Isaiah 17
1 The burden of Damascus. Lo, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, And it hath been a heap — a ruin.
This is the burden against Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is no longer a city; it has become a heap of ruins.
2 Forsaken are the cities of Aroer, For droves they are, and they have lain down, And there is none troubling.
The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be left to the flocks, which will lie down with no one to fear.
3 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!
The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the sovereignty from Damascus. The remnant of Aram will be like the splendor of the Israelites,”
4 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.
“In that day the splendor of Jacob will fade, and the fat of his body will waste away,
5 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,
as the reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the ears with his arm, as one gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.
6 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!
Yet gleanings will remain, like an olive tree that has been beaten— two or three berries atop the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches,”
7 In that day doth man look to His Maker, Yea, his eyes to the Holy One of Israel look,
In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
8 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.
They will not look to the altars they have fashioned with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars they have made with their fingers.
9 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.
In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken thickets and summits, abandoned to the Israelites and to utter desolation.
10 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,
For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines—
11 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.
though on the day you plant you make them grow, and on that morning you help your seed sprout— yet the harvest will vanish on the day of disease and incurable pain.
12 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.
Alas, the tumult of many peoples; they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations; they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters.
13 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.
The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.
14 At even-time, lo, terror, before morning it is not, This [is] the portion of our spoilers, And the lot of our plunderers!
In the evening, there is sudden terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us and the lot of those who plunder us.
