¹Woe to Ariel, to Ariel,

The town where David encamped.

Let the years mount up,

Let the festivals come round,

²But I will distress Ariel,

And there will be sighing and sorrow,

And it will be to me

A veritable lion of God.

³And I will encamp against you in a circle,

And I will besiege you with a garrison,

And I will raise siege works against you.

⁴And you will be low,

And you will speak from the ground,

And being weighed down,

Your speech will be from the dust,

And your voice will be like that of a necromancer,

Coming out of the ground,

And your articulation will be whispering from the dust.

⁵And there will be a horde of people foreign to you,

Like fine dust,

And a horde of violent men,

Like chaff passing by,

And it will happen all of a sudden.

⁶You will be visited by the Lord of hosts

With thunder and with an earthquake and a loud noise,

A whirlwind and a storm,

And a flame of devouring fire,

⁷And a horde from all the nations which are at war with Ariel.

And all those attacking it and its citadel,

And those who distress it

Will be like a bad dream

– A vision in the night.

⁸And it will come to pass

That just as when a hungry man dreams that he is eating,

But when he wakes up,

His belly is empty,

And as when a thirsty man dreams that he is drinking,

But when he wakes up,

He finds that he is weary,

And his being craves water,

So the horde of all the nations waging war against Mount Zion will be.

⁹Rest and be astonished;

Indulge yourself and be dazzled:

They are drunk, but not with wine;

They stagger, but not with strong liquor.

He has covered over the prophets,

And your leaders, the seers.

¹¹And the vision of all this will be to you like the words of a sealed book which they give to a literate man, saying, “Please read this”, but he says, “I am not able to, for it is sealed.” ¹²Or like a book which is given to someone who does not know how to read, while they say, “Do read this”, and he says, “I do not know how to read.” ¹³And the Lord^* said,

“Since this people approaches with their mouth,

And with their lips they honour me,

But they have put their heart far from me,

And their fear of me is a commandment of men

Which has been taught them,

¹⁴Watch out for me doing more wonders with this people

– Doing wondrous wonders –

¹⁵Woe to those who lay deep designs

Away from the Lord,

So hiding their purpose,

And whose works are in darkness,

And who say, “Who can see us?”

And, “Who knows us?”

¹⁶Such is your perverseness.

Will the potter be considered as clay?

For will the product say of its maker,

“He didn't make me”?

Or will the artefact say of its fashioner,

“He doesn't have any understanding”?

¹⁷Is it not in a very little while

That Lebanon will be restored as well-cultivated ground,

And that the well-cultivated ground

Will be considered a forest?

¹⁸And on that day,

The deaf will hear the words of the book,

And the eyes of the blind,

Which were in obscurity and darkness,

Will see.

¹⁹And the meek will increase their joy in the Lord,

And the poor among men

Will exult in the holy one of Israel.

²⁰For the violent one will come to nothing,

And the mocker will come to an end,

And all those who lie in wait iniquitously

Will be cut off

²¹– Those who make a man sin with a word,

And ensnare one who reproves at the gate,

And lead a righteous man astray with confusion.

²²This is why the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says this to the house of Jacob:

“It is not now that Jacob will be ashamed,

And it is not now that his face will turn pale,

²³But when he sees his children,

The work of my hands.

In his company,

They will sanctify my name,

And they will sanctify the holy one of Jacob,

And they will fear the God of Israel.

²⁴And those who were erring in spirit

Will have understanding,

And those who were rebellious

Will learn lessons.”

Reference(s) in Chapter 29: v.10 ↔ Romans 11:8 ● v.13 ↔ Matthew 15:8, Matthew 15:9, Mark 7:6, Mark 7:7 ● v.14 ↔ 1 Corinthians 1:19 ● v.16 ↔ Romans 9:20.