Ariel, Ariel, the city where Dawud encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts come round: 2then will I distress Ariel, and there shall be mourning and lamentation; and she shall be to me as Ariel. 3I will encamp against you all around, and will lay siege against you with posted troops, and I will raise siege works against you. 4You shall be brought down, and shall speak out of the ground, and your speech shall be low out of the dust; and your voice shall be as of one who has a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and your speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5But the multitude of your foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the awesome ones as chaff that passes away: yes, it shall be in an instant suddenly. 6She shall be visited by YAHWEH1 All-Powerful with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire. 7The multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, shall be as a dream, a vision of the night. 8It shall be as when a hungry man dreams, and, behold, he eats; but he awakes, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreams, and, behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul has appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against Al-Quds.2
9Stay and wonder; take your pleasure and be blind: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. 10For YAHWEH poured out on you a spirit of stupor,3 and has closed your eyes, the prophets; and your heads, the seers, has he covered. 11All vision is become to you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is educated, saying, “Read this, please;” and he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed:” 12and the book is delivered to him who is not educated, saying, “Read this, please;” and he says, “I cannot read.”
13The Lord said, “These people draw near to me with their mouths, and honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Their worship of me is just the teaching of rules made by men.4 14Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; the wisdom of the wise shall perish, and the intelligence of the intelligent shall vanish.”5
15Woe to those who hide deep their counsel from YAHWEH, and whose works are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?” 16You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be esteemed as clay? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He didn’t make me?”6 Or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding?”
17Is 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? 18In 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. 19The humble also shall increase their joy in YAHWEH, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. 20For the terrible one is brought to nothing, and the scoffer ceases, and all those who watch for iniquity are cut off; 21that make a man an offender in his cause, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and turn aside the just with a thing of nothing.
22Therefore thus says YAHWEH, who redeemed Ibrahim, concerning the house of Yaqub: “Yaqub shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. 23But when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my Name; yes, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Yaqub, and shall stand in awe of the God of Israel. 24They also who err in spirit shall come to understanding, and those who murmur shall receive instruction.”
- 29:6 YAHWEH, the name God revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.” ↩︎
- 29:8 Al-Quds, meaning “the Holy (City).” The Hebrew text reads Zion, a synonym for Jerusalem. It originally referred to Mount Zion, one of the hills of Jerusalem. ↩︎
- 29:10 See the Injil, Romans 11:7-8 which says, “What then? That which Israel seeks for, that he didn’t obtain, but the chosen ones obtained it, and the rest were hardened. Just as it is written, ‘GOD gave them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see, And ears that they should not hear, to this day.'” ↩︎
- 29:13 Quoted in the Injil, Matthew 15:8-9 by ‘ISA Ibn Maryam when speaking to Jewish leaders, “You hypocrites! Well did Shaya prophesy of you, saying, ‘These people draw near to me with their mouths, And honour me with their lips; But their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me; Their teachings are just rules made by men.'” The same event and quotation is recorded also in Mark 7:6-7. ↩︎
- 29:14 Quoted in the Injil, 1 Corinthians 1:19, from the LXX Greek text (“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will hide the understanding of the prudent“). `1 Corinthians 1:18-19 says, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, I will bring to nothing the intelligence of the intelligent.'” ↩︎
- 29:16 Referenced in the Injil, Romans 9:20, which says, “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, Why did you make me like this?” ↩︎