Isaiah 17

1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city, and it will be like a heap of stones in ruin.

The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

2 The cities in ruin will be left for the flocks, and they will take rest there, and there will be no one who may terrify them.

The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

3 And assistance will cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom will cease from Damascus. And the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the sons of Israel, says the Lord of hosts.

The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Aram shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.

4 And this shall be in that day: the glory of Jacob will be thinned, and the fatness of his flesh will be reduced.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.

5 And it shall be like the gathering of the harvest which remains, and his arm will pick the ears of grain. And it shall be like a search for grain in the valley of Rephaim.

And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the standing corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; yea, it shall be as when one gleaneth ears in the valley of Rephaim.

6 And what is left behind in it will be like one cluster of grapes, or like a shaken olive tree with two or three olives at the top of a branch, or like four or five olives at the top of a tree, says the Lord God of Israel.

Yet there shall be left therein gleanings, as at the beating of an olive-tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the branches of the fruitful tree, saith the LORD, the God of Israel.

7 In that day, a man will bow before his Maker, and his eyes will consider the Holy One of Israel.

In that day shall a man regard his Maker, and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel.

8 And he will not bow before the altars that his hands have made. And he will not consider the things that his fingers have made, the sacred groves and the shrines.

And he shall not regard the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall he look to that which his fingers have made, either the Asherim, or the sun-images.

9 In that day, his strong cities will be abandoned, like the plows and the grain fields which were left behind before the face of the sons of Israel, and you shall be deserted.

In that day shall his strong cities be as the forsaken places, which were forsaken from before the children of Israel, after the manner of woods and lofty forests; and it shall be a desolation.

10 For you have forgotten God your Savior, and you have not remembered your strong Helper. Because of this, you will plant trustworthy plants, but you will sow a foreign seed.

For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and thou hast not been mindful of the Rock of thy stronghold; therefore thou didst plant plants of pleasantness, and didst set it with slips of a stranger;

11 In the day of your planting, the wild grapevine and your morning seed will flourish. The harvest has been taken away to the day of inheritance, and you will grieve heavily.

In the day of thy planting thou didst make it to grow, and in the morning thou didst make thy seed to blossom — a heap of boughs in the day of grief and of desperate pain.

12 Woe to the multitude of many peoples, like the multitude of the roaring sea! Woe to the tumult of crowds, like the noise of many waters!

Ah, 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 peoples will make a noise, like the noise of waters overflowing, but he will rebuke him, and so he will flee far away. And he will be quickly taken away, like the dust of the mountains before the face of the wind, and like a whirlwind before a tempest.

The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters; but He shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the whirling dust before the storm.

14 In the time of the evening, behold: there will be a disturbance. When it is early morning, he will not remain. This is the portion of those who have devastated us, and this is the lot of those who have plundered us.

At eventide behold terror; and before the morning they are not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.