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

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

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

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

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 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 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 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 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 hast not remembered, Therefore thou plantest plants of pleasantness, And with a strange slip sowest it,

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.

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 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 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 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!

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