Isaiah 17

1 The oracle on Damascus, —Lo! Damascus, is to be removed from being a city, And shall become a heap of ruins:

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

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

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

3 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.

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.

4 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;

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.

5 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;

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.

6 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.

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.

7 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;

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

8 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.

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.

9 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.

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.

10 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:

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.

11 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.

[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.

12 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.

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!

13 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!

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.

14 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.

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.