Isaiah 29:1-4

Ariel is Besieged

29:1 Ariel is as good as dead

Ariel, the town David besieged!

Keep observing your annual rituals,

celebrate your festivals on schedule.

29:2 I will threaten Ariel,

and she will mourn intensely

and become like an altar hearth before me.

29:3 I will lay siege to you on all sides;

I will besiege you with troops;

I will raise siege works against you.

29:4 You will fall;

while lying on the ground you will speak;

from the dust where you lie, your words will be heard.

Your voice will sound like a spirit speaking from the underworld;

from the dust you will chirp as if muttering an incantation.

Jeremiah 6:3-6

6:3 Kings will come against it with their armies.

They will encamp in siege all around it.

Each of them will devastate the portion assigned to him.

6:4 They will say, ‘Prepare to do battle against it!

Come on! Let’s attack it at noon!’

But later they will say, ‘Oh, oh! Too bad!

The day is almost over

and the shadows of evening are getting long.

6:5 So come on, let’s go ahead and attack it by night

and destroy all its fortified buildings.’

6:6 All of this is because the Lord who rules over all has said:

‘Cut down the trees around Jerusalem

and build up a siege ramp against its walls.

This is the city which is to be punished.

Nothing but oppression happens in it.