Isaiah 29

A Voice from the Dust, a Sealed Book, a Marvelous Work

Jerusalem is brought low, a people speak from the dust, a sealed book is delivered, and the Lord begins a marvelous work and a wonder.

c. 705–701 BC; with a latter-day fulfillment in the coming forth of the Book of Mormon Also in 2 Ne. 27 Read with footnotes in Gospel Library

Background

Isaiah 29 has a clear historical setting and an extraordinary latter-day significance.

Historically, the chapter is addressed to Ariel, a poetic name for Jerusalem. The Lord warns that He will bring the city low under siege (the Assyrian crisis of 701 BC), and then that its enemies will vanish like a dream (verses 1–8). He condemns a people whose worship is only lip service and whose leaders are spiritually asleep (verses 9–16), and He promises a day when the deaf will hear and the blind will see (verses 17–24).

For Latter-day Saints, this is one of the most important chapters in the Old Testament. Nephi quoted and greatly expanded it as a prophecy of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon (2 Ne. 26:14–19; 2 Ne. 27). When the Lord appeared to Joseph Smith in the First Vision, He quoted verse 13 to describe the religious condition of the world (JS—H 1:19). The account of Martin Harris and Professor Charles Anthon matches verses 11–12 (JS—H 1:63–65). And the phrase “a marvellous work and a wonder” (verse 14) became a signature description of the Restoration (D&C 4:1).

The thread through the chapter

Isaiah 29 moves from a people who can’t hear to a book that makes the deaf hear.

Isaiah 29 moves from a people who can’t hear to a book that makes the deaf hear.

It begins with Jerusalem going through the motions. “Add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices” (verse 1): the annual festivals keep rolling along. But the Lord will lay siege to the city until its voice is reduced to a whisper “out of the dust” (verse 4).

The heart of the problem comes in verses 9–13. The people stagger as if drunk, “but not with wine.” The Lord has poured out on them a spirit of deep sleep and covered their prophets and seers (verse 10). To them, God’s revelation has become like a sealed book that nobody can read. The learned man says, “I cannot; for it is sealed.” The unlearned man says, “I am not learned” (verses 11–12). Why? Verse 13: “this people draw near me with their mouth… but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.”

The Lord’s answer is not a lecture. It is an act: “I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder” (verse 14). And then, “in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see” (verse 18). “They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine” (verse 24).

Latter-day Saints recognize the pattern. A people “speaking out of the ground,” a sealed book, a learned man who can’t read it and an unlearned man who is given it, a world drawing near God with its lips, and a marvelous work that restores understanding. Nephi saw all of it fulfilled in the Book of Mormon (2 Ne. 27). The cure for lip-service religion is a book that speaks from the dust and teaches true doctrine.

Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.

Verses 1–4

Ariel brought low

In plain words

Woe to Ariel, Ariel, the city where David camped! Year after year, let your festivals keep coming around. Yet I will bring distress on Ariel. There will be mourning and grief, and she will be to Me like an altar hearth. I will surround you with camps, besiege you with towers, and set up siege works against you. You will be brought low. You will speak from the ground; your words will come muffled from the dust. Your voice will rise from the earth like a ghost’s, and your speech will whisper from the dust.

1 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.

2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.

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.

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.

Restoration Insight #

A voice from the dust

In its original setting, this describes Jerusalem so humbled by siege that its proud voice is reduced to a faint whisper rising from the ground, like the thin voice people…

In its original setting, this describes Jerusalem so humbled by siege that its proud voice is reduced to a faint whisper rising from the ground, like the thin voice people imagined a ghost (a “familiar spirit”) speaking with.

Nephi applied these words to his own people’s record. After they were destroyed, “yet the words of the righteous shall be written… For those who shall be destroyed shall speak unto them out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust, and their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit” (2 Ne. 26:15–16). The Book of Mormon was literally buried in the earth and brought forth out of the ground. Moroni ended the book as “one speaking out of the dust” (Moro. 10:27), and Nephi said his words would be “the voice of one crying from the dust” (2 Ne. 33:13).

A people who had been destroyed would speak again, from the dust, to their descendants and to the world.

