Isaiah 17

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

The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, And it has been a heap—a ruin.

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

The cities of Aroer are forsaken, They are for droves, and they have lain down, And there is none troubling.

3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith Yhwh of Armies.

And the fortress has ceased from Ephraim, And the kingdom from Damascus, And the remnant of Aram are as the glory of the sons of Israel, A declaration of YHWH of Hosts!

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

And it has come to pass in that day, The glory of Jacob waxes poor, And the fatness of his flesh waxes lean.

5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the grain, and reapeth the heads with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth heads in the valley of Rephaim.

And it has come to pass, As the gathering of the standing grain by the reaper, And his arm reaps the ears, And it has come to pass, As the gathering of the ears in the Valley of Rephaim,

6 Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith Yhwh God of Israel.

And gleanings have been left in him, As the surrounding of an olive, Two—three berries on the top of a branch, Four—five on the fruitful boughs, A declaration of YHWH, God of Israel!

7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.

In that day man looks to His Maker, Indeed, his eyes look to the Holy One of Israel,

8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.

And he does not look to the altars. The work of his own hands, And that which his own fingers made, He does not see—the Asherim and the images.

9 In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.

In that day the cities of his strength are As the forsaken thing of the forest, And the branch that they have left, Because of the sons of Israel, It has also been a desolation.

10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:

Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, And have not remembered the Rock of your strength, Therefore you plant plants of pleasantness, And sow it with a strange shoot,

11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.

You cause your plant to become great in the day, And make your seed to flourish in the morning, The harvest [is] a heap in a day of overflowing, And of mortal pain.

12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!

Woe [to] the multitude of many peoples, They sound as the sounding of seas; And the roaring of nations, As the roaring of mighty waters [that] make a crashing.

13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

Nations crash as the roaring of many waters, And He rebuked them, And they fled far off, And were pursued as chaff of hills before wind, And as a rolling thing before a windstorm.

14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.

At evening, behold, terror, before morning it is not, This [is] the portion of our spoilers, And the lot of our plunderers!