Isaiah 29
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Summary
The Nephites will speak as a voice from the dust. The apostasy, restoration of the gospel, and coming forth of the Book of Mormon is foretold.
Joseph Smith Translation Variants
| KJV | JST |
| (2) Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel. | (2) Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow. For thus hath the Lord said unto me, It shall be unto |
| (3) And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. | (3) That I the Lord will camp against her round about and will lay siege against her with a mount, and I will raise forts against her. |
| (4) And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust. | (4) And she shall be brought down and shall speak out of the ground, and her speech shall be low out of the dust, and her voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit out of the ground, and her speech shall whisper out of the dust. |
| (5) Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. | (5) Moreover the multitude of her strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones |
| (6) Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. | (6) For they shall be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. |
| (8) It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion. | (8) Yea it shall be unto them even as unto a hungry man who dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty. Or like unto a thirsty man who dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite. Yea even so shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against mount Zion. |
| (9) Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. | (9) For behold, all ye that do iniquity, stay yourselves and wonder, for ye shall cry out and cry. Yea ye shall be drunken but not with wine, ye shall stagger but not with strong drink. |
| (10) For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he ecovered. | (10) For behold, the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep. For behold, ye have closed your eyes, and ye have rejected the prophets, and your rulers and the seers hath he covered because of your iniquities. |
| (11) And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: | (11) And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall bring forth unto you the words of a book, and they shall be the words of them which have slumbered. And behold the book shall be sealed. And in the book shall be a revelation from God from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof. Wherefore because of the things which are sealed up, the things which are sealed shall not be delivered in the day of the wickedness and the abominations of the people. Wherefore the book shall be kept from them. But the book shall be delivered unto a man, and he shall deliver the words of the book, which are the words of those which have slumbered in the dust, and he shall deliver these words unto another. But the words which are sealed he shall not deliver, neither shall he deliver the book. For the book shall be sealed by the power of God, and the revelation which shall be sealed shall be kept in the book until the own due time of the Lord, that they may come forth. For behold they reveal all things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof. And the day cometh that the words of the book which were sealed shall be read upon the housetops, and they shall be read by the power of Christ. And all things shall be revealed unto the children of men and which ever will be, even unto the end of the earth. Wherefore at that day when the book shall be delivered unto the man of whom I have spoken, the book shall be hid from the eyes of the world that the eyes of none shall behold it save it be that three witnesses shall behold it by the power of God, besides him to whom the book shall be delivered. And they shall testify to the truth of the book and the things therein. And there is none other which shall view it, save it be according to the will of God to bear testimony of his word unto the children of men. For the Lord God hath said that the words of the faithful should speak as if it were from the dead. Wherefore the Lord God will proceed to bring forth the words of the book, and in the mouth of as many witnesses as seemeth him good will he establish his word. And woe be unto him that rejecteth the word of God! But behold it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall say unto him to whom he shall deliver the book, Take these words which are not sealed and deliver them to another that he may show them unto the learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee. And the learned shall say, Bring hither the book, and I will read them. And now because of the glory of the world and to get gain will they say this, and not for the glory of God. And the man shall say, I cannot bring the book, for it is sealed. Then shall the learned say, I cannot read it. |
| (12) And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. | (12) Wherefore it shall come to pass that the Lord God will deliver again the book and the words thereof to him that is not learned, and the man that is not learned shall say, I am not learned. Then shall the Lord God say unto him, The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work. Wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee. Touch not the things which are sealed, for I will bring them forth in mine own due time. For I will show unto the children of men that I am able to do mine own work. Wherefore when thou hast read the words which I have commanded thee and obtained the witness which I have promised unto thee, then shalt thou seal up the book again and hide it up unto me that I may preserve the words which thou hast not read until I shall see fit in mine own wisdom to reveal all things unto the children of men. For behold I am God, and I am a God of miracles, and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever. And I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith. |
| (13) Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: | (13) And again it shall come to pass that the Lord shall say unto him that shall read the words that shall be delivered him, Forasmuch as this people draw near to me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their hearts from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precept of men: |
| (14) Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. | (14) Therefore |
| (15) Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? | (15) And woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us, and who knoweth us? |
| (16) Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding? | (16) And they also say, Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay. But behold, I will show unto them, saith the Lord of hosts, that I know all their works. For shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding? |
| (17) Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? | (17) But behold, saith the Lord of hosts, I will show unto the children of men that it is not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? |
| (19) The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. | (19) And the meek also shall increase, and their joy shall be in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. |
| (20) For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: | (20) For assuredly as the Lord liveth, they shall see that the terrible one is brought to naught, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: |
| (21) That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought. | (21) And they that make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of naught. |
| (23) But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. | (23) But when he seeth his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. |
Commentary
Bible Central Commentary
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Historical Commentaries
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Historical Settings
Time
*All Dates Are Approximate, according to the narrative of the Bible. These dates may reflect literary significance as opposed to the precise dates of history.
See Biblical ChronologyFurther Reading
Book of Mormon Central, “How Are the Words of the Book of Mormon Like ‘One That Hath a Familiar Spirit’? (2 Nephi 26:16),” KnoWhy 491 (December 6, 2018).
Matthew L. Bowen, “‘And the Meek Also Shall Increase’: The Verb YĀSAP in Isaiah 29 and Nephi’s Prophetic Allusions to the Name Joseph in 2 Nephi 25–30,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 30 (2018): 5–42.
Donald W. Parry and Janet L. Garrand Willis, “Notes on Vocabulary in Isaiah 2-11, 13-14, 29, 48-54,” in Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, ed. Donald W. Parry and John W. Welch (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1998), 409–422.
Robert A. Cloward, “Isaiah 29 and the Book of Mormon,” in Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, ed. Donald W. Parry and John W. Welch (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1998), 191–247.
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Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable
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Exposition of the Entire Bible
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Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch (1857–78)
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible
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