Isaiah 29:1-24
Woe, Ariel, Ariel the city where David once camped! Add year to year, keep your feasts on schedule.I will bring distress to Ariel, And she will be a city of grieving and mourning; And she will be like an Ariel to me.I will camp against you encircling you, And I will set up siegeworks against you, And I will raise up battle towers against you.Then you will be brought low; From the earth you will speak, And from the dust where you are prostrate Your words will come. Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the ground, And your speech will whisper from the dust.But the multitude of your enemies will become like fine dust, And the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away; And it will happen instantly, suddenly.From the Lord of armies you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.And the multitude of all the nations who 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.It will be as when a hungry person dreams— And behold, he is eating; But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied, Or as when a thirsty person dreams— And behold, he is drinking, But when he awakens, behold, he is faint And his thirst is not quenched. So will the multitude of all the nations be Who wage war against Mount Zion.Be delayed and horrified, Blind yourselves and be blind; They become drunk, but not with wine, They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.For the Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes— the prophets; And He has covered your heads— the seers.The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which, when they give it to the one who is literate, saying,“ Please read this,” he will say,“ I cannot, because it is sealed.”Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying,“ Please read this.” And he will say,“ I cannot read.”Then the Lord said,“ Because this people approaches Me with their words And honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of the commandment of men that is taught;Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the understanding of their men who have understanding will be concealed.”Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord, And whose deeds are done in a dark place, And they say,“ Who sees us?” or“ Who knows us?”You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, That what is made would say to its maker,“ He did not make me”; Or what is formed say to him who formed it,“ He has no understanding”?Is it not yet just a little while Before Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field, And the fertile field will be considered as a forest?On that day those who are deaf will hear words of a book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of those who are blind will see.The afflicted also will increase their joy in the Lord, And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.For the ruthless will come to an end and the scorner will be finished, Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be eliminated,Who cause a person to be indicted by a word, And set a trap for the arbitrator at the gate, And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says concerning the house of Jacob:“ Jacob will not be ashamed now, nor will his face turn pale now;But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, They will sanctify My name; Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.Those who err in mind will know the truth, And those who criticize will accept instruction.
Isaiah 19:1-25
The pronouncement concerning Egypt: Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt; The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.“ So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians; And they will fight, each against his brother and each against his neighbor, City against city and kingdom against kingdom.Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confuse their strategy, So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead, And to mediums and spiritists.Furthermore, I will hand the Egyptians over to a cruel master, And a mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord God of armies.The waters from the sea will dry up, And the river will be parched and dry.The canals will emit a stench, The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up; The reeds and rushes will rot away.The bulrushes by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile And all the sown fields by the Nile Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.And the fishermen will grieve, And all those who cast a line into the Nile will mourn, And those who spread nets on the waters will dwindle away.Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax And the weavers of white cloth will be utterly dejected.And the pillars of Egypt will be crushed; All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.The officials of Zoan are mere fools; The advice of Pharaoh’s wisest advisers has become stupid. How can you say to Pharaoh,“ I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings”?Well then, where are your wise men? Please let them tell you, And let them understand what the Lord of armies Has planned against Egypt.The officials of Zoan have turned out to be fools, The officials of Memphis are deluded; Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes Have led Egypt astray.The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of distortion; They have led Egypt astray in all that it does, As a drunken person staggers in his vomit.There will be no work for Egypt Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.On that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in great fear because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of armies, which He is going to wave over them.The land of Judah will become a cause of shame to Egypt; everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in great fear because of the plan of the Lord of armies which He is making against them.On that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to the Lord of armies; one will be called the City of Destruction.On that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a memorial stone to the Lord beside its border.And it will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of armies in the land of Egypt; for they will cry out to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will save them.So the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord on that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the Lord and perform it.And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the Lord, and He will respond to their pleas and heal them.On that day there will be a road from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.On that day Israel will be the third party to Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth,whom the Lord of armies has blessed, saying,“ Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”
