Isaiah 17
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, And it has been a heap—a ruin.
This is the burden against Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is no longer a city; it has become a heap of ruins.
2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken, They are for droves, and they have lain down, And there is none troubling.
The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be left to the flocks, which will lie down with no one to fear.
3 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!
The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the sovereignty from Damascus. The remnant of Aram will be like the splendor of the Israelites,”
4 And it has come to pass in that day, The glory of Jacob waxes poor, And the fatness of his flesh waxes lean.
“In that day the splendor of Jacob will fade, and the fat of his body will waste away,
5 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,
as the reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the ears with his arm, as one gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.
6 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!
Yet gleanings will remain, like an olive tree that has been beaten— two or three berries atop the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches,”
7 In that day man looks to His Maker, Indeed, his eyes look to the Holy One of Israel,
In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
8 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.
They will not look to the altars they have fashioned with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars they have made with their fingers.
9 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.
In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken thickets and summits, abandoned to the Israelites and to utter desolation.
10 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,
For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines—
11 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.
though on the day you plant you make them grow, and on that morning you help your seed sprout— yet the harvest will vanish on the day of disease and incurable pain.
12 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.
Alas, the tumult of many peoples; they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations; they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters.
13 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.
The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.
14 At evening, behold, terror, before morning it is not, This [is] the portion of our spoilers, And the lot of our plunderers!
In the evening, there is sudden terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us and the lot of those who plunder us.
