Isaiah 17

1 A declaration about Damascus.

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

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 shall be forsaken; They shall be pastures 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 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 It will come about on that day that the glory of Jacob will become thin, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean.

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

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

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

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

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 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 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 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,

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 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.

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 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!

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 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.

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 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.

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.