Isaiah 29

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Woe, Ariel, Ariel, city where David encamped. Let year after year pass, let the feasts make their fulround,	1 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel the city against which David fought: year has been added to year, the solemnities have unfolded.
2 then I shall inflict trouble on Ariel, and there wil be sighing and sobbing, and I shal make it truly Ariel.	2 And I will surround Ariel with siege works, and it will be in sorrow and mourning, and it will be like Ariel to me.
3 I shal encamp all round you, I shall lay siege to you and mount siege-works against you.	3 And I will surround you like a sphere all around you, and I will raise up a rampart against you, and I will set up fortifications to blockade you.
4 You will be laid low, wil speak from the underworld, your words wil rise like a murmur from the dust.Your voice from the earth wil be like a ghost's, it wil whisper as though coming from the dust.	4 You will be brought low. You will speak from the ground, and your eloquence will be heard from the dirt. And, from the ground, your voice will be like that of the python, and your eloquence will mumble from the dirt.
5 The horde of your enemies will be like fine dust, the horde of the warriors like flying chaff. Andsuddenly, in an instant,	5 And the multitude of those who fan you will be like fine dust. And the multitude of those who have prevailed against you will be like embers fading away.
6 you wil be visited by Yahweh Sabaoth with thunder, earthquake, mighty din, hurricane, tempest, flameof devouring fire.	6 And this will happen suddenly and swiftly. It will be visited from the Lord of hosts with thunder and earthquakes, and with the great noise of a whirlwind and a storm, and with a flame of devouring fire.
7 It wil be like a dream, like a vision at night: the horde of al the nations at war with Ariel, al thosefighting, besieging and troubling it.	7 And the multitude of all the nations that have struggled against Ariel will be like the dream of a vision by night, along with all who have battled, and besieged, and prevailed against it.
8 It wil be like the dream of a hungry man: he eats, then wakes up with an empty bel y; or like the dreamof a thirsty man: he drinks, then wakes up exhausted with a parched throat. So wil it be with the horde of all thenations making war on Mount Zion.	8 And it will be like one who is hungry and dreams of eating, but, when he has been awakened, his soul is empty. And it will be like one who is thirsty and dreams of drinking, but, after he has been awakened, he still languishes in thirst, and his soul is empty. So shall the multitude of all the nations be, who have struggled against Mount Zion.
9 Be stupefied and stunned, go blind, unseeing, drunk but not on wine, staggering but not through liquor.	9 Be stupefied and in wonder! Shake and quiver! Be inebriated, but not from wine! Stagger, but not from drunkenness!
10 For Yahweh has infused you with a spirit of lethargy, he has closed your eyes (the prophets), he hasveiled your heads (the seers).	10 For the Lord has mixed for you a spirit of deep sleep. He will close your eyes. He will cover your prophets and leaders, who see visions.
11 For to you every vision has become like the words of a sealed book. You give it to someone able toread and say, 'Read that.' He replies, 'I cannot, because it is sealed.'	11 And the vision of all will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which, when they have given it to someone who knows how to read, they will say, “Read this,” but he will respond, “I cannot; for it has been sealed.”
12 You then give the book to someone who cannot read, and say, 'Read that.' He replies, 'I cannot read.'	12 But if the book is given to someone who does not know how to read, and it is said to him, “Read,” then he will respond, “I do not know how to read.”
13 The Lord then said: Because this people approaches me only in words, honours me only with lip-service while their hearts are far from me, and reverence for me, as far as they are concerned, is nothing buthuman commandment, a lesson memorised,	13 And the Lord said: Since this people have drawn near to me only with their mouth, and their lips glorify me while their heart is far from me, and their fear of me is based on the commandments and doctrines of men,
14 very well, I shal have to go on astounding this people with prodigies and wonders: for the wisdom ofits wise men is doomed, the understanding of any who understand will vanish.	14 for this reason, behold, I will proceed to accomplish a wonder for this people, a great and mystifying miracle. For wisdom will perish from their wise, and the understanding of their prudent will be concealed.
15 Woe to those who burrow down to conceal their plans from Yahweh, who scheme in the dark and say,'Who can see us? Who knows who we are?'	15 Woe to you who use the depths of the heart, so that you may hide your intentions from the Lord. Their works are done in darkness, and so they say: “Who sees us?” and “Who knows us?”
16 How perverse you are! Is the potter no better than the clay? Something that was made, can it say ofits maker, 'He did not make me'? Or a pot say of the potter, 'He does not know his job'?	16 This intention of yours is perverse. It is as if the clay were to plan against the potter, or as if the work were to say to its maker: “You did not make me.” Or it is as if what has been formed were to say to the one who formed it, “You do not understand.”
17 Is it not true that in a very short time the Lebanon wil become productive ground, so productive youmight take it for a forest?	17 In not more than a little while and a brief time, Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field, and a fruitful field will be considered to be a forest.
18 That day the deaf wil hear the words of the book and, delivered from shadow and darkness, the eyesof the blind wil see.	18 And in that day, the deaf will hear the words of a book, and out of darkness and obscurity the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The lowly wil find ever more joy in Yahweh and the poorest of people wil delight in the Holy One ofIsrael;	19 And the meek will increase their rejoicing in the Lord, and the poor among men will exult in the Holy One of Israel.
20 for the tyrant will be no more, the scoffer has vanished and al those on the look-out for evil have beendestroyed:	20 For the one who was prevailing has failed, the one who was mocking has been consumed, and all those who were standing guard over iniquity have been cut down.
21 those who incriminate others by their words, those who lay traps for the arbitrator at the gate andgroundlessly deprive the upright of fair judgement.	21 For they caused men to sin by a word, and they supplanted him who argued against them at the gates, and they turned away from justice in vain.
22 That is why Yahweh, God of the House of Jacob, Abraham's redeemer, says this, 'No longer shallJacob be disappointed, no more shal his face grow pale,	22 Because of this, thus says the Lord, he who has redeemed Abraham, to the house of Jacob: From now on, Jacob will not be confounded; from now on his countenance will not blush with shame.
23 for when he sees his children, my creatures, home again with him, he will acknowledge my name asholy, he wil acknowledge the Holy One of Jacob to be holy and wil hold the God of Israel in awe.	23 Instead, when he sees his children, they will be the work of my hands in his midst, sanctifying my name, and they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and they will preach the God of Israel.
24 Erring spirits wil learn to understand and murmurers accept instruction.'	24 And those who had gone astray in spirit will know understanding, and those who had murmured will learn the law.