WOE to Ariel,
to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill
sacrifices.
2 Yet I will
distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto
me as Ariel.
3 And I will camp
against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I
will raise forts against thee.
4 And thou shalt
be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall
be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar
spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5 Moreover the
multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the
terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at
an instant suddenly.
6 Thou shalt be
visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great
noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
7 And the
multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight
against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a
night vision.
8 It shall even
be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he
awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold,
he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath
appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against
mount Zion.
9 Stay
yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with
wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For the LORD
hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes:
the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
11 And the vision
of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men
deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I
cannot; for it is sealed:
12 And the book is
delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he
saith, I am not learned.
13 Wherefore the
Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and
with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and
their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
14 Therefore,
behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a
marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall
perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
15 Woe unto them
that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the
dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
16 Surely your
turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall
the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say
of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
17 Is 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?
18 And in 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.
19 The meek also
shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall
rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the
terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that
watch for iniquity are cut off:
21 That make a man
an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and
turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
22 Therefore thus
saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob
shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
23 But when he
seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall
sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of
Israel.
24 They also that
erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn
doctrine.