commands armies, accompanied by thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise, by a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming flame of 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— | 7It will be like a dream, a night vision. There will be a horde from all the nations that fight against Ariel, those who attack her and her stronghold and besiege her. |
| 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 man dreaming that he is eating, only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty. It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking, only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched. So it will be for the horde from all the nations that fight 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. | 9You will be shocked and amazed! You are totally blind! They are drunk, but not because of wine; they stagger, but not because of 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 a strong urge to sleep deeply. 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.' | 11To you this entire prophetic revelation is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read and say, "Read this," he responds, "I can't, 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.'" | 12Or when they hand the scroll to one who can't read and say, "Read this," he says, "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 sovereign master says, "These people say they are loyal to me; they say wonderful things about me, but they are not really loyal to me. Their worship consists of nothing but man-made ritual. |
| 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 do an amazing thing for these people--an absolutely extraordinary deed. Wise men will have nothing to say, the sages will have no explanations." |
| 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?' | 15Those who try to hide their plans from the LORD are as good as dead, who do their work in secret and boast, "Who sees us? Who knows what we're doing?" |
| 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?' | 16Your thinking is perverse! Should the potter be regarded as clay? Should the thing made say about its maker, "He didn't make me"? Or should the pottery say about the potter, "He doesn't understand"? |
| 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? | 17In just a very short time Lebanon will turn into an orchard, and the orchard will be considered 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. | 18At that time the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll, and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness. |
| 19The humble will again experience joy in the LORD, and the poorest people will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. | 19The downtrodden will again rejoice in the LORD; the poor among humankind will take delight 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 tyrants will disappear, those who taunt will vanish, and all those who love to do wrong will be eliminated-- |
| 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 bear false testimony against a person, who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges. |
| 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. | 22So this is what the LORD, the one who delivered Abraham, says to the family of Jacob: "Jacob will no longer be ashamed; their faces will no longer show their embarrassment. |
| 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 they see their children, whom I will produce among them, they will honor my name. They will honor the Holy One of Jacob; they will respect the God of Israel. |
| 24Moreover, those who go astray in spirit will gain understanding, and those who complain will accept instruction.'" | 24Those who stray morally will gain understanding; those who complain will acquire insight. |
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