1 I t is bad for Ariel, Ariel the city where David once set up his tents! Add year to year. Keep your special suppers at the right times.

Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add yet another year; let the feasts run their round.

2 I will bring trouble to Ariel. She will be a city of sorrow and crying. She will be like an altar covered with blood to me.

Then will I distress Ariel; and there shall be mourning and lamentation, yet she shall be to Me like an Ariel.

3 I will camp against you, all around you. And I will build battle walls against you, and towers from which to fight you.

And I will encamp against you round about; and I will hem you in with siege works and I will set up fortifications against you.

4 T hen you will be brought low. From the earth you will speak. Your words will come from the dust. Your voice will be like that of a spirit from the ground. Your quiet speaking will come from the dust.

And you shall be laid low, speaking from beneath the ground, and your speech shall come humbly from the dust. And your voice shall be like that of a ghost coming from the earth, and your speech shall whisper and squeak as it chatters from the dust.

5 B ut the many who hate you will become like fine dust. The many who show no pity will be like the part of the grain that is of no worth and blows away. It will happen all at once.

But the multitude of your strangers that assail you shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the ruthless and terrible ones like chaff that blows away. And in an instant, suddenly,

6 Y ou will be visited by the Lord of All, with thunder and earth-shaking and loud noise, and with wind and storm and a destroying fire.

You shall be visited and delivered by the Lord of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a devouring fire.

7 A nd the many nations that fight against Ariel, all who fight against her and her strong-place and bring trouble to her, will be like a dream. They will be like a special dream of the night.

And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her stronghold and that distress her, shall be as a dream, a vision of the night.

8 I t will be as when a hungry man dreams he is eating, but when he wakes up, he is not filled. It will be as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, but when he wakes up, he is weak and still thirsty. This is how the many nations will be that fight against Mount Zion. The Locked Book

It shall be as when a hungry man dreams that he is eating, but he wakens with his craving not satisfied; or as when a thirsty man dreams that he is drinking, but he wakens and is faint, and his thirst is not quenched. So shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion.

9 S top and wait. Blind yourselves and be blind. They are drunk, but not with wine. They walk from side to side, but not because of strong drink.

Stop and wonder and be confounded! Blind yourselves and then be blinded. They are drunk, but not from wine; they stagger, but not from strong drink.

10 F or the Lord has given you a deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, you who speak for God. He has covered your heads, men of God.

For the Lord has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep. And He has closed your eyes, the prophets; and your heads, the seers, He has covered and muffled.

11 A nd the special dream of all this will be to you like the words of a locked book. When they give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is locked.”

And the vision of all this has become for you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, Read this, I pray you, he says, I cannot, for it is sealed.

12 T hen they will give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”

And when the book is given to him who is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray you, he says, I cannot read.

13 T he Lord said, “These people show respect to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. Their worship of Me is worth nothing. They teach rules that men have made.

And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips but remove their hearts and minds far from Me, and their fear and reverence for Me are a commandment of men that is learned by repetition,

14 S o see, I will once again do great things with these people, great and wonderful things. And the wisdom of their wise men will be gone. The understanding of their wise men will be hidden.” Hope for the Future

Therefore, behold! I will again do marvelous things with this people, marvelous and astonishing things; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their discerning men will vanish or be hidden.

15 I t is bad for those who try to hide their plans from the Lord, and whose works are done in a dark place. They say, “Who sees us?” or, “Who knows us?”

Woe to those who hide deep from the Lord their counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, Who sees us? Who knows us?

16 Y ou turn things up-side-down! Is the pot-maker the same as the clay? Should what is made say to its maker, “He did not make me”? Should what is made say to him who made it, “He has no understanding”?

You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be considered of no more account than the clay? Shall the thing that is made say of its maker, He did not make me; or the thing that is formed say of him who formed it, He has no understanding?

17 I s it not yet a very little while before Lebanon will be turned into a rich good field? The rich good field will be thought of as being full of many trees.

Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field and the fruitful field esteemed as a forest?

18 I n that day those who cannot hear will hear the words of a book. And the eyes of the blind will see out of the darkness.

And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and out of obscurity and gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.

19 T hose who have suffered will be happier in the Lord. Those who are in need will have joy in the Holy One of Israel.

The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice and exult in the Holy One of Israel.

20 F or those who show no pity will come to an end. And those who laugh at the truth will be stopped. All who want to be sinful will be cut off.

For the terrible one shall come to nought, and the scoffer shall cease, and all those who watch for iniquity shall be cut off—

21 T hose who say something to make a man seem to be in the wrong, and who trap the one who acts as a judge at the gate, and who tell lies to cause a good man to be punished, will be cut off.

Those who make a man an offender and bring condemnation upon him with a word, and lay a trap for him who upholds justice at the city gate, and thrust aside the innocent and truly righteous with an empty plea.

22 S o this is what the Lord, Who made Abraham free, said about the family of Jacob: “Jacob will not be ashamed. No more will their faces become white with fear.

Therefore thus says the Lord, Who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: Jacob shall not then be ashamed; not then shall his face become pale.

23 B ut when they see their children with them, the work of My hands, they will keep My Name holy, and will give honor to the Holy One of Jacob. They will stand in wonder of the God of Israel.

For when he sees his children, the work of My hands in his midst, they will revere My name; they will revere the Holy One of Jacob and reverently fear the God of Israel.

24 T hose who do wrong in spirit will understand the truth. And those who complain will receive teaching.”

Those who err in spirit will come to understanding, and those who murmur will accept instruction.