הוֹי אֲרִיאֵל אֲרִיאֵל קִרְיַת חָנָה דָוִד סְפוּ שָׁנָה עַל שָׁנָה חַגִּים יִנְקֹפוּ

Woe, Ariel, Ariel, Jerusalem, the city where David encamped. Add year to passing year, and festivals will come around. Eventually, the time will come for God to afflict Jerusalem.

וַהֲצִיקוֹתִי לַאֲרִיאֵל וְהָיְתָה תַאֲנִיָּה וַאֲנִיָּה וְהָיְתָה לִּי כַּאֲרִיאֵל

I will afflict Ariel; there will be mourning and lamentation, and as a result of its distress, it, Jerusalem, will truly be for Me like its name Ariel indicates, a place of strength and the Divine Presence.

וְחָנִיתִי כַדּוּר עָלָיִךְ וְצַרְתִּי עָלַיִךְ מֻצָּב וַהֲקִימֹתִי עָלַיִךְ מְצֻרֹת

The prophet describes the entire process of punishment and purification: I will encamp an army camp like a ring, alternatively, in a row, around you. I will besiege you with a fortification and I will set siege works against you.

וְשָׁפַלְתְּ מֵאֶרֶץ תְּדַבֵּרִי וּמֵעָפָר תִּשַּׁח אִמְרָתֵךְ וְהָיָה כּאוֹב מֵאֶרֶץ קוֹלֵךְ וּמֵעָפָר אִמְרָתֵךְ תְּצַפְצֵף

You, once-glorious Jerusalem, will be lowered; you will speak from the ground, and from the dust will your statement be bowed. Your voice will be low, like the voice of a dead person brought by a medium from under the ground, and from the dust your speech will chirp.

וְהָיָה כְּאָבָק דַּק הֲמוֹן זָרָיִךְ וּכְמֹץ עֹבֵר הֲמוֹן עָרִיצִים וְהָיָה לְפֶתַע פִּתְאֹם

After the humbling siege, the horde of your foes, those who would scatter you, or who are foreign to you, will be like fine dust, and the horde of the powerful will be like passing chaff in the wind. It, the disappearance of the enemies, will be sudden.

מֵעִם ה' צְבָאוֹת תִּפָּקֵד בְּרַעַם וּבְרַעַשׁ וְקוֹל גָּדוֹל סוּפָה וּסְעָרָה וְלַהַב אֵשׁ אוֹכֵלָה

From before the Lord of hosts you will be visited favorably, with thunder, an earthquake, a great noise, a storm, a tempest, and the flame of a consuming fire. A great commotion will scatter all of Jerusalem’s enemies.

וְהָיָה כַּחֲלוֹם חֲזוֹן לַיְלָה הֲמוֹן כָּל הַגּוֹיִם הַצֹּבְאִים עַל אֲרִיאֵל וְכָל צֹבֶיהָ וּמְצֹדָתָהּ וְהַמְּצִיקִים לָהּ

It will be like a dream, a frightening vision of the night: The horde of all the nations mustering to war against Ariel, and all who muster against it, who seek to conquer it, who stalk it, and who afflict it. All of these will disappear like a dream.

וְהָיָה כַּאֲשֶׁר יַחֲלֹם הָרָעֵב וְהִנֵּה אוֹכֵל וְהֵקִיץ — וְרֵיקָה נַפְשׁוֹ וְכַאֲשֶׁר יַחֲלֹם הַצָּמֵא וְהִנֵּה שֹׁתֶה וְהֵקִיץ — וְהִנֵּה עָיֵף וְנַפְשׁוֹ שׁוֹקֵקָה — כֵּן יִהְיֶה הֲמוֹן כָּל הַגּוֹיִם הַצֹּבְאִים עַל הַר צִיּוֹן

It will be that just as the hungry will dream and, behold, he eats, but he awakens and his soul is empty, and just as the thirsty dreams and, behold, he drinks, but he awakens and, behold, he is weary and his soul thirsts as before, so will be the horde of all the nations that muster against Mount Zion. They will suddenly seem like nothing more than a bad dream.

