Isaiah 17

1 The burden of Damascus. Behold Damascus shall cease to be a city, and shall be as a ruinous heap of stones.

A message about Damascus. Look, Damascus will cease to exist as city. Instead it will become a pile of ruins.

2 The cities of Aroer shall be left for flocks, and they shall rest there, and there shall be none to make them afraid.

The towns of Aroer will be abandoned. Flocks will live in the streets and rest there, because there won't be anyone to chase them away.

3 And aid shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus: and the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory of the children of Israel: saith the Lord of hosts.

The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, Damascus will no longer be a kingdom, and those that are left of the Arameans will be like the lost glory of Israel, declares the Lord Almighty.

4 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 grow lean.

At that time the glory of Jacob will fade away; he will lose his strength.

5 And it shall be as when one gathereth in the harvest that which remaineth, and his arm shall gather the ears of corn: and it shall be as he that seeketh ears in the vale of Raphaim.

It will look as empty as fields after reapers have harvested the grain, gathering up the grain in their arms. It will be like when people pick the heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.

6 And the fruit thereof that shall be left upon it, shall be as one cluster of grapes, and as the shaking of the olive tree, two or three berries in the top of a bough, or four or five upon the top of the tree, saith the Lord the God of Israel.

Yet there will be some left behind, like an olive tree that has been shaken—two or three ripe olives are left at the top of the tree, four or five on its lower branches, declares the Lord, the God of Israel.

7 In that day man shall bow down himself to his Maker, and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel.

At that time people will pay attention to their Creator and look to the Holy One of Israel.

8 And he shall not look to the altars which his hands made: and he shall not have respect to the things that his fingers wrought, such as groves and temples.

They won't believe in the altars they built and the idols they made; they will not look to the Asherah poles or the altars of incense.

9 In that day his strong cities shall be forsaken, as the ploughs, and the corn that were left before the face of the children of Israel, and thou shalt be desolate.

At that time their fortified cities will be like places left to be taken over by bushes and trees, just as they were previously abandoned when the Israelites invaded. The country will become completely desolate.

10 Because thou hast forgotten God thy saviour, and hast not remembered thy strong helper: therefore shalt thou plant good plants, and shalt sow strange seed.

You have forgotten the God who saves you; you have not remembered the Rock who protects you. So, even though you plant beautiful plants and grow exotic vines,

11 In the day of thy planting shall be the wild grape, and in the morning thy seed shall flourish: the harvest is taken away in the day of inheritance, and shall grieve thee much.

even though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and have them blossom in the morning that you sow them, your harvest will heap of trouble on a day of grief and pain that cannot be cured.

12 Woe to the multitude of many people, like the multitude of the roaring sea: and the tumult of crowds, like the noise of many waters.

Disaster is coming to the many nations that growl, growling like the raging sea! Disaster is coming to the peoples who roar, roaring like thundering waters!

13 Nations shall make a noise like the noise of waters overflowing, but he shall rebuke him, and he shall flee far off: and he shall be carried away as the dust of the mountains before the wind, and as a whirlwind before a tempest.

The nations roar like the roaring of crashing waves. But he confronts them, and they run far away, blown by the wind like chaff on the mountains, like tumbleweeds driven by a storm.

14 In the time of the evening, behold there shall be trouble: the morning shall come, and he shall not be: this is the portion of them that have wasted us, and the lot of them that spoiled us.

Sudden terror comes in the evening! By morning, they're gone! This is what happens to those who loot us, the fate of those who plunder us.