Isaiah 17

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

The oracle on Damascus, —Lo! Damascus, is to be removed from being a city, And shall 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.

Forsaken, are the desolate cities, —For flocks, shall they serve, Which shall lie down and have none to make them afraid.

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!

Then shall the fortress cease from Ephraim, And the kingdom from Damascus and the remnant of Syria, —Like the glory of the sons of Israel, shall they be, —Declareth Yahweh of hosts.

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

And it shall come to pass in that day, That the glory of Jacob, shall be diminished, And, the fatness of his flesh, shall be wasted;

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,

And it shall come to pass—That, as the harvestman gathereth standing corn, And with his arm—the ears, he reapeth, Yea it shall come to pass—That, so, shall he be who gleaneth ears, in the vale 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 shall there be left therein, a gleaning. As in the beating of an olive-tree, —Two-three berries in the head of the tree-top, —Four—five, among her fruitful boughs, Declareth Yahweh God of Israel.

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

In that day, shall the son of earth look to him that made him, —And his eyes unto the Holy One of Israel, be turned;

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.

And he shall not look unto the altars the work of his own hands, —Nor to what his own fingers have made, shall his eye be turned, Whether Sacred Stems or Sun-pillars.

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, shall his fortified cities become Like a neglected bough and a topmost branch, Which they neglected because of the sons of Israel, —So shall there be 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,

Because thou didst forget the God of thy salvation, And thy Rock of refuge, thou didst not remember, For this cause, shalt thou plant very pleasant plants, And, the slip of a stranger, shalt thou set:

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.

In the day when thou plantest, fence thou in, And in the morning, cause thou, thy slip, to blossom, —A harvest will have waved in the day of destiny, and mortal 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 booming of many peoples, Like the booming of the seas, shall they boom, —And the rushing of nations! Like the rushing of mighty waters, shall they rush.

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.

Though nations like the rushing of many waters, shall rush, Yet shall one rebuke him, And he shall flee far away, —And be chased As the chaff of the mountains before a wind, And as whirling stubble before a storm!

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

At eventide, lo! terror, Before morning, he is not! This, is the portion of them who plunder us, And the lot of them who make of us a prey.