Isaiah 17

1 A declaration about Damascus.

The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

2 The cities of Aroer will be abandoned. They will be places for flocks to lie down, and no one will frighten them.

The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

3 Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim, the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Aram—they will be like the glory of the people of Israel—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts.

The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, says the LORD of hosts.

4 It will come about on that day that the glory of Jacob will become thin, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean.

And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.

5 It will be as when a harvester gathers the standing grain, and his arm reaps the heads of grain. It will be as when one gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.

And it shall be as when the harvestman gathers the corn, and reaps the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathers ears in the valley of Rephaim.

6 Gleanings will be left, however, as when the olive tree is shaken: two or three olives in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the highest branches of a fruitful tree—this is the declaration of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the utmost fruitful branches thereof, says the LORD God of Israel.

7 On that day men will look toward their Maker, and their eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.

At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.

8 They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, nor will they look to what their fingers have made, the Asherah poles or the sun images.

And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.

9 On that day their strong cities will be like the abandoned wooded slopes on the hill summits, that were forsaken because of the people of Israel and that will become a desolation.

In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.

10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have ignored the rock of your strength. So you plant pleasant plants, and set out vine branches received from a stranger,

Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not been mindful of the rock of your strength, therefore shall you plant pleasant plants, and shall set it with strange slips:

11 on the day you plant and hedge and cultivate. Soon your seed will grow, but the harvest will fail on a day of grief and of desperate sorrow.

In the day shall you make your plant to grow, and in the morning shall you make your seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.

12 Woe! The uproar of many peoples, that roar like the roaring of the seas, and the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of mighty waters!

Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!

13 The nations will roar like the rushing of many waters, but he will rebuke them and they will flee far away, they will be chased before the wind like chaff on the mountains, and like weeds whirling before a storm.

The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

14 In the evening, see, terror! Before the morning they will be gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who rob us.

And behold at evening-time trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.