Isaiah 17

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

[I received] this message [from Yahweh] about Damascus [the capital of Syria]: “Listen carefully! Damascus will no longer be a city; it will be [only] a heap 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 near Aroer [city] will be abandoned. Flocks [of sheep] will [eat grass in the streets and] lie down there, and there will be no one 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 cities in Israel will not have walls around them [to protect them]. The power of the kingdom of Damascus will be ended, and the few people who will remain in Damascus will be disgraced like the people in Israel were disgraced.” [That is what] the Commander of the armies of angels says.

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, Israel will become insignificant. It will be [like] [MET] a fat person who has become very thin.

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.

The entire land will be like [SIM] a field where the harvesters have cut all the grain; there will be nothing left, like [SIM] the fields in the Rephaim Valley after all the crops have been harvested.

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.

Only a few of the Israeli people will remain [MET], like [SIM] the few olives that remain on the top of a tree after the workers have caused all the other olives to fall [to the ground]. [There will be only] two or three olives in the top branches, [or] four or five olives on the other branches.” [That is what] the Commander of the armies of angels says.

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

[Then], at that time, [you] people [of Israel] will (turn for help to/look up to) God, your creator, 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.

You will no [longer] seek to get help from your idols or worship the idols that you have made with your own hands [DOU]. You will never again bow down in front of the poles [where you worship the goddess] Asherah. You will never again worship at the shrines [that you have built for burning 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.

The largest cities in Israel will be abandoned, like the land that the Hiv and Amor people-groups abandoned (OR, like the forests that the [Canaan people-group] abandoned) when the Israelis [attacked them long ago]. No one will live there.

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.

[That will happen] because you have stopped worshiping God who is [like] [MET] a huge rock under which you can be safe. You have forgotten that he is the one who can hide/protect you. So, [now] you plant very nice grapevines and [even] plant very expensive ones that come from other countries.

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.

[But] even if they sprout leaves on the day that you plant them, and even if they produce blossoms on that same morning, at harvest time, there will not be any grapes for you to pick. All that you will get is a lot of agony/misery.

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.

Listen! [The armies of] many nations will roar like the sea roars. It will sound like the noise of crashing waves.

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.

But even though their loud roaring will be like the sound of crashing waves, when Yahweh rebukes them, they will run far away. They will flee like [SIM] chaff on the hills scatters when the wind [blows], like tumbleweeds scatter when a windstorm blows.

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.

And, even though you people of Israel will be terrified, in the morning [your enemies] will all be gone/dead. That is what will happen to those who invade our land and [then] steal our possessions.