Isaiah 29

The Siege of Jerusalem

1 Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
the city f where David encamped!
Add year to year;
let the feasts run their round.
 2 Yet I will distress Ariel,
and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
and she shall be to me like an Ariel. 1
3 g And I will encamp against you all around,
and will besiege you h with towers
and I will raise siegeworks against you.
 4 i 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 j the voice of a ghost,
and from the dust your speech shall whisper.

5 But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like k small dust,
and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
l And in an instant, suddenly,
 6 m 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.
 7 And n the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
shall be o like a dream, a vision of the night.
 8 p As when a hungry man dreams he is eating
and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or as when a thirsty man dreams 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.

9 Astonish yourselves 2 and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk, but not with wine;
r stagger, but not with strong drink!
 10 s 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).

11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is t sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot, for it is sealed." 12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot read."

13 And the Lord said:
"Because u this people v 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,
 14 therefore, behold, w I will again
do wonderful things with this people,
with wonder upon wonder;
and x the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden."

15 Ah, y you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
whose deeds are z in the dark,
and who say, "Who sees us? Who knows us?"
 16 a 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"?

17 Is it not yet a very little while
b until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
 18 In that day c the deaf shall hear
d the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
e the eyes of the blind shall see.
 19 f The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
 20 For the ruthless shall come to nothing
and g the scoffer cease,
and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
 21 who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
and h lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
and with an empty plea i turn aside him who is in the right.

22 Therefore thus says the Lord, j who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
"Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
no more shall his face grow pale.
 23 For when he sees his children,
k the work of my hands, in his midst,
they will sanctify my name;
l they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
 24 And those m who go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who murmur will accept instruction."

  1. Cross References
    2 Samuel 5:9
    And David lived in the stronghold and called it the city of David. And David built the city all around from the Millo inward.
  2. Cross References
    2 Kings 25:1
    And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it.
    Ezekiel 4:2
    And put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around.
  3. Cross References
    Ezekiel 21:22
    Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build siege towers.
    Ezekiel 26:8
    He will kill with the sword your daughters on the mainland. He will set up a siege wall against you and throw up a mound against you, and raise a roof of shields against you.
  4. Cross References
    Isaiah 2:11 - 12
    The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
  5. Cross References
    Isaiah 8:19
    And when they say to you, "Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter," should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?
  6. Cross References
    Isaiah 17:13
    The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm.
    Psalms 18:42
    I beat them fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets.
  7. Cross References
    Isaiah 17:14
    At evening time, behold, terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us, and the lot of those who plunder us.
    Isaiah 37:36
    And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
    2 Kings 19:35
    And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
  8. Cross References
    1 Kings 19:11 - 12
    And he said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
  9. Cross References
    Zechariah 12:9
    And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
    Micah 4:11 - 13
    Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, "Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.
  10. Cross References
    Isaiah 17:14
    At evening time, behold, terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us, and the lot of those who plunder us.
    Job 20:8
    He will fly away like a dream and not be found; he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
  11. Cross References
    Psalms 73:20
    Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
    Psalms 90:5
    You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning:
  12. Cross References
    Isaiah 19:14
    The Lord has mingled within her a spirit of confusion, and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
    Isaiah 24:20
    The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again.
  13. Cross References
    Isaiah 6:10
    Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.
    Romans 11:8
    As it is written, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.
  14. Cross References
    Isaiah 8:16
    Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples.
    Daniel 12:4
    But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.
  15. Cross References
    Matthew 15:8 - 9
    'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
    Mark 7:6 - 7
    And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, "'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
    Ezekiel 33:31
    And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain.
  16. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:12
    When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts?
    Isaiah 58:2
    Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.
  17. Cross References
    Habakkuk 1:5
    Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.
    Isaiah 3:1 - 4
    For behold, the Lord God of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of water.
  18. Cross References
    Jeremiah 49:7
    Concerning Edom. Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished?
    1 Corinthians 1:19
    For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.
  19. Cross References
    Isaiah 30:1
    Ah, stubborn children," declares the Lord, "who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin.
  20. Cross References
    Ezekiel 8:12
    Then he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, 'The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.'
  21. Cross References
    Isaiah 10:15
    Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
  22. Cross References
    Psalms 107:33
    He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground.
    Psalms 107:35
    He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.
  23. Cross References
    Isaiah 32:3
    Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed, and the ears of those who hear will give attention.
    Isaiah 35:5
    Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
    Matthew 11:5
    The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
  24. Cross References
    Isaiah 29:12
    And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot read.
  25. Cross References
    Isaiah 35:5
    Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
    Matthew 11:5
    The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
  26. Cross References
    Isaiah 61:1
    The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.
    Isaiah 14:32
    What will one answer the messengers of the nation? "The Lord has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.
    Zephaniah 3:12
    But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord.
    Matthew 5:3
    Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
  27. Cross References
    Isaiah 28:14
    Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem!
    Isaiah 28:22
    Now therefore do not scoff, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord God of hosts against the whole land.
  28. Cross References
    Amos 5:10
    They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks the truth.
    Psalms 127:5
    Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
  29. Cross References
    Amos 5:12
    For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins - you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and turn aside the needy in the gate.
  30. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:2
    Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him.
  31. Cross References
    Isaiah 19:25
    Whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.
    Isaiah 60:21
    Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified.
    Psalms 100:3
    Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
  32. Cross References
    Isaiah 8:13
    But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
  33. Cross References
    Isaiah 28:7
    These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed by wine, they stagger with strong drink, they reel in vision, they stumble in giving judgment.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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