| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 1“Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! Add year to year; Let feasts come around. | 1Ariel is as good as dead--Ariel, the town David besieged! Keep observing your annual rituals, celebrate your festivals on schedule. |
| 2Yet I will distress Ariel; There shall be heaviness and sorrow, And it shall be to Me as Ariel. | 2I will threaten Ariel, and she will mourn intensely and become 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 lay siege to you on all sides; I will besiege you with troops; I will raise 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 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“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 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 punished by the LORD of hosts With thunder and earthquake and great noise, With storm and tempest And the flame of 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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.” | 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. |
| 9Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; They stagger, but not with intoxicating 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 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 strong urge to sleep deeply. He has shut your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the 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.” | 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." |
| 12Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I am not literate.” | 12Or when they hand the scroll to one who can't read and say, "Read this," he says, "I can't 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, | 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, 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 do an amazing thing for these people--an absolutely extraordinary deed. Wise men will have nothing to say, the sages will have no explanations." |
| 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?” | 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?" |
| 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”? | 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"? |
| 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 just a very short time Lebanon will turn into an orchard, and the orchard will be considered 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. | 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 also shall increase their joy in the LORD, And the poor among men shall 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 terrible one is brought to nothing, The scornful one is consumed, And all who watch for iniquity are cut off— | 20For tyrants will disappear, those who taunt will vanish, and all those who love to do wrong will be eliminated-- |
| 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 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. |
| 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; | 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. |
| 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 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. |
| 24These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, And those who complained will learn doctrine.” | 24Those who stray morally will gain understanding; those who complain will acquire insight. |
|
