Woe to Ariel
Woe, O Ariel, Ariel the city where David once acamped!
Add year to year, bobserve your feasts on schedule.
2 I will bring distress to Ariel,
And she will be a city of mourning and amoaning;
And she will be like an Ariel to me.
3 And I will acamp against you encircling you,
And I will fortify siegeworks against you,
And I will raise up fortifications against you.
4 Then you will abe brought low;
From the earth you will speak,
And from the dust where you are prostrate
Your words will come.
Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the ground,
And your speech will whisper from the dust.
5 But it will be that the multitude of your enemies will become like fine adust,
And the multitude of the bruthless ones like the chaff which blows away;
And it will happen cinstantly, suddenly.
6 From Yahweh of hosts you will be apunished with bthunder and earthquake and loud noise,
With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.
7 And it will be that the amultitude of all the nations who wage war against Ariel,
Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,
Will be like a dream, a bvision of the night.
8 And it will be as when a hungry man dreams—
And behold, he is eating;
But he awakens, and his soul is empty,
Or as when a thirsty man dreams—
And behold, he is drinking,
But he awakens, and behold, he is faint,
And his soul is not quenched.
aThus the multitude of all the nations will be
Who wage war against Mount Zion.
9 aAstonish yourselves and be astonished,
Blind yourselves and be blind;
They bbecome drunk, but not with wine;
They stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For Yahweh has poured over you a spirit of deep asleep;
He has bshut your eyes, the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, the seers.
11 The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed abook, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 Then the book will be given to the one who does not know how to read a book, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I do not know how to read a book.”
13 Then the Lord said,
“Because athis people draw near with their mouth
And honor Me with their lips,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their fear of Me is in the command of men learned by rote,
14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal amarvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;
And bthe wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the discernment of their discerning men will be hidden.”
15 Woe to those who deeply ahide their counsel from Yahweh,
And whose bdeeds are done in a dark place,
And they say, “cWho sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
16 You turn things around!
Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay,
That awhat is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;
Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?
The Afflicted Will Rejoice
17 Is it not yet just a little while
Before Lebanon will be turned into a afruitful orchard,
And the fruitful orchard will be counted as a forest?
18 On that day the adeaf will hear bwords of a book,
And out of darkness and thick darkness the ceyes of the blind will see.
19 The aafflicted also will increase their gladness in Yahweh,
And the bneedy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the aruthless will come to an end and the bscoffer will be finished,
Indeed call who are watching out to do evil will be cut off;
21 Who cause a person to sin by a word,
And aensnare him who reproves at the gate,
And bdefraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.
22 Therefore thus says Yahweh, who redeemed aAbraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob bshall not now be ashamed, and now his face shall not turn pale;
23 But when he sees his achildren, the bwork of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My name;
Indeed, they will csanctify the Holy One of Jacob
And will stand trembling before the God of Israel.
24 Those who aerr in spirit will bknow discernment,
And those who criticize will cgain learning.