1 Woe to Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped {chanah: set up camp}! Add year upon year; let the festivals {chaggim: pilgrimage feasts} go around.
2 And I will bring distress upon Ariel, and she will be in mourning {ta’aniyyah: deep grief} and sorrow, and she shall be to Me as Ariel {Ariel: Jerusalem’s poetic designation}.
3 And I {YHWH, Sovereign Besieger} will encamp around you like a circle, lay siege to you with a siege mound, and set up fortifications against you {metzurot: siege works}.
4 And you will be brought low, and will speak from the ground, and your speech {imrah: utterance, poetic saying} will be bowed low out of the dust. And your voice will be like a ghost {ov: medium spirit} from the ground, and your speech will chirp out of the dust.
5 And the multitude of your foreigners {zarayikh: outsiders} will be like fine dust, and the multitude of the violent ones will be like passing chaff {motz: worthless residue}; and it will happen suddenly, in an instant.
6 You will be visited by the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tsevaot, Divine Commander} with thunder, and with earthquake, and with great noise, and with whirlwind and storm, and with the flame of devouring fire {esh okheilah: consuming destruction}.
7 And it will be like a dream, a vision {chazon: prophetic revelation} of the night—the throng of all the nations warring against Ariel {ariel: poetic name}, and all her besiegers and her fortress and those who oppress her.
8 And it will be as when a hungry man dreams and, behold, he is eating, but when he awakens, his soul is empty {nefesh: inner person}; and as when a thirsty man dreams and, behold, he is drinking, but when he awakens, behold, he is faint, and his soul is longing {shoqeqa: fervent desire}; so will be the multitude of all the nations that wage war against Mount Zion.
9 Stun yourselves and be astonished; blind yourselves and be blinded; be drunk, but not with wine {yayin: fermented grape wine}; stagger, but not with strong drink {shekar: intoxicating beverage}.
10 For the LORD {YHWH, Divine Initiator} has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and He has shut your eyes—the prophets {hannevi'im: divine spokesmen}; He has covered your heads—the seers.
11 And the whole vision has become for you like the words {divrei: conveyed message} of the sealed book, which they give it to a learned person {yodea: skilled reader}, saying, “Please read this,” and he says, “I am not able, because it is sealed.”
12 And the book {sefer: written scroll} is given {venittan: passive handing} to one who does not know how to read a book, saying, “Please read this.” And he says, “I do not know how to read a book.”
13 And the Lord {Adonai, Heart-Knowing Judge} said, “This people come near with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; and their fear of Me is only a human rule learned by rote melummadah {melummadah: habitual instruction}.”
14 Therefore, behold, I {YHWH, Supreme Actor} will again do a wondrous thing to this people—a wonder and a marvel; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding {binat: insight based on discernment} of their discerning men will be hidden.
15 Woe to those who deeply plot {ma'amikim: cunningly devise} to hide counsel from the LORD {YHWH, All-Seeing Judge}; their deeds are in darkness, and they say, "Who sees us? And who knows us?"
16 Your turning of things upside down will be esteemed like the potter {yotser: artisan who forms}’s clay; for should the work {maaseh: created object} say to its maker, “He did not make me,” or should what is formed say to its molder, “He has no understanding?”
17 Is it not yet just a little while {me'at: small measure}, and Lebanon {Levanon: mountainous region} will be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field will be regarded as a forest?
18 And in that day the deaf {hachereshim: those without hearing} will hear the words of the book, and out of gloom and out of darkness the eyes of the blind {ivrim: those without sight} will see.
19 And the humble {anavim: those lowly in spirit} will increase their joy in the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Restorer}, and the poor among people will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel {Kedosh Yisrael, Divine Protector}.
20 For the oppressor {ʿārîṣ: ruthless tyrant} will come to an end, and the scoffer will be finished, and all who watch for iniquity {ʼāwen: evil intent} will be cut off.
21 Those who make a man an offender {machatiei: cause offense} by a word, and lay a snare for the one who reproves in the gate, and with an empty plea turn aside the righteous {tsaddiq: just person}.
22 Therefore thus says the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Deliverer}—He who redeemed Abraham—to the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor now shall his face {panim: physical presence or countenance} become pale.”
23 For when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, they will sanctify My name, and they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob {qedosh Ya‘akov: Patriarch’s Set-Apart One}, and they will stand in awe of the God of Israel {elohei Yisra’el: National Protector}.
24 And those who wander in spirit {to’ei-ruach: those confused in attitude} will gain understanding, and those who murmur will learn instruction {lekach: principles or teaching}.