Isaiah 17
1 This is the burden against Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is no longer a city; it has become a heap of ruins.
A declaration about Damascus.
2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be left to the flocks, which will lie down with no one to fear.
The cities of Aroer will be abandoned. They will be places for flocks to lie down, and no one will frighten them.
3 The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the sovereignty from Damascus. The remnant of Aram will be like the splendor of the Israelites,”
Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim, the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Aram—they will be like the glory of the people of Israel—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts.
4 “In that day the splendor of Jacob will fade, and the fat of his body will waste away,
It will come about on that day that the glory of Jacob will become thin, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean.
5 as the reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the ears with his arm, as one gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.
It will be as when a harvester gathers the standing grain, and his arm reaps the heads of grain. It will be as when one gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.
6 Yet gleanings will remain, like an olive tree that has been beaten— two or three berries atop the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches,”
Gleanings will be left, however, as when the olive tree is shaken: two or three olives in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the highest branches of a fruitful tree—this is the declaration of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
7 In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
On that day men will look toward their Maker, and their eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.
8 They will not look to the altars they have fashioned with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars they have made with their fingers.
They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, nor will they look to what their fingers have made, the Asherah poles or the sun images.
9 In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken thickets and summits, abandoned to the Israelites and to utter desolation.
On that day their strong cities will be like the abandoned wooded slopes on the hill summits, that were forsaken because of the people of Israel and that will become a desolation.
10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines—
For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have ignored the rock of your strength. So you plant pleasant plants, and set out vine branches received from a stranger,
11 though on the day you plant you make them grow, and on that morning you help your seed sprout— yet the harvest will vanish on the day of disease and incurable pain.
on the day you plant and hedge and cultivate. Soon your seed will grow, but the harvest will fail on a day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 Alas, the tumult of many peoples; they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations; they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters.
Woe! The uproar of many peoples, that roar like the roaring of the seas, and the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.
The nations will roar like the rushing of many waters, but he will rebuke them and they will flee far away, they will be chased before the wind like chaff on the mountains, and like weeds whirling before a storm.
14 In the evening, there is sudden terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us and the lot of those who plunder us.
In the evening, see, terror! Before the morning they will be gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who rob us.
