| Berean Study Bible | New International Version |
| 1Woe to you, O Ariel, the city of Ariel where David camped! Year upon year let your festivals recur. | 1Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David settled! Add year to year and let your cycle of festivals go on. |
| 2And I will constrain Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation; she will be like an altar hearth before Me. | 2Yet I will besiege Ariel; she will mourn and lament, she will be to me like an altar hearth. |
| 3I will camp in a circle around you; I will besiege you with towers and set up siege works against you. | 3I will encamp against you on all sides; I will encircle you with towers and set up my siege works against you. |
| 4You will be brought low, you will speak from the ground, and out of the dust your words will be muffled. Your voice will be like a spirit from the ground; your speech will whisper out of the dust. | 4Brought low, you will speak from the ground; your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth; out of the dust your speech will whisper. |
| 5But your many foes will be like fine dust, the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant, | 5But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. Suddenly, in an instant, |
| 6you will be visited by the LORD of Hosts with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with windstorm and tempest and consuming flame of fire. | 6the LORD Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire. |
| 7All the many nations going out to battle against Ariel—even all who war against her, laying siege and attacking her—will be like a dream, like a vision in the night, | 7Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel, that attack her and her fortress and besiege her, will be as it is with a dream, with a vision in the night-- |
| 8as when a hungry man dreams he is eating, then awakens still hungry; as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, then awakens faint and parched. So will it be for all the many nations who go to battle against Mount Zion. | 8as when a hungry person dreams of eating, but awakens hungry still; as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking, but awakens faint and thirsty still. So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion. |
| 9Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink. | 9Be stunned and amazed, blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not from wine, stagger, but not from beer. |
| 10For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers. | 10The LORD has brought over you a deep sleep: He has sealed your eyes (the prophets); he has covered your heads (the seers). |
| 11And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” | 11For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, "Read this, please," they will answer, "I can't; it is sealed." |
| 12Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.” | 12Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, "Read this, please," they will answer, "I don't know how to read." |
| 13Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men. | 13The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught. |
| 14Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.” | 14Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish." |
| 15Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?” | 15Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, "Who sees us? Who will know?" |
| 16You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of the potter, “He has no understanding”? | 16You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, "You did not make me"? Can the pot say to the potter, "You know nothing"? |
| 17In a very short time, will not Lebanon become an orchard, and the orchard seem like a forest? | 17In a very short time, will not Lebanon be turned into a fertile field and the fertile field seem like a forest? |
| 18On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see. | 18In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. |
| 19The humble will increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. | 19Once more the humble will rejoice in the LORD; the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. |
| 20For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down— | 20The ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down-- |
| 21those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice. | 21those who with a word make someone out to be guilty, who ensnare the defender in court and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice. |
| 22Therefore the LORD who redeemed Abraham says of the house of Jacob: “No longer will Jacob be ashamed and no more will his face grow pale. | 22Therefore this is what the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob: "No longer will Jacob be ashamed; no longer will their faces grow pale. |
| 23For when he sees his children around him, the work of My hands, they will honor My name, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and they will stand in awe of the God of Israel. | 23When they see among them their children, the work of my hands, they will keep my name holy; they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel. |
| 24Then the wayward in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will accept instruction.” | 24Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding; those who complain will accept instruction." |
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