Verses 5–8

The enemies vanish like a dream

In plain words

But your many enemies will become like fine dust, and the mass of ruthless attackers like chaff blowing away, suddenly, in an instant. The Lord of hosts will come with thunder, earthquake, great noise, windstorm, and consuming fire. Then all the nations that fight against Ariel and besiege her fortress will be like a dream, a vision in the night. It will be like a hungry man who dreams he is eating but wakes up still hungry, or a thirsty man who dreams he is drinking but wakes up faint and parched. So it will be for all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.

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.

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.

7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.

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.

Verses 9–16

A sealed book and lip-service worship

In plain words

Be stunned and amazed! Blind yourselves and be blind! Be drunk, but not from wine; stagger, but not from beer. The Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep. He has closed your eyes, the prophets, and covered your heads, the seers. This whole vision has become to you like the words of a sealed book. When they give it to someone who can read and say, “Please read this,” he answers, “I can’t; it’s sealed.” When they give it to someone who can’t read and say, “Please read this,” he answers, “I don’t know how to read.” The Lord says: “These people come near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is made up only of rules taught by men. So I will once again do a marvelous work among these people, wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will perish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.” Woe to those who go to great lengths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, “Who sees us? Who will know?” You turn things upside down! Is the potter no better than the clay? Can what is made say of its maker, “He didn’t make me”? Can the pot say of the potter, “He knows nothing”?

9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they 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 covered.

Restoration Insight #

A spirit of deep sleep

“The spirit of deep sleep” is the same word used for the deep sleep God caused to fall on Adam (Gen. 2:21).

“The spirit of deep sleep” is the same word used for the deep sleep God caused to fall on Adam (Gen. 2:21). Here it is spiritual stupor. The eyes of the people, who should have been their prophets, are closed, and their heads, the seers, are covered.

Nephi applied this to the long period of apostasy before the Restoration, when “all the nations of the Gentiles and also the Jews” would be “drunken with iniquity” and without prophets and seers (2 Ne. 27:1–5). Amos had foreseen the same famine “of hearing the words of the LORD” (Amos 8:11–12). The cure was a new seer, one whom the Lord would raise up in the last days (2 Ne. 3:6–15).

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:

Restoration Insight #

The sealed book

To the spiritually sleeping people, God’s revelation is like a sealed scroll.

To the spiritually sleeping people, God’s revelation is like a sealed scroll. Scrolls were sometimes sealed with clay or wax to protect their contents. The learned man won’t read it (“I cannot; for it is sealed”), and the unlearned man can’t read it (“I am not learned”).

Latter-day Saints see a remarkable fulfillment. In February 1828, Martin Harris took a transcript of characters copied from the gold plates, with Joseph Smith’s translation, to Professor Charles Anthon, a respected scholar in New York. According to Martin Harris, Anthon at first certified that the translation was correct. When he learned that the plates had been delivered by an angel, he tore up the certificate and asked Harris to bring him the plates. When Harris said part of the plates was sealed, Anthon replied, “I cannot read a sealed book” (JS—H 1:63–65).

Nephi’s expanded version of this prophecy describes the whole scene in detail: the words of the book given to a learned man, his demand to see the book, his reply “I cannot read it,” and the book then delivered to the unlearned man, who would say, “I am not learned,” and whom the Lord would enable to read (2 Ne. 27:6–20). Part of the plates really was sealed, to come forth in the Lord’s own time (Ether 4:4–7).

Sources: “Isaiah”, Bible Dictionary. Donald W. Parry and John W. Welch, eds., Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, Provo, UT: FARMS, 1998.

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.

Liken It #

The unlearned man

In Nephi’s version, when the unlearned man protests that he isn’t learned, the Lord answers: “The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do…

In Nephi’s version, when the unlearned man protests that he isn’t learned, the Lord answers: “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” (2 Ne. 27:20).

Joseph Smith was a young farmer with little formal education. His wife Emma later said he could hardly compose a well-worded letter, let alone dictate a book like the Book of Mormon. The translation came “by the gift and power of God” (Book of Mormon title page). The Lord often chooses “the weak things of the world” to confound the wise (D&C 1:19; 1 Cor. 1:27; Ether 12:27).

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:

Restoration Insight #

The words of the First Vision

This verse holds a unique place in the Restoration. In the spring of 1820, when Joseph Smith asked which church he should join, the Savior answered that he “must join none of…

This verse holds a unique place in the Restoration. In the spring of 1820, when Joseph Smith asked which church he should join, the Savior answered that he “must join none of them, for they were all wrong,” and quoted this verse: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof” (JS—H 1:19).

