| NET Bible | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Ariel is as good as dead--Ariel, the town David besieged! Keep observing your annual rituals, celebrate your festivals on schedule. | 1Woe to you, O Ariel, the city of Ariel where David camped! Year upon year let your festivals recur. |
| 2I will threaten Ariel, and she will mourn intensely and become like an altar hearth before me. | 2And I will constrain Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation; she will be like an altar hearth before Me. |
| 3I will lay siege to you on all sides; I will besiege you with troops; I will raise siege works against you. | 3I will camp in a circle around you; I will besiege you with towers and set up siege works against you. |
| 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. | 4You will be brought low, you will speak from the ground, and out of the dust your words will be muffled. Your voice will be like a spirit from the ground; your speech will whisper out of the dust. |
| 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. | 5But your many foes will be like fine dust, the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant, |
| 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. | 6you will be visited by the LORD of Hosts with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with windstorm and tempest and consuming flame of fire. |
| 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. | 7All the many nations going out to battle against Ariel—even all who war against her, laying siege and attacking her—will be like a dream, like a vision in the night, |
| 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. | 8as when a hungry man dreams he is eating, then awakens still hungry; as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, then awakens faint and parched. So will it be for all the many nations who go to battle against Mount Zion. |
| 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. | 9Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink. |
| 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). | 10For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers. |
| 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." | 11And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” |
| 12Or when they hand the scroll to one who can't read and say, "Read this," he says, "I can't read." | 12Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.” |
| 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. | 13Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men. |
| 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." | 14Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.” |
| 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?" | 15Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?” |
| 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"? | 16You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of the potter, “He has no understanding”? |
| 17In just a very short time Lebanon will turn into an orchard, and the orchard will be considered a forest. | 17In a very short time, will not Lebanon become an orchard, and the orchard seem like a forest? |
| 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. | 18On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see. |
| 19The downtrodden will again rejoice in the LORD; the poor among humankind will take delight in the Holy One of Israel. | 19The humble will increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. |
| 20For tyrants will disappear, those who taunt will vanish, and all those who love to do wrong will be eliminated-- | 20For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down— |
| 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. | 21those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice. |
| 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. | 22Therefore the LORD who redeemed Abraham says of the house of Jacob: “No longer will Jacob be ashamed and no more will his face grow pale. |
| 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. | 23For when he sees his children around him, the work of My hands, they will honor My name, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and they will stand in awe of the God of Israel. |
| 24Those who stray morally will gain understanding; those who complain will acquire insight. | 24Then the wayward in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will accept instruction.” |
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