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Isaiah 29

1

Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.

2

Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.

3

And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.

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And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.

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Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.

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Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.

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And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.

8

It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.

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Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

10

For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.

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And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

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And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

13

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

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Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

15

Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?

16

Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

17

Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?

18

And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.

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The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

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For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:

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That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.

22

Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.

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But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.

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They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.

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Isaiah 29

Isaiah announces judgment against Jerusalem, described as Ariel (the city of God), whose pride and complacency in religious practice without corresponding justice and covenant faithfulness invite divine visitation. The oracle depicts the Lord as laying siege to Jerusalem and bringing her low through a multitude of strange nations, establishing that the city's fortifications and apparent security cannot prevent divine judgment. The prophecy includes the remarkable vision that Jerusalem's enemies will be like dust and chaff that vanishes suddenly, establishing that the judgment will be reversed and divine protection will ultimately vindicate the faithful community. The oracle criticizes the religious leaders whose words and worship are mechanical and empty, lacking genuine commitment to covenant faithfulness, establishing that authentic faith requires both inner sincerity and outer righteousness. The passage promises that the understanding of those who murmur in darkness will be enlightened and that the meek will increase their joy in the Lord, indicating that judgment will purify those with humble and faithful hearts. The promise that the blind will see and the deaf will hear indicates eschatological renewal where divine salvation will transform even the most broken and damaged human conditions. Isaiah 29 demonstrates that even the holy city is subject to divine judgment when her inhabitants abandon genuine covenant faithfulness for external religious practice. The chapter establishes that judgment serves purification and that beyond the upheaval will come restoration of the faithful remnant and vindication of those who trust in God.

Isaiah 29:23

For when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, they will sanctify My name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and stand in awe of the God of Israel, establishing that the restoration will result in the glorification of God's name through the sanctification and devoted fear of the redeemed descendants. The children as the work of God's hands suggests that the community is the object of God's creative and redemptive activity. The sanctification of God's name and the awe before God suggest the proper response of the restored community: reverent worship and acknowledgment of God's majesty. The oracle moves from judgment to restoration to the ultimate purpose: the glorification of God's name through the people's devoted worship.

Isaiah 29:24

Those also who err in spirit will come to understanding, and those who murmur will accept instruction, establishing that restoration includes the moral and spiritual transformation of those who had been in error and resistant. The coming to understanding and the acceptance of instruction suggest the transformation of spiritual condition that judgment and restoration accomplish. The oracle concludes the chapter by affirming that the judgment that produces shame and humiliation ultimately issues in the understanding and obedience that God desires. The progression from error and murmuring to understanding and acceptance suggests the redemptive purpose underlying the judgment and restoration. The chapter ends with the affirmation that God's ultimate purpose for the people is their spiritual transformation and the restoration of right relationship with God and with one another.

Isaiah 29:1

Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! Add year to year; let the feasts come around, addressing Jerusalem (called Ariel, perhaps meaning "altar-hearth") with a woe oracle and suggesting that the city continues its normal religious observances without genuine spiritual depth. The repetition of Ariel suggests emphasis and perhaps the combination of the name with its meaning. The dwelling of David suggests Jerusalem's royal status and its place in the Davidic covenant. The feasts continue, yet the oracle suggests they are empty forms lacking true devotion. The woe oracle extends the series of woes from chapter 28, continuing the indictment of Judah's leadership and the capital city.

Isaiah 29:2

I will bring distress to Ariel, and she will be a city of lamentation and mourning; and she will be to me like an Ariel, establishing that the normal religious observances will give way to mourning and lamentation when judgment comes. The wordplay on Ariel—from a name possibly meaning "altar-hearth" to its becoming a place of mourning—suggests the reversal that judgment brings. The making of Jerusalem like Ariel (perhaps suggesting its reduction to altar-like proportions, stripped of grandeur) emphasizes the totality of the reduction and humiliation. The oracle promises that Jerusalem's ceremonies will be interrupted and transformed into mourning and grief.

