1Woe to Ariel! Ariel, the city where David camped! Add year to year; let the feasts come around;
2then I will bring distress upon Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation. To me, she will be like an altar hearth.
3I will encamp against you all around, and will lay siege against you with stationed troops. I will build siege works against you.
4You will be brought low and will speak from the ground. Your voice will mumble from the dust. Your voice will sound like a ghost speaking from the ground, and your words will whisper from the dust.
5But your many enemies will be like fine dust, and the crowds of cruel people will be like chaff that blows away. Yes, it will happen suddenly, in an instant.
6Yahweh of Armies will come to visit her with thunder, earthquakes, loud noises, strong winds and storms, and the flame of a devouring fire.
7The crowds of all the nations fighting against Ariel, those who fight against her and her strong city, and who trouble her, will be like a dream, a vision in the night.
8It will be like a hungry man who dreams he is eating, but when he wakes up, his hunger is not satisfied. Or like a thirsty man who dreams he is drinking, but when he wakes up, he is weak and still thirsty. That is how the many nations fighting against Mount Zion will be.
9Stop and be amazed! Blind yourselves and remain blind! They are drunk, but not from wine; they stumble, but not from strong drink.
10For Yahweh has poured on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has closed your eyes, the prophets, and covered your heads, the seers.
11Every vision has become to you like the words in a sealed book. If you give it to someone educated and say, "Please read this," he will say, "I can't, because it's sealed."
12And if you give the book to someone uneducated and say, "Please read this," he will say, "I can't read."
13The Lord said, "Because these people honor me with their mouths and their lips, but their hearts are far from me, and their reverence for me is just human rules they've been taught,
14therefore, I will continue to do amazing things among these people, truly marvelous and wonderful deeds. The wisdom of their wise men will disappear, and the understanding of their clever men will be hidden."
15How terrible for those who try to hide their plans deeply from Yahweh, whose actions are done in the dark, and who say, "Who sees us?" and "Who knows us?"
16You are turning things upside down! Should the potter be considered the same as the clay? Should what is made say about the one who made it, "He didn't make me"? Or should what is formed say about the one who formed it, "He has no understanding"?
17Soon, Lebanon will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will be considered a forest.
18On that day, the deaf will hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind will see out of gloom and darkness.
19The humble will also find greater joy in Yahweh, and the poor among people will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20For the cruel will be gone, the mocker will disappear, and all who are eager to do evil will be cut off—
21those who cause a person to be falsely accused with a word, who set traps for judges in court, and who deny justice to the innocent with false testimony.
22Therefore, Yahweh, who rescued Abraham, says concerning the family of Jacob: "Jacob will no longer be ashamed, nor will his face grow pale."
23But when he sees his children, the work of my hands, among him, they will honor my name. Yes, they will honor the Holy One of Jacob and stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24Those who are confused will gain understanding, and those who complain will accept instruction.”