Woe to David’s City
(Luke 19:41–44)

1Woe to Ariel,†

Ariel the city where David encamped!

Add year to year;

let the feasts come around.

2And I will constrain Ariel,

and there will be mourning and lamentation;

and to Me she will be as Ariel!†

3And I will encamp in a circle against you,

and I will lay siege against you with a siege-work,

and I will raise against you the fortifications.

4And you will be brought low,

from the ground you will speak,

and from the dust

Your speech will be low,

and Your voice will be from the ground like a spirit from the dust,

and your speech will whisper.

5The multitude of your foes will be like fine dust,

and the multitude of the ruthless ones like chaff passing away;

and it will come to pass in an instant, suddenly,

6from YHWH of Hosts you will be visited

with thunder and earthquake and a great voice,

with storm and tempest and the flame of devouring fire.

7And it will come to pass like a dream and a vision of night,

and the multitude of all the nations that go out against Ariel—

even all those fighting against her and the siegeworks against her,

and those pressing on her.

8And it will be as when the hungry one dreams and behold, he is eating,

and he awakens, and his soul is empty;

or as when the thirsty one dreams and behold, he is drinking,

and he awakens, and behold, he is faint and his soul is still running about.

So will be the multitude of the all nations

coming out against Mount Zion.

9Pause and be astonished,

blind yourselves and be blinded;

be drunk, not from wine;

stagger, not from strong drink!

10For YHWH has poured out on you⁺

a spirit of deep sleep,

and He has closed your⁺ eyes, O prophets,

and He has covered your⁺ heads, O seers.

11And the vision of all has become to you⁺ like the words of a book that is sealed, which they give to the one knowing a book, saying, “Read this now! “And he says, I am not able, for it is” sealed. 12And the book is given to one who does not know a book, saying, “Read this now! And he says, “I do not know a book.”

13And YHWH says,

“Because that this people draws near with its mouth,

and honors Me with its lips,

and its heart has grown far away from Me,

and their reverence toward Me is a commandment taught by men.†

14Therefore behold, I am adding to do a marvellous work with this people,

and by a wonder making wonders,

so will perish, the wisdom of its wise,

and the understanding of its discerning will be hidden.†

15Wo to those going deep from YHWH

to hide their counsel.

And their works are in darkness, and they say,

“Who sees us and who knows us?”

16You⁺ have turned things upside down!

Shall the potter be considered like clay?

Shall the thing made say of the one making it

“He did not make me”?†

Or the thing formed say of the one forming it

“He does not understand”?

Sanctification for the Godly

17Is it not yet very a little while

that Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field,

and the fruitful field will be considered a forest?

18And in that day the deaf will hear the words of a book,

and from the gloom and from the darkness, the eyes of the blind will see.

19And the lowly will add joy in YHWH,

and the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

20For the ruthless one will cease,

and the mocking one will disappear,

and all those watching for iniquity will be cut down—

21those making guilty a man by a word

and laying a snare for the one arguing in the gate

and stretching aside in confusion the just one.

22Therefore thus says YHWH, who redeemed Abraham, to the house of Jacob,

“Now no more will Jacob be ashamed,

and now no more will his face grow pale.

23For in his seeing his children,

the work of My hands, in his midst,

they will sanctify My name and they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,

and the God of Israel they will fear.

24And those having gone astray in spirit will know understanding,

and those having grumbled, will learn instruction.”

Footnotes:

1 Or Altar Hearth or Lion of God; probably a nickname for Jerusalem; twice in this verse, twice in verse 2, and once in verse 7
2 Or like an altar hearth; see the footnote for verse 1.
13 Hebrew; LXX They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men. Cited in Matthew 15:8–9 and Mark 7:6–7
14 Hebrew; LXX I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will hide the intelligence of the intelligent. Cited in 1 Corinthians 1:19
16 Cited in Romans 9:20