| New King James Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1“Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! Add year to year; Let feasts come around. | 1Woe to you, O Ariel, the city of Ariel where David camped! Year upon year let your festivals recur. |
| 2Yet I will distress Ariel; There shall be heaviness and sorrow, And it shall be to Me as Ariel. | 2And I will constrain Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation; she will be like an altar hearth before Me. |
| 3I will encamp against you all around, I will lay siege against you with a mound, And I will raise siegeworks against you. | 3I will camp in a circle around you; I will besiege you with towers and set up siege works against you. |
| 4You shall be brought down, You shall speak out of the ground; Your speech shall be low, out of the dust; Your voice shall be like a medium’s, out of the ground; And your speech shall whisper out of the dust. | 4You will be brought low, you will speak from the ground, and out of the dust your words will be muffled. Your voice will be like a spirit from the ground; your speech will whisper out of the dust. |
| 5“Moreover the multitude of your foes Shall be like fine dust, And the multitude of the terrible ones Like chaff that passes away; Yes, it shall be in an instant, suddenly. | 5But your many foes will be like fine dust, the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant, |
| 6You will be punished by the LORD of hosts With thunder and earthquake and great noise, With storm and tempest And the flame of devouring fire. | 6you will be visited by the LORD of Hosts with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with windstorm and tempest and consuming flame of fire. |
| 7The multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel, Even all who fight against her and her fortress, And distress her, Shall be as a dream of a night vision. | 7All the many nations going out to battle against Ariel—even all who war against her, laying siege and attacking her—will be like a dream, like a vision in the night, |
| 8It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, And look—he eats; But he awakes, and his soul is still empty; Or as when a thirsty man dreams, And look—he drinks; But he awakes, and indeed he is faint, And his soul still craves: So the multitude of all the nations shall be, Who fight against Mount Zion.” | 8as when a hungry man dreams he is eating, then awakens still hungry; as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, then awakens faint and parched. So will it be for all the many nations who go to battle against Mount Zion. |
| 9Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink. | 9Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink. |
| 10For the LORD has poured out on you The spirit of deep sleep, And has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, namely, the seers. | 10For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers. |
| 11The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” | 11And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” |
| 12Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I am not literate.” | 12Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.” |
| 13Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, | 13Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men. |
| 14Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.” | 14Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.” |
| 15Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the LORD, And their works are in the dark; They say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?” | 15Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?” |
| 16Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, “He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”? | 16You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of the potter, “He has no understanding”? |
| 17Is it not yet a very little while Till Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest? | 17In a very short time, will not Lebanon become an orchard, and the orchard seem like a forest? |
| 18In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. | 18On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see. |
| 19The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD, And the poor among men shall rejoice In the Holy One of Israel. | 19The humble will increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. |
| 20For the terrible one is brought to nothing, The scornful one is consumed, And all who watch for iniquity are cut off— | 20For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down— |
| 21Who make a man an offender by a word, And lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, And turn aside the just by empty words. | 21those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice. |
| 22Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, Nor shall his face now grow pale; | 22Therefore the LORD who redeemed Abraham says of the house of Jacob: “No longer will Jacob be ashamed and no more will his face grow pale. |
| 23But when he sees his children, The work of My hands, in his midst, They will hallow My name, And hallow the Holy One of Jacob, And fear the God of Israel. | 23For when he sees his children around him, the work of My hands, they will honor My name, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and they will stand in awe of the God of Israel. |
| 24These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, And those who complained will learn doctrine.” | 24Then the wayward in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will accept instruction.” |
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