Jesus also quoted it in His mortal ministry to rebuke the Pharisees, whose traditions had displaced God’s commandments (Matt. 15:7–9; Mark 7:6–8).

“Their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men” means their reverence for God is a set of human rules learned by rote. It is religion without revelation, lips without heart. The Lord’s answer to that condition in 1820, as in Isaiah’s day, was not to reform the old but to “proceed to do a marvellous work.”

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.

Restoration Insight #

A marvelous work and a wonder

In Hebrew this is a doubled form of the word peleʾ, the same word as “Wonderful” in Isa. 9:6: literally “to do wondrously with this people, wonder upon wonder.”

In Hebrew this is a doubled form of the word peleʾ, the same word as “Wonderful” in Isa. 9:6: literally “to do wondrously with this people, wonder upon wonder.” It is the kind of thing only God can do.

Nephi applied it directly to the Restoration and the Book of Mormon (2 Ne. 25:17; 2 Ne. 27:26; 2 Ne. 29:1). The Lord repeated it again and again in the earliest revelations to Joseph Smith and his associates: “Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men” (D&C 4:1; see D&C 6:1; D&C 11:1; D&C 12:1; D&C 14:1; D&C 18:44). Elder LeGrand Richards took it as the title of his classic explanation of the restored gospel, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder (1950).

The second half of the verse, “the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,” was quoted by Paul to show that God’s wisdom confounds the world’s (1 Cor. 1:19).

Sources: LeGrand Richards, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1950.

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?

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?

Liken It #

The clay talking back to the potter

“Your turning of things upside down” means how perverse you are! The people who try to hide their plans from God (verse 15) are like clay that thinks it can hide from the potter,…

“Your turning of things upside down” means how perverse you are! The people who try to hide their plans from God (verse 15) are like clay that thinks it can hide from the potter, or a pot that says, “You didn’t make me,” or “You don’t know what you’re doing.” The absurdity is the point.

Paul used the image when he asked, “Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” (Rom. 9:20–21). Isaiah later turns it into a prayer: “we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand” (Isa. 64:8). The humble respond to the Potter by asking Him to shape them, not by talking back.

Verses 17–24

The deaf shall hear the words of the book

In plain words

In a very short time, won’t Lebanon become a fertile field, and the fertile field seem like a forest? In that day the deaf will hear the words of the book, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. The humble will rejoice in the Lord again, and the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. The ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who watch for a chance to do evil will be cut off: those who make a person guilty with a word, set traps for the defender in court, and deny justice to the innocent with empty arguments. So this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob: “Jacob will no longer be ashamed; their faces will no longer turn pale. When they see among them their children, the work of My hands, they will keep My name holy. They will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob and stand in awe of the God of Israel. Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding, and those who complain will accept instruction.”

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?

18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.

Restoration Insight #

The deaf hear the words of the book

The spiritually deaf and blind people of verses 9–13 are transformed. “In that day” the deaf will hear “the words of the book,” the very book that was sealed to them in verse 11,…

The spiritually deaf and blind people of verses 9–13 are transformed. “In that day” the deaf will hear “the words of the book,” the very book that was sealed to them in verse 11, and the blind will see “out of obscurity, and out of darkness.”

Nephi quoted this verse and applied it to the Book of Mormon (2 Ne. 27:29). He also foresaw that the Book of Mormon would restore “plain and precious things” that had been lost, so that people could understand the truth about Christ (1 Ne. 13:34–40). President Russell M. Nelson has testified of the Book of Mormon’s power to bring people out of spiritual darkness.

Sources: Russell M. Nelson, “The Book of Mormon: What Would Your Life Be Like without It?”, general conference, Oct. 2017.

19 The meek also shall increase their joy 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:

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.

History & Setting #

Twisting words in court

The gate was where courts met. Here Isaiah describes people who manipulate the legal system: they convict someone on a technicality (“an offender for a word”), trap the honest…

The gate was where courts met. Here Isaiah describes people who manipulate the legal system: they convict someone on a technicality (“an offender for a word”), trap the honest witness who speaks up (“him that reproveth in the gate”), and deprive the innocent of justice with empty arguments (“for a thing of nought”).

Amos condemned the same corruption: “They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly” (Amos 5:10). When the Lord’s marvelous work comes, such people will be cut off (verse 20).

22 Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.

