Isaiah 17

1 The doom of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is deprived of being a city, and it shall become decaying ruins.

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

2 Forsaken are the cities of 'Aro'er: they shall be [given up] to flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

Forsaken are the cities of Aroer, For droves they are, and they have lain down, And there is none troubling.

3 And there shall cease the fortress from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: like the glory of the children of Israel shall they be, saith the Lord of hosts.

And ceased hath the fortress from Ephraim, And the kingdom from Damascus, And the remnant of Aram are as the honour of the sons of Israel, The affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts!

4 And it shall come to pass on that day, that the glory of Jacob shall vanish, and the fatness of his flesh shall become lean.

And it hath come to pass, in that day, Wax poor doth the honour of Jacob, And the fatness of his flesh doth wax lean.

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

And it hath come to pass, As the gathering by the reaper of the standing corn, And his arm the ears reapeth, And it hath come to pass, As the gathering of the ears in the valley of Rephaim,

6 And there shall be left on it gleaning-fruit, as one shaketh an olive-tree, two or three berries on the top of the uppermost bough, four or five on the outmost branches of a fruitful tree, saith the Lord the God of Israel.

And left in him have been gleanings, As the compassing of an olive, Two — three berries on the top of a branch, Four — five on the fruitful boughs, The affirmation of Jehovah, God of Israel!

7 On that day shall a man turn his regard up to his Maker, and his eyes shall look toward the Holy One of Israel.

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

8 And he shall not turn his regard to the altars, the work of his hands; and he shall not look at what his fingers have made, both the groves and the sun-images.

And he looketh not unto the altars. The work of his own hands, And that which his own fingers made He seeth not — the shrines and the images.

9 On that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken ruin in a forest, and on a mountain-peak, which they left because of the children of Israel: and the land shall be desolate.

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

10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and the rock of thy strength thou hast not remembered; therefore wouldst thou plant luxuriant plantings, and wouldst set out the shoots of the stranger therein.

Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, And the rock of thy strength hast not remembered, Therefore thou plantest plants of pleasantness, And with a strange slip sowest it,

11 [Already] on the day that thou plantedst thou causedst to grow, and in the morning thou madest thy seed to blossom; but now fleeth the harvest on the day of disease and of incurable pain.

In the day thy plant thou causest to become great, And in the morning thy seed makest to flourish, A heap [is] the harvest in a day of overflowing, And of mortal pain.

12 Woe to the raging of many people, who rage like the raging of the seas; and to the noise of nations, that make a noise like the roar of mighty waters!

Woe [to] the multitude of many peoples, As the sounding of seas they sound; And [to] the wasting of nations, As the wasting of mighty waters they are wasted.

13 The nations will make a noise like the roaring of many waters; but He will rebuke it, and it shall flee afar off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and as thistle-down before the tempest.

Nations as the wasting of many waters are wasted, And He hath pushed against it, And it hath fled afar off, And been pursued as chaff of hills before wind, And as a rolling thing before a hurricane.

14 At eveningtide, behold, there is trouble; before yet it is morning it is no more. This is the portion of our spoilers, and the lot of those that plunder us.

At even-time, lo, terror, before morning it is not, This [is] the portion of our spoilers, And the lot of our plunderers!