But it will also be like a dream to those armies. They will not get what they want. It will be like a hungry man dreaming about food. When the man wakes up, he is still hungry. It will be like a thirsty man dreaming about water. When the man wakes up, he is still thirsty. The same thing is true about all the nations fighting against Zion. Those nations will not get what they want.
To you my words are like the words in a book that is closed and sealed. You can give the book to someone who can read and tell that person to read it. But that person will say, "I cannot read the book. It is closed and I cannot open it."
Or you can give the book to someone who cannot read and tell that person to read it. That person will say, "I cannot read the book because I don't know how to read."
The Lord says, "These people come to honor me with words from their mouths, but I am not really important to them. The worship they give me is nothing but human rules they have memorized.
So I will continue to amaze them by doing powerful and amazing things. Their wise men will lose their wisdom. Even the most intelligent among them will not be able to understand."
Look at them! They try to hide things from the Lord. They think he will not understand. They do their evil things in darkness. They tell themselves: "No one can see us. No one will know who we are."
You turn things upside down. You think the clay is equal to the potter. You think that something that is made can tell the one who made it, "You did not make me!" This is like a pot telling its maker, "You don't understand."
They will look around at all the children they have—children that I myself made, and they will honor my name. They will honor the Holy One of Jacob. They will respect the God of Israel.