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 prophecy concerning Damascus. Behold, Damascus shall be no more a city; It shall become a heap of ruins.

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

The cities of Aroer shall be forsaken; They shall be pastures for 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.

The fortress shall cease from Ephraim, And the kingdom from Damascus, and the rest of Syria; It shall be with them as with the glory of the children of Israel, Saith Jehovah 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;

In that day shall the glory of Jacob sink away, And the fatness of his flesh become leanness.

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 harvest-man gathereth the corn, And reapeth the ears with his arm; Yea, 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.

There shall be left in it only a gleaning, as in the olive-harvest, Two or three berries on the top of the highest bough, Four or five on the fruitful branches, Saith Jehovah, 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;

In that day shall a man have regard to his Maker, And his eyes shall look to 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.

He shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, Nor have respect to that which his fingers have made, The images of Astarte and the Sun-pillars.

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.

In that day shall his fortified cities be like ruins in the forests, or on the mountain tops, Which the enemy left, in flight from the children of Israel; And the land shall be a desolation.

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:

For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, And hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength; Therefore though thou plant beautiful plants, And set shoots from a foreign soil,

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.

When thou hast planted them, though thou hedge them in, And in the morning bring thy plants to the blossom, Yet shall the harvest flee away, In the day of pain and desperate sorrow.

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.

Alas! a tumult of many nations! They rage with the raging of the sea. Alas! a roaring of kingdoms! They roar with the roaring 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!

Like the roaring of mighty waters do the nations roar; He rebuketh them, and they flee away, Driven like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, Like stubble before the whirlwind.

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 the time of evening, behold, terror! Before morning, behold, they are no more! This is the portion of them that spoil us, And the lot of them that plunder us.