Restoration Insight #

The Lord who redeemed Abraham

What did the Lord redeem Abraham from? The Old Testament mentions only that He brought Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees (Gen. 15:7), and Joshua notes that Abraham’s family…

What did the Lord redeem Abraham from? The Old Testament mentions only that He brought Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees (Gen. 15:7), and Joshua notes that Abraham’s family “served other gods” there (Josh. 24:2–3).

The Book of Abraham, restored through Joseph Smith, tells the dramatic story. Abraham’s own father had turned to idolatry, and Abraham was laid on an altar to be sacrificed by the idolatrous priest of Elkenah. He cried to the Lord, and an angel loosed his bands and rescued him (Abr. 1:5–20). Isaiah’s passing phrase takes on vivid meaning in light of that restored record. The God who rescued Abraham from the altar will rescue Abraham’s descendants.

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.

24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.

Restoration Insight #

Learning doctrine

This is the chapter’s final promise: the confused will understand, and the complainers will “learn doctrine.”

This is the chapter’s final promise: the confused will understand, and the complainers will “learn doctrine.” Nephi quoted it as the conclusion of his prophecy about the Book of Mormon (2 Ne. 27:35).

The Book of Mormon clarifies doctrines that had become confused: the nature of the Fall (2 Ne. 2), the Atonement (Alma 34), baptism (Moro. 8), the resurrection (Alma 40), and the doctrine of Christ (2 Ne. 31; 3 Ne. 11). The risen Lord taught the Nephites that there should be no more “disputations… concerning the points of my doctrine,” and then declared, “this is my doctrine” (3 Ne. 11:28–39; see 1 Ne. 13:39–40). Isaiah foresaw a book that would end the murmuring by teaching true doctrine plainly.

Seeing Christ in Isaiah 29

The marvelous work and wonder of Isaiah 29 is the work of Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon, the “book” that makes the deaf hear, exists for “the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ” (title page). The Lord who quoted verse 13 in the Sacred Grove (JS—H 1:19) is the same Lord who, as the premortal Jehovah, gave these words to Isaiah.

The chapter’s hope is His hope: that people whose worship is only lip service will come to know Him with their hearts. He is the “Holy One of Jacob” whose name the redeemed will sanctify (verse 23), and the One “who redeemed Abraham” (verse 22), from the altar of idolatry and from every captivity since.

Liken it to yourself

Verse 13 is a searching question for any religious person. In what ways do I “draw near” to God with my mouth while my heart is elsewhere? What would it take to bring my heart along?
Has the Book of Mormon been a “sealed book” to me in any way, something I own but don’t really read? What would it mean to let it “speak from the dust” to me personally?
Verse 24 promises that murmurers will “learn doctrine.” Is there a doctrine I’ve struggled with that I could study in the Book of Mormon this week?

Worth exploring next

Nephi’s expansion. Read Isaiah 29 side by side with 2 Ne. 26:14–19 and 2 Ne. 27. What does Nephi add? Notice especially 2 Ne. 27:12–14 on the witnesses and 2 Ne. 27:15–22 on the learned and unlearned men.
The Anthon transcript. Read JS—H 1:61–65 and compare it with Isa. 29:11–12 and 2 Ne. 27:15–20.
The First Vision. Read JS—H 1:17–20 with Isaiah 29:13. Why do you think the Lord chose this verse?
The Joseph Smith Translation. Joseph Smith also revised Isaiah 29 in his inspired translation of the Bible, drawing heavily on 2 Nephi 27. The Gospel Library includes it in its appendix of JST passages.

This chapter elsewhere in scripture

2 Ne. 27 — Nephi’s expanded prophecy of the sealed book.
2 Ne. 26:14–19 — “Out of the ground,” applied to Nephi’s people.
JS—H 1:19 — The Savior quotes verse 13 in the First Vision.
JS—H 1:63–65 — Martin Harris and Professor Anthon.
Matt. 15:7–9 — Jesus quotes verse 13 against the Pharisees’ traditions.

Sources & further reading

Joseph Smith Translation, Isaiah 29, Gospel Library.
Donald W. Parry and John W. Welch, eds., Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, Provo, UT: FARMS, 1998.
LeGrand Richards, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1950.
Chapter 15: Prophecies of the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times (Isaiah 24–35), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
Bruce R. McConkie, “Ten Keys to Understanding Isaiah”, Ensign, Oct. 1973.
Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997.

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