| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Ah, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts run their round. | 1Ariel is as good as dead--Ariel, the town David besieged! Keep observing your annual rituals, celebrate your festivals on schedule. |
| 2Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be moaning and lamentation, and she shall be to me like an Ariel. | 2I will threaten Ariel, and she will mourn intensely and become like an altar hearth before me. |
| 3And I will encamp against you all around, and will besiege you with towers and I will raise siegeworks against you. | 3I will lay siege to you on all sides; I will besiege you with troops; I will raise siege works against you. |
| 4And 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 the voice of a ghost, and from the dust your speech shall whisper. | 4You will fall; while lying on the ground you will speak; from the dust where you lie, your words will be heard. Your voice will sound like a spirit speaking from the underworld; from the dust you will chirp as if muttering an incantation. |
| 5But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff. And in an instant, suddenly, | 5But the horde of invaders will be like fine dust, the horde of tyrants like chaff that is blown away. It will happen suddenly, in a flash. |
| 6you 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. | 6Judgment will come from the LORD who commands armies, accompanied by thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise, by a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming flame of fire. |
| 7And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her, shall be like a dream, a vision of the night. | 7It will be like a dream, a night vision. There will be a horde from all the nations that fight against Ariel, those who attack her and her stronghold and besiege her. |
| 8As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating, and awakes with his hunger not satisfied, or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, 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. | 8It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating, only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty. It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking, only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched. So it will be for the horde from all the nations that fight against Mount Zion. |
| 9Astonish yourselves and be astonished; blind yourselves and be blind! Be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not with strong drink! | 9You will be shocked and amazed! You are totally blind! They are drunk, but not because of wine; they stagger, but not because of beer. |
| 10For 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). | 10For the LORD has poured out on you a strong urge to sleep deeply. He has shut your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers). |
| 11And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” | 11To you this entire prophetic revelation is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read and say, "Read this," he responds, "I can't, because it is sealed." |
| 12And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.” | 12Or when they hand the scroll to one who can't read and say, "Read this," he says, "I can't read." |
| 13And the Lord said: “Because this people 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, | 13The sovereign master says, "These people say they are loyal to me; they say wonderful things about me, but they are not really loyal to me. Their worship consists of nothing but man-made ritual. |
| 14therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.” | 14Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people--an absolutely extraordinary deed. Wise men will have nothing to say, the sages will have no explanations." |
| 15Ah, you who hide deep from the LORD your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?” | 15Those who try to hide their plans from the LORD are as good as dead, who do their work in secret and boast, "Who sees us? Who knows what we're doing?" |
| 16You 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”? | 16Your thinking is perverse! Should the potter be regarded as clay? Should the thing made say about its maker, "He didn't make me"? Or should the pottery say about the potter, "He doesn't understand"? |
| 17Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest? | 17In just a very short time Lebanon will turn into an orchard, and the orchard will be considered a forest. |
| 18In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. | 18At that time the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll, and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness. |
| 19The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. | 19The downtrodden will again rejoice in the LORD; the poor among humankind will take delight in the Holy One of Israel. |
| 20For the ruthless shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off, | 20For tyrants will disappear, those who taunt will vanish, and all those who love to do wrong will be eliminated-- |
| 21who by a word make a man out to be an offender, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right. | 21those who bear false testimony against a person, who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges. |
| 22Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall no more be ashamed, no more shall his face grow pale. | 22So this is what the LORD, the one who delivered Abraham, says to the family of Jacob: "Jacob will no longer be ashamed; their faces will no longer show their embarrassment. |
| 23For when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will sanctify my name; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel. | 23For when they see their children, whom I will produce among them, they will honor my name. They will honor the Holy One of Jacob; they will respect the God of Israel. |
| 24And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding, and those who murmur will accept instruction.” | 24Those who stray morally will gain understanding; those who complain will acquire insight. |
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