הִתְמַהְמְהוּ וּתְמָהוּ הִשְׁתַּעַשְׁעוּ וָשֹׁעוּ שָׁכְרוּ וְלֹא יַיִן נָעוּ וְלֹא שֵׁכָר

Hesitate and wonder; turn about and about in order to see. Alternatively, this means: Blind yourselves, and be blind. The events confused the people, as they were drunk, but not from wine; they staggered, but not from intoxicating drink.

כִּי נָסַךְ עֲלֵיכֶם ה' רוּחַ תַּרְדֵּמָה וַיְעַצֵּם אֶת עֵינֵיכֶם — אֶת הַנְּבִיאִים וְאֶת רָאשֵׁיכֶם — הַחֹזִים — כִּסָּה

For the Lord poured upon you a spirit of deep sleep, bleariness and lack of lucidity, and He closed your eyes; He covered the prophets and your leaders, the seers.

וַתְּהִי לָכֶם חָזוּת הַכֹּל כְּדִבְרֵי הַסֵּפֶר הֶחָתוּם אֲשֶׁר יִתְּנוּ אֹתוֹ אֶל יוֹדֵעַ סֵפֶר לֵאמֹר קְרָא נָא זֶה — וְאָמַר לֹא אוּכַל כִּי חָתוּם הוּא

The appearance of all this became for you like the unknowable and inaccessible words of a sealed scroll that they would give to a literate person, saying: Please read this, and he says: I cannot, as it is sealed, and I am not permitted to break the seal. The people would be plagued by confusion and doubt.

וְנִתַּן הַסֵּפֶר עַל אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַע סֵפֶר לֵאמֹר קְרָא נָא זֶה — וְאָמַר לֹא יָדַעְתִּי סֵפֶר

The scroll is given to an illiterate, saying: Please read this, and he says: I am illiterate. Even if the scroll were unsealed I would be unable to read it. The events that will transpire will puzzle both those who can understand history and those who cannot.

וַיֹּאמֶר אֲדֹנָי יַעַן כִּי נִגַּשׁ הָעָם הַזֶּה בְּפִיו וּבִשְׂפָתָיו כִּבְּדוּנִי וְלִבּוֹ רִחַק מִמֶּנִּי וַתְּהִי יִרְאָתָם אֹתִי מִצְוַת אֲנָשִׁים מְלֻמָּדָה

The Lord said: Since this people approached Me in apparent prayer, and yet only with its mouth and with its lips it honored Me, but it distanced its heart from Me, their reverence of Me has become a commandment of men learned by rote. The people come to the Temple and recite prayers, but only as a superficial ritual, as a social norm, or as part of a duty imposed by the government, acting as though the commandments of God were merely given by men.

לָכֵן הִנְנִי יוֹסִף לְהַפְלִיא אֶת הָעָם הַזֶּה הַפְלֵא וָפֶלֶא וְאָבְדָה חָכְמַת חֲכָמָיו וּבִינַת נְבֹנָיו תִּסְתַּתָּר

Therefore, behold, I will continue to bewilder this people, which will astonish them, bewilderment upon bewilderment; and the wisdom of its wise will be lost, and the understanding of its understanding ones will be concealed. Just as the people observe God’s commandments only superficially, God will grant them only superficial understanding of the events that will occur. Even the wise and prudent among them will not grasp their meaning.

הוֹי הַמַּעֲמִיקִים מֵה' לַסְתִּר עֵצָה וְהָיָה בְמַחְשָׁךְ מַעֲשֵׂיהֶם וַיֹּאמְרוּ מִי רֹאֵנוּ וּמִי יוֹדְעֵנוּ!

The prophet rebukes those who employ artifice to do evil: Woe, those who hide from the Lord, as it were, in the depths in order to conceal a schemethey are hatching. Their actions are in the dark, and they say: Who sees us and who knows of us? Just as no person sees us or knows our actions, God does not see us either.

הַפְכְּכֶם! אִם כְּחֹמֶר הַיֹּצֵר יֵחָשֵׁב! כִּי יֹאמַר מַעֲשֶׂה לְעֹשֵׂהוּ לֹא עָשָׂנִי! וְיֵצֶר אָמַר לְיוֹצְרוֹ לֹא הֵבִין!