Isaiah 29:3

And I will encamp against you all around with a siege wall, and raise siegeworks against you, establishing that Jerusalem will be besieged, surrounded by military fortifications that will cut off escape and supply. The encampment and siegework imagery, drawn from the historical experience of siege warfare, creates concrete and specific detail. The all around suggest the totality of the encirclement and the impossibility of escape. The oracle announces the mechanism through which God's judgment will be executed: the military siege that will reduce the city to starvation and desperation. The specific military terminology connects the prophetic vision to historical reality.

Isaiah 29:4

Then you will speak from the earth, and your words will whisper from the dust; and your voice will come like that of a spirit from the earth, and your words will chirp from the dust, establishing that Jerusalem, in its humiliation and subjugation, will become powerless and reduced to desperate pleading. The speaking from the earth and dust suggests the land of the dead or the condition of the utterly abased. The whispering and chirping imagery suggests weak and ineffectual speech, the voice of those who have been silenced and stripped of power. The oracle contrasts the current confidence and proud speech of Jerusalem's leadership with the helpless whimpering that judgment will produce. The reduction to whispers and chirps emphasizes the totality of subjugation.

Isaiah 29:5

But the multitude of your arrogant ones will become like fine dust, and the multitude of the ruthless ones like blowing chaff; and it will happen instantly, suddenly, establishing that the enemies and arrogant ones who threaten or oppress will themselves be suddenly and completely destroyed, scattered like dust and chaff. The dust and chaff imagery emphasizes the insignificance and dispersal of those who had seemed formidable. The suddenly and instantly suggest the swiftness of reversal and the lack of warning. The oracle provides a glimmer of hope amidst the judgment: while Jerusalem will be humiliated, those who oppose God's purposes will be destroyed. The swift reversal suggests God's power to suddenly transform situations.

Isaiah 29:6

You will be punished by the LORD of hosts with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a devouring fire, establishing that the judgment will involve cosmic forces and multiple forms of destruction—natural disasters and fire. The accumulation of forms of destruction—thunder, earthquake, whirlwind, tempest, fire—suggests the totality and the variety of divine judgment. The reference to the LORD of hosts (God as cosmic warrior) emphasizes the cosmic dimensions of the judgment. The oracle's imagery echoes theophanic descriptions elsewhere in scripture, suggesting that judgment manifests God's presence and power. The natural disaster imagery emphasizes that judgment is not merely military or political but cosmic and divine.

Isaiah 29:7

And the multitude of all the nations that wage war against Ariel, even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, will be like a dream, a vision of the night, establishing that the foreign forces besieging Jerusalem will prove as insubstantial as a dream, suggesting that despite the current reality of siege and military threat, God will render the threat illusory and powerless. The dream and vision imagery suggest that what appears to be real and threatening will prove to be transient and unreal. The oracle provides assurance that military threats, however apparently overwhelming, will ultimately prove insignificant in the face of God's purposes. The language suggests that what seems permanent and threatening will fade like a dream upon waking.

Isaiah 29:8

It will be as when a hungry man dreams that he is eating, but when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied; or as when a thirsty man dreams that he is drinking, but when he awakens, behold, he is faint and his thirst is not quenched. Thus will be the multitude of all the nations that wage war against Mount Zion, establishing through extended imagery that the satisfaction and triumph sought by those who oppose God will prove utterly illusory, that they will awaken to find their purposes unfulfilled. The dream imagery of hunger and thirst unsatisfied suggests the frustration and disappointment that awaits those who struggle against God's purposes. The application to all nations waging war against Mount Zion suggests the oracle's universal scope: all opposition to God's city and purposes will ultimately prove futile.

Isaiah 29:9

Be delayed and wait; blind yourselves and be blind; become drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not with strong drink, establishing that the people and leaders should cease their resistance and false confidence, accepting the judgment that is coming, or facing the consequences of continued spiritual blindness and false understanding. The imperatives—delayed, blind yourselves, become drunk—may be sardonic, addressed to those who continue in their delusions despite warning. The blindness separate from wine and drunkenness separate from strong drink suggest spiritual rather than merely physical intoxication, a confusion and false understanding of reality. The oracle challenges the people to recognize their spiritual condition: they are drunk on false confidence and blind to the coming judgment.

