Woe to David’s City (Luke 19:41–44)
1 Brenton Alas for the city Ariel, which David besieged. Gather ye fruits year by year; eat ye, for ye shall eat with Moab. BSB BSB: Woe to you, O Ariel, the city of Ariel where David camped! Year upon year let your festivals recur.
2 Brenton For I will grievously afflict Ariel: and her strength and her wealth shall be mine. BSB BSB: And I will constrain Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation; she will be like an altar hearth before Me.
3 Brenton And I will compass thee about like David, and will raise a mound about thee, and set up towers round thee. BSB BSB: I will camp in a circle around you; I will besiege you with towers and set up siege works against you.
4 Brenton And thy words shall be brought down to the earth, and thy words shall sink down to the earth, and thy voice shall be as they that speak out of the earth, and thy voice shall be lowered to the ground. BSB BSB: You 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.
5 Brenton But the wealth of the ungodly shall be as dust from a wheel, and the multitude of them that oppress thee as flying chaff, and it shall be suddenly as a moment, BSB BSB: But your many foes will be like fine dust, the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant,
6 Brenton from the Lord of hosts: for there shall be a visitation with thunder, and earthquake, and a loud noise, a rushing tempest, and devouring flame of fire. BSB BSB: you will be visited by the LORD of Hosts with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with windstorm and tempest and consuming flame of fire.
7 Brenton And the wealth of all the nations together, as many as have fought against Ariel, and all they that war against Jerusalem, and all who are gathered against her, and they that distress her, shall be as one that dreams in sleep by night. BSB BSB: All 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,
8 Brenton And as men drink and eat in sleep, and when they have arisen, the dream is vain: and as a thirsty man dreams as if he drank, and having arisen is still thirsty, and his soul has desired in vain: so shall be the wealth of all the nations, as many as have fought against the mount Sion. BSB BSB: as 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.
10 Brenton For the Lord has made you to drink a spirit of deep sleep; and he shall close their eyes, and the eyes of their prophets and of their rulers, who see secret things. BSB BSB: For 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.
12 Brenton And this book shall be given into the hands of a man that is unlearned, and one shall say to him, Read this; and he shall say, I am not learned. BSB BSB: Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.”
13 Brenton And the Lord has said, This people draw nigh to me with their mouth, and they honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me: but in vain do they worship me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men. BSB BSB: Therefore 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.
14 Brenton Therefore behold I will proceed to remove this people, and I will remove them: and I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will hide the understanding of the prudent. BSB BSB: Therefore 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.”
15 Brenton Woe to them that deepen their counsel, and not by the Lord. Woe to them that take secret counsel, and whose works are in darkness, and they say, Who has seen us? and who shall know us, or what we do? BSB BSB: Woe 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?”
16 Brenton Shall ye not be counted as clay of the potter? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Thou didst not form me? or the work to the maker, Thou hast not made me wisely? BSB BSB: You 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”?
Sanctification for the Godly 17 Brenton Is it not yet a little while, and Libanus shall be changed as the mountain of Chermel, and Chermel shall be reckoned as a forest?BSB BSB: In a very short time, will not Lebanon become an orchard, and the orchard seem like a forest?
18 Brenton And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and they that are in darkness, and they that are in mist: the eyes of the blind shall see, BSB BSB: On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
19 Brenton and the poor shall rejoice with joy because of the Lord, and they that had no hope among men shall be filled with joy. BSB BSB: The humble will increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 Brenton The lawless man has come to nought, and the proud man has perished, and they that transgress mischievously have been utterly destroyed: BSB BSB: For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down—
21 Brenton and they that cause men to sin by a word: and men shall make all that reprove in the gates an offence, because they have unjustly turned aside the righteous. BSB BSB: those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.
22 Brenton Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the house of Jacob, whom he set apart from Abraam, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall he now change countenance. BSB BSB: Therefore 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.
23 Brenton But when their children shall have seen my works, they shall sanctify my name for my sake, and they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. BSB BSB: For 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.
24 Brenton And they that erred in spirit shall know understanding, and the murmurers shall learn obedience, and the stammering tongues shall learn to speak peace. BSB BSB: Then the wayward in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will accept instruction.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.