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Woe to Ariel

¹ Woe, O ^(F1)Ariel, ^(F1)Ariel the city where David once ^(C1)camped!
Add year to year, ^(F2)(C2)observe your feasts on schedule.

² I will bring distress to ^(F1)Ariel,
And she will be a city of mourning and ^(C1)moaning;
And she will be like an Ariel to me.

³ And I will ^(C1)camp against you ^(F1)encircling you,
And I will fortify siegeworks against you,
And I will raise up fortifications against you.

⁴ Then you will ^(C1)be brought low;
From the earth you will speak,
And from the dust where you are prostrate
Your words will come.
Your voice will also be like that of a ^(F1)spirit from the ground,
And your speech will whisper from the dust.

⁵ But it will be that the multitude of your ^(F1)enemies will become like fine ^(C1)dust,
And the multitude of the ^(C2)ruthless ones like the chaff which ^(F2)blows away;
And it will happen ^(C3)instantly, suddenly.

⁶ From Yahweh of hosts you will be ^(C1)punished with ^(C2)thunder and earthquake and loud noise,
With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.

⁷ And it will be that the ^(C1)multitude of all the nations who wage war against ^(F1)Ariel,
Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,
Will be like a dream, a ^(C2)vision of the night.

⁸ And it will be as when a hungry man dreams—
And behold, he is eating;
But he awakens, and his soul is empty,
Or as when a thirsty man dreams—
And behold, he is drinking,
But he awakens, and behold, he is faint,
And his soul is not quenched.
^(C1)Thus the multitude of all the nations will be
Who wage war against Mount Zion.

^9 (C1)Astonish yourselves and be astonished,
Blind yourselves and be blind;
They ^(C2)become drunk, but not with wine;
They stagger, but not with strong drink.

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

¹³ Then the Lord said,

"Because ^(C1)this people draw near with their mouth
And honor Me with their lips,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their fear of Me is in the command of men learned by rote,

¹⁴ Therefore behold, I will once again deal ^(C1)marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;
And ^(C2)the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the discernment of their discerning men will be hidden."

¹⁵ Woe to those who deeply ^(C1)hide their counsel from Yahweh,
And whose ^(C2)deeds are done in a dark place,
And they say, "^(C3)Who sees us?" or "Who knows us?"

¹⁶ You turn things around!
Shall the potter be considered ^(F1)as equal with the clay,
That ^(C1)what is made would say to its maker, "He did not make me";
Or what is formed say to him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?

The Afflicted Will Rejoice

¹⁷ Is it not yet just a little while
^(F1)Before Lebanon will be turned into a ^(C1)fruitful orchard,
And the fruitful orchard will be counted as a forest?

¹⁸ On that day the ^(C1)deaf will hear ^(C2)words of a book,
And out of ^(F1)darkness and thick darkness the ^(C3)eyes of the blind will see.

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

²⁰ For the ^(C1)ruthless will come to an end and the ^(C2)scoffer will be finished,
Indeed ^(C3)all who are watching out to do evil will be cut off;

²¹ Who ^(F1)cause a person to sin by a word,
And ^(C1)ensnare him who reproves at the gate,
And ^(F2)(C2)defraud the one in the right with ^(F3)meaningless arguments.

²² Therefore thus says Yahweh, who redeemed ^(C1)Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

"Jacob ^(C2)shall not now be ashamed, and now his face shall not turn pale;

²³ But when ^(F1)he sees his ^(C1)children, the ^(C2)work of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My name;
Indeed, they will ^(C3)sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
And will stand trembling before the God of Israel.

²⁴ "Those who ^(C1)err in spirit will ^(C2)know discernment,
And those who ^(F1)criticize will ^(F2)(C3)gain learning.