Isaiah 29:10

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, establishing that the spiritual blindness of the leadership—prophets and seers—is itself divinely caused, a judgment that removes the ability to see and understand what is coming. The closing of eyes and covering of heads suggest a deprivation of the capacity for vision and prophecy. Yet this divine action is paradoxically a consequence of the people's own rejection of earlier prophetic words; God has abandoned them to their blindness as a form of judgment. The oracle establishes that the inability to see God's purposes is not merely a human failure but a divinely permitted or effected condition, the consequence of persistent rejection of the word.

Isaiah 29:11

For you, all vision has become like the words of a sealed book, which men hand to one who is literate, saying, 'Please read this.' But he says, 'I cannot, for it is sealed,' establishing that the prophecy is rendered incomprehensible and inaccessible, like a sealed scroll that cannot be read. The sealed book imagery suggests unavailability, a barrier to understanding. The handing to a literate person who cannot read it emphasizes that the problem is not lack of skill or learning but the sealed condition itself—even knowledge cannot overcome the barrier. The oracle suggests that prophecy, while present, becomes meaningless to the people due to their spiritual condition. The sealed book represents the inaccessibility of God's purposes to those who have rejected God's word.

Isaiah 29:12

And the book is handed to the one who is not literate, saying, 'Please read this.' But he says, 'I cannot read,' establishing that those without learning also cannot access the sealed prophecy, suggesting that the barrier to understanding is universal and absolute. The progression—from literate to illiterate—emphasizes that the sealing of the vision prevents comprehension regardless of educational status or intellectual capacity. The oracle suggests that understanding of God's purposes requires not merely knowledge or learning but a spiritual capacity that can be lost through persistent rejection. The sealed and unreadable book represents the complete inaccessibility of prophecy to those who have turned away from God.

Isaiah 29:13

Then the LORD said: 'Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote, establishing the root cause of the judgment: the people's worship and devotion are superficial and external, lacking the internal sincerity and true reverence that God demands. The contrast between lips and heart, between external gesture and internal reality, identifies the fundamental spiritual failure. The tradition learned by rote suggests the mechanical performance of religious duties without genuine understanding or commitment. The oracle grounds the judgment in hypocrisy and insincerity, suggesting that the absence of genuine faith and devotion is the reason for the removal of prophecy and vision.

Isaiah 29:14

Therefore behold, I will do a marvellous thing with this people, yes a marvellous thing and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the discernment of their discerning men will be hid, establishing that God's response to the people's hypocrisy and false confidence is to overthrow their wisdom and render their leadership incompetent. The marvellous thing that God does is not of blessing but of judgment: the destruction of the intellectual and spiritual resources upon which the people rely. The perishing of wisdom and hiding of discernment represent the removal of the foundations of leadership and understanding. The oracle establishes that what the people most confidently rely upon—their wisdom and learning—will prove utterly inadequate to save them from judgment. The wonder God performs is one of reversal and humiliation.

Isaiah 29:15

Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD, and whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, 'Who sees us? Who knows us?' establishing a new woe against those who believe that their plans and actions can be hidden from God, that they can act in secret without accountability. The hiding of plans from God represents a fundamental misunderstanding of God's omniscience. The question "Who sees us?" expresses the false assumption that secrecy provides protection from divine judgment. The oracle establishes that those who conduct their affairs in darkness and secrecy harbor a dangerous illusion: that God's eye does not penetrate to all places and times. The woe addresses a spiritual condition: the denial of divine omniscience and the belief in the possibility of hidden guilt.

Isaiah 29:16

You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay? For the thing made say of him who made it, 'He did not make me'; or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, 'He has no understanding?', establishing that the people's rebellion and hidden plans represent an inversion of the proper relationship between Creator and creature, comparable to a vessel claiming equality with the potter or denying the maker's skill. The turning upside down suggests a fundamental reversal of the created order. The potter and clay imagery emphasizes the Creator's absolute sovereignty and the creature's complete dependence. The absurdity of the clay's claiming independence emphasizes the absurdity of human rebellion against God. The oracle restores proper perspective by recalling the fundamental disparity between Creator and creature.