On the contrary, your assumption is the opposite of the truth. Will the potter be considered like clay? Do you think a potter is comparable to the material he uses to create the vessel? Do the laws that limit the material apply to its creator as well? Furthermore, will the product say of its maker: He did not make me, or the craft say of its craftsman: He did not understand? A person cannot hide anything from his Creator, nor deny His presence. This fundamental idea is expressed in several places in the Bible.

הֲלוֹא עוֹד מְעַט מִזְעָר וְשָׁב לְבָנוֹן לַכַּרְמֶל וְהַכַּרְמֶל — לַיַּעַר יֵחָשֵׁב

Is it not that in a very little while Lebanon, which was heavily forested, will be transformed into farmland, an easily accessible region of fields and vineyards, and the farmland will be a place regarded as a forest (see 32:15)? There will be great changes in the status and capacities of various creations, for better or for worse.

וְשָׁמְעוּ בַיּוֹם הַהוּא הַחֵרְשִׁים דִּבְרֵי סֵפֶר וּמֵאֹפֶל וּמֵחֹשֶׁךְ עֵינֵי עִוְרִים תִּרְאֶינָה

On that day, the day of the redemption, the deaf will hear the words of a scroll, and from blackness and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. Human restrictions will be removed, and people will develop new capabilities. This is meant either literally or as a metaphor for the revelation of the truth.

וְיָסְפוּ עֲנָוִים בַּה' שִׂמְחָה וְאֶבְיוֹנֵי אָדָם בִּקְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל יָגִילוּ

The destitute will increase joy in the Lord, in the end of days, and the indigent among men will be happy in the Holy One of Israel,

כִּי אָפֵס עָרִיץ וְכָלָה לֵץ וְנִכְרְתוּ כָּל שֹׁקְדֵי אָוֶן

for the powerful aggressor is no more, and the evil scoffer, who seeks to cause harm with plots and ruses, will cease; all who actively and excitedly pursue evil will be eliminated:

מַחֲטִיאֵי אָדָם בְּדָבָר וְלַמּוֹכִיחַ בַּשַּׁעַר יְקֹשׁוּן וַיַּטּוּ בַתֹּהוּ צַדִּיק

Those who cause people to sin through speech, those who entrap one who rebukes at the city gate, where people would gather for commercial, political, or judicial reasons, and where the leaders and prophets would issue declarations, execute judgment, and reprimand people, and those who subvert the righteous with emptiness. All these people will be eliminated, and nothing will remain from those evil and deceitful individuals.

לָכֵן כֹּה אָמַר ה' אֶל בֵּית יַעֲקֹב אֲשֶׁר פָּדָה אֶת אַבְרָהָם לֹא עַתָּה יֵבוֹשׁ יַעֲקֹב וְלֹא עַתָּה פָּנָיו יֶחֱוָרוּ

Therefore, so says the Lord to the house of Jacob that redeemed Abraham. Were it not for Jacob’s family, Abraham’s legacy would have been forgotten. Alternatively, God is referred to here as the one who redeemed Abraham, specifically from Ur of the Chaldeans and in the War of the Kings. Not now, at the time of the redemption, will Jacob be ashamed, and not now will his face pale in embarrassment,

כִּי בִרְאֹתוֹ יְלָדָיו מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי בְּקִרְבּוֹ יַקְדִּישׁוּ שְׁמִי וְהִקְדִּישׁוּ אֶת קְדוֹשׁ יַעֲקֹב וְאֶת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יַעֲרִיצוּ

for upon his seeing his children, My handiwork, in his midst, they will sanctify My name, rather than worshipping Me superficially as before; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and they will venerate the God of Israel.

וְיָדְעוּ תֹעֵי רוּחַ בִּינָה וְרוֹגְנִים יִלְמְדוּ לֶקַח

Those of straying spirit who have not yet found a path to God will learn understanding, and the grumblers, who are never satisfied, will learn a lesson and no longer complain.