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Jerusalem Is Warned

¹ Woe (judgment is coming) to ^(F1)Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David once ^(C1)camped!
Add ^(F2)yet another year; ^(C2)let the feasts run their course but only one year more.

² Then I will harass Ariel,
And she will be a city of ^(C1)mourning and lamenting (crying out in grief)
Yet she will be like an ^(F1)Ariel an altar hearth to Me.

³ I will ^(C1)camp against you and encircle you,
And I will hem you in with siege works,
And I will raise fortifications against you.

⁴ Then you Jerusalem will ^(C1)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.

⁵ But the multitude of your enemies that assault you will become like fine ^(C1)dust,
And the multitude of the ^(C2)tyrants like the chaff which ^(F1)blows away;
And it will happen in an ^(C3)instant, suddenly that your enemy is destroyed.

⁶ You will be ^(C1)punished by the LORD of hosts with ^(C2)thunder and earthquake and great noise,
With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.

⁷ And the ^(C1)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 ^(C2)vision of the night.

⁸ It will be as when a hungry man dreams
That he is eating,
But when he awakens, his ^(F1)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.
^(C1)So will the multitude of all the nations be
Who fight against Mount Zion.

^9 (C1)Stop and take some time and wonder at this prophecy,
Blind yourselves and be blinded at its fulfillment by your spiritual incompetence.
They ^(C2)are drunk, but not from wine;
They stagger, but not from strong drink.

¹⁰ For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep ^(C1)sleep.
He has ^(C2)closed your eyes, you who are the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, you who are the seers.

¹³ Then the Lord said,

"Because ^(C1)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,

¹⁴ Therefore, listen carefully, I will again do ^(C1)marvelous and amazing things with this people, wonderful and astonishing things;
And ^(C2)the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the understanding of their discerning men will be hidden."

¹⁵ Woe (judgment is coming) to those who try to deeply ^(C1)hide their plans from the LORD,
Whose ^(C2)deeds are done in a dark place,
And who say, "^(C3)Who sees us?" or "Who knows us?"

¹⁶ You turn things upside down with your perversity!
Shall the potter be considered equal with the clay,
That the ^(C1)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"?

Blessing after Discipline

¹⁷ Is it not yet a very little while
Until Lebanon will be turned into a ^(C1)fertile field,
And the fertile field regarded as a forest?

¹⁸ On that day the ^(C1)deaf will hear the ^(C2)words of a book,
And out of their gloom and darkness the ^(C3)eyes of the blind will see the words of the book.

¹⁹ The ^(C1)afflicted also will increase their joy in the LORD,
And the ^(C2)needy of mankind will rejoice and celebrate in the Holy One of Israel.

²⁰ For the ^(C1)tyrant will come to an end and the ^(C2)scorner will be finished,
Indeed ^(C3)all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off—

²¹ Those who cause a person to be condemned with a false word,
And ^(C1)lay a trap for him who upholds justice at the city gate,
And ^(C2)defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.

²² Therefore, the LORD, who redeemed ^(C1)Abraham from paganism says this, concerning the house of Jacob (Israel):

"Jacob ^(C2)will not be ashamed, nor will his face turn pale with disappointment because of his children's degenerate behavior;

²³ For when he sees his ^(C1)children, the ^(C2)work of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My Name;
They will ^(C3)sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
And will stand in awe and reverent fear of the God of Israel.

²⁴ "Those who ^(C1)err in mind will ^(C2)know the truth,
And those who criticize and murmur discontentedly will ^(C3)accept instruction.