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¹Woe (judgment is coming) to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David [once] camped! Add yet another year; let the feasts run their course [but only one year more].

²Then I will harass Ariel, And she will be a city of mourning and lamenting (crying out in grief) Yet she will be like an Ariel [an altar hearth] to Me.

³I will camp against you and encircle you, And I will hem you in with siege works, And I will raise fortifications against you.

⁴Then you [Jerusalem] will be brought low, You will speak from the earth, And from the dust where you lie face down Your muffled words will come. Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the earth [like one produced by a medium], And your speech will whisper and squeak from the dust.

⁵But the multitude of your enemies [that assault you] will become like fine dust, And the multitude of the tyrants like the chaff which blows away; And it will happen in an instant, suddenly [that your enemy is destroyed].

⁶You will be punished by the LORD of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise, With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.

⁷And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel (Jerusalem), Even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.

⁸It will be as when a hungry man dreams That he is eating, But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied; Or as when a thirsty man dreams That he is drinking, But when he awakens, in fact, he is faint And his thirst is not quenched. So will the multitude of all the nations be Who fight against Mount Zion.

⁹Stop and take some time and wonder [at this prophecy], Blind yourselves and be blinded [at its fulfillment by your spiritual incompetence]. They are drunk, but not from wine; They stagger, but not from strong drink.

¹⁰For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep. He has closed your eyes, [you who are] the prophets; And He has covered your heads, [you who are] the seers.

¹¹The entire vision [of all these things] will be to you like the words of a scroll that is sealed, which they give to one who can read, saying, "Read this, please," he shall say, "I cannot, for it is sealed."

¹²Then the book will be given to the one who cannot read, saying, "Read this, please." And he will say, "I cannot read."

¹³Then the Lord said, "Because this nation approaches [Me only] with their words And honors Me [only] with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me is a tradition that is learned by rote [without any regard for its meaning],

¹⁴Therefore, listen carefully, I will again do marvelous and amazing things with this people, wonderful and astonishing things; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the understanding of their discerning men will be hidden."

¹⁵Woe (judgment is coming) to those who [try to] deeply hide their plans from the LORD, Whose deeds are done in a dark place, And who say, "Who sees us?" or "Who knows us?"

¹⁶You turn things upside down [with your perversity]! Shall the potter be considered equal with the clay, That the thing that is made would say to its maker, "He did not make me"; Or the thing that is formed say to him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?

¹⁷Is it not yet a very little while Until Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field, And the fertile field regarded as a forest?

¹⁸On that day the deaf will hear the words of a book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see [the words of the book].

¹⁹The afflicted also will increase their joy in the LORD, And the needy of mankind will rejoice and celebrate in the Holy One of Israel.

²⁰For the tyrant will come to an end and the scorner will be finished, Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off—

²¹Those who cause a person to be condemned with a [false] word, And lay a trap for him who upholds justice at the [city] gate, And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.

²²Therefore, the LORD, who redeemed Abraham [from paganism] says this, concerning the house of Jacob (Israel): "Jacob will not be ashamed, nor will his face turn pale [with disappointment because of his children's degenerate behavior];

²³For when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, They will sanctify My Name; They will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob And will stand in awe and reverent fear of the God of Israel.

²⁴"Those who err in mind will know the truth, And those who criticize and murmur discontentedly will accept instruction.

¹"Woe (judgment is coming) to the rebellious children," declares the LORD, "Who carry out a plan, but not Mine, And make an alliance [by pouring out a libation], but not of My Spirit, In order to add sin to sin;

²Who proceed down to Egypt Without consulting Me, To take refuge in the stronghold of Pharaoh And to take shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

³"Therefore the safety and protection of Pharaoh will be your shame And the refuge in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation and disgrace.

⁴"For his princes are at Zoan And his ambassadors arrive at Hanes [in Egypt].

⁵"All will be ashamed because of a people (the Egyptians) who cannot benefit them, Who are not a help or benefit, but a shame and also a disgrace."

⁶A [mournful, inspired] oracle ( a burden to be carried) concerning the beasts of the Negev (the South): Through a land of trouble and anguish, From where come lioness and lion, viper and [fiery] flying serpent, They carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys And their treasures on the humps of camels, To a people (Egyptians) who cannot benefit them.

⁷For Egypt's help is worthless and good for nothing. Therefore, I have called her "Rahab Who Has Been Exterminated."

⁸Now, go, write it on a tablet before them And inscribe it on a scroll, So that it may serve in the time to come As a witness [against them] forevermore.

