Isaiah 29 Parallel Bible Translations

Isaiah 29 ▼
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1 Ariel is as good as dead--Ariel, the town David besieged! Keep observing your annual rituals, celebrate your festivals on schedule. Ah, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts run their round. Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David settled! Add year to year and let your cycle of festivals go on.
2 I will threaten Ariel, and she will mourn intensely and become like an altar hearth before me. Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be moaning and lamentation, and she shall be to me like an Ariel. Yet I will besiege Ariel; she will mourn and lament, she will be to me like an altar hearth.
3 I will lay siege to you on all sides; I will besiege you with troops; I will raise siege works against you. And I will encamp against you all around, and will besiege you with towers and I will raise siegeworks against you. I will encamp against you on all sides; I will encircle you with towers and set up my siege works against you.
4 You 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. And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak, and from the dust your speech will be bowed down; your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost, and from the dust your speech shall whisper. Brought low, you will speak from the ground; your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth; out of the dust your speech will whisper.
5 But 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. But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff. And in an instant, suddenly, But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. Suddenly, in an instant,
6 Judgment 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. you will be visited by the LORD of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire. the LORD Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.
7 It 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. And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her, shall be like a dream, a vision of the night. Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel, that attack her and her fortress and besiege her, will be as it is with a dream, with a vision in the night—
8 It 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. As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating, and awakes with his hunger not satisfied, or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking, and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched, so shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion. as when a hungry person dreams of eating, but awakens hungry still; as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking, but awakens faint and thirsty still. So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.
9 You will be shocked and amazed! You are totally blind! They are drunk, but not because of wine; they stagger, but not because of beer. Astonish yourselves and be astonished; blind yourselves and be blind! Be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not with strong drink! Be stunned and amazed, blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not from wine, stagger, but not from beer.
10 For 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). For the LORD has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers). The LORD has brought over you a deep sleep: He has sealed your eyes (the prophets); he has covered your heads (the seers).
11 To 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.| And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.”
12 Or when they hand the scroll to one who can't read and say, |Read this,| he says, |I can't read.| And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.” Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”
13 The 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. And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
14 Therefore 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.| therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.” Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”
15 Those 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?| Ah, you who hide deep from the LORD your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?” Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, “Who sees us? Who will know?”
16 Your 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|? You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, “He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”? You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “You did not make me|? Can the pot say to the potter, “You know nothing|?
17 In just a very short time Lebanon will turn into an orchard, and the orchard will be considered a forest. Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest? In a very short time, will not Lebanon be turned into a fertile field and the fertile field seem like a forest?
18 At 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. In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The downtrodden will again rejoice in the LORD; the poor among humankind will take delight in the Holy One of Israel. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. Once more the humble will rejoice in the LORD; the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For tyrants will disappear, those who taunt will vanish, and all those who love to do wrong will be eliminated-- For the ruthless shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off, The ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down—
21 those 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. who by a word make a man out to be an offender, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right. those who with a word make someone out to be guilty, who ensnare the defender in court and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice.
22 So 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. Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall no more be ashamed, no more shall his face grow pale. Therefore this is what the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob: “No longer will Jacob be ashamed; no longer will their faces grow pale.
23 For 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. For when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will sanctify my name; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel. When they see among them their children, the work of my hands, they will keep my name holy; they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Those who stray morally will gain understanding; those who complain will acquire insight. And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding, and those who murmur will accept instruction.” Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding; those who complain will accept instruction.”
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