Isaiah 29:17

Is it not yet just a little while until Lebanon will be changed into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field will be considered as a forest, establishing an oracle of future transformation, suggesting that radical changes in the created order are coming—forests will become fields and fields will become forests. The complete reversal of natural categories suggests eschatological transformation and the renewal of creation. The Hebrew might also be read as suggesting that the present distinctions and the current order of things will be fundamentally altered. The oracle provides eschatological hope amidst the judgment oracles, suggesting that the current judgments serve the purposes of a larger transformation. The mention of Lebanon—a symbol of greatness and majesty—becoming a fruitful field emphasizes the leveling and transformation that judgment and salvation will accomplish.

Isaiah 29:18

On that day the deaf will hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see, establishing that salvation includes the restoration of the deaf and blind, the healing of fundamental disabilities that prevent participation in the community and reception of God's word. The deaf hearing and the blind seeing represent the reversal of the spiritual blindness mentioned earlier in the chapter. The hearing of the words of a book suggests the restoration of the ability to receive and understand prophecy and God's word. The movement from darkness to seeing establishes salvation as an enlightenment and unveiling. The oracle's shift to positive transformation suggests that judgment issues in restoration and healing for those who receive God's purposes. The recovery of the ability to hear and see represents the restoration of those who had been cut off from full participation in the community of faith.

Isaiah 29:19

The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the LORD, and the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel, establishing that salvation brings gladness to the afflicted and the needy, those who have been marginalized and excluded by the proud and wise. The rejoicing in the LORD and the Holy One of Israel suggests that salvation is fundamentally a restoration of relationship with God, experienced as joy and exultation. The contrast between the wisdom that perishes and the gladness of the afflicted suggests that true understanding comes to the humble, not to the proud. The oracle emphasizes that salvation is particularly for those who have been excluded and afflicted, suggesting God's particular concern for the vulnerable.

Isaiah 29:20

For the ruthless will come to an end, and the scoffer will be finished, and all those who are intent on doing evil will be cut off, establishing that salvation includes the removal of opposition: the ruthless who oppress, the scoffers who mock, and those who deliberately pursue evil. The coming to an end, finishing, and cutting off suggest the complete removal of these classes of people. The oracle emphasizes that salvation is not merely passive goodness but active removal of evil-doers. The three categories—ruthless, scoffers, evil-doers—parallel the various forms of opposition to God's purposes that have been indicted throughout the oracle. Their removal is essential to the establishment of the conditions for true peace and righteousness.

Isaiah 29:21

Who cause a person to be indicted by a word, and ensnare him who adjudges in the gate, and thrust aside the just for a thing of nought, establishing that salvation includes the removal of those who pervert justice through false accusation, entrapment of judges, and the dismissal of the righteous. The specific forms of injustice—false witness, judicial corruption, miscarriage of justice—represent the systematic ways that the powerful oppress the weak. The oracle establishes that true salvation requires the restoration of justice and the removal of those who have corrupted the legal system. The emphasis on the gate (the place of judgment) suggests that corruption has reached into the institutional structures that should protect the vulnerable. The removal of these injustices is presented as essential to the establishment of the redeemed community.

Isaiah 29:22

Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: 'Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now grow pale, establishing that God, who had redeemed Abraham and entered into covenant with Jacob, will complete that redemptive purpose for Jacob's descendants despite their present failures and shame. The invocation of the ancestral redemption grounds the promise in covenantal history and suggests continuity between the past redemption and the future restoration. The assertion that Jacob will not be ashamed or grow pale suggests the restoration of dignity and vitality that the people have lost through judgment. The oracle connects the threatened descendants to their ancestors and to God's covenantal faithfulness to those ancestors. The promise suggests that despite judgment and humiliation, the restoration to honor is assured by God's commitment to the covenantal relationship.