⁹For this is a rebellious people, lying sons, Sons who refuse to listen to The law and instruction of the LORD;

¹⁰Who say to the seers, "You must not see visions from God"; And to the prophets, "You must not prophesy to us what is right! Speak to us pleasant things and smooth words, Prophesy [deceitful] illusions [that we will enjoy].

¹¹"Get out of the [true] way, turn aside from the path [of God], Stop bothering us with the Holy One of Israel."

¹²Therefore, the Holy One of Israel says this, "Because you have refused and rejected this word [of Mine] And have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them,

¹³Therefore this wickedness [this sin, this injustice, this wrongdoing] will be to you Like a crack [in a wall] about to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant,

¹⁴"Whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter's jar, Crushed so savagely that there cannot be found among its pieces a potsherd [large enough] To take [coals of] fire from a fireplace, Or to scoop water from a cistern."

¹⁵For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel has said this, "In returning [to Me] and rest you shall be saved, In quietness and confident trust is your strength." But you were not willing,

¹⁶And you said, "No! We will flee on horses!" Therefore you will flee [from your enemies]! And [you said], "We will ride on swift horses!" Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.

¹⁷A thousand of you will flee at the threat of one man; You will flee at the threat of five, Until you are left like a flag on the top of a mountain, And like a signal on a hill.

¹⁸Therefore the LORD waits [expectantly] and longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; Blessed (happy, fortunate) are all those who long for Him [since He will never fail them].

¹⁹O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will most certainly be gracious to you at the sound of your cry for help; when He hears it, He will answer you.

²⁰Though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of oppression, yet your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will [constantly] see your Teacher.

²¹Your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

²²And you will defile your carved images overlaid with silver, and your cast images plated with gold. You will scatter them like a bloodstained cloth, and will say to them, "Be gone!"

²³Then He will give you rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread [grain] from the produce of the ground, and it will be rich and plentiful. In that day your livestock will graze in large and roomy pastures.

²⁴Also the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.

²⁵On every lofty mountain and on every high hill there will be streams of water on the day of the great slaughter (the day of the LORD), when the towers fall [and all His enemies are destroyed].

²⁶The light of the full moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days [concentrated in one], in the day the LORD binds up the fracture of His people and heals the wound He has inflicted [because of their sins].

²⁷Now look, the name of the LORD comes from far away, Burning with His anger, and heavy with smoke; His lips are full of indignation, And His tongue is like a consuming fire.

²⁸His breath is like an overflowing river, Which reaches to the neck, To sift the nations back and forth in a sieve [of disaster], And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin.

²⁹You will have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, And joy of heart as when one marches [in procession] with a flute, To go to the [temple on the] mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.

³⁰And the LORD will make His majestic voice heard, And show the descending of His arm [striking] in [His] fierce anger, And in the flame of a devouring fire, In the crashing sound of heavy rain, cloudburst, and hailstones.

³¹For at the voice of the LORD the Assyrians will be terrified, When He strikes [them] with the rod.

³²And every blow of the rod of punishment, Which the LORD will lay on them, Will be to the music of Israel's tambourines and lyres; And in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight Assyria.

³³For Topheth [in Hinnom] has long been ready; Indeed, it has been prepared for the [Assyrian] king. He has made it deep and wide, A pit of fire with plenty of wood; The breath of the LORD, like a river of brimstone (blazing sulfur), kindles and fans it.

¹Woe (judgment is coming) to those who go down to Egypt for help, Who rely on horses And trust in chariots because they are many, And in horsemen because they are very strong, But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek and consult the LORD!

²Yet He is also wise and will bring disaster, And does not retract His words, But will arise against the house of evildoers And against the helpers of those who do evil.

³Now the Egyptians are men and not God, And their horses are flesh and not spirit; And the LORD will stretch out His hand, And he (Egypt) who helps will stumble, And he (Judah) who is helped will fall, And all of them will perish together.

⁴For so the LORD says to me, "As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey, And though a large group of shepherds is called out against him He will not be terrified at their voice nor cringe at their noise, So the LORD of hosts will come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill."

⁵Like flying birds, so will the LORD of hosts protect Jerusalem; He will protect and save it, He will pass over and rescue it.

⁶Return to Him from whom you have so deeply defected, O sons of Israel.

⁷For in that day every man will reject and throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold [in disgust], which your own hands have sinfully made for you.

⁸Then the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man, And a sword not of man will devour him. And he will flee from the sword [of God], And his young men will become forced labor.

⁹"His rock [his stronghold] will pass away because of panic, And his princes will be terrified at the [sight of the battle] standard," Declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.