Isaiæ 17
1 Onus Damasci. Ecce Damascus desinet esse civitas, et erit sicut acervus lapidum in ruina.
[I received] this message [from Yahweh] about Damascus [the capital of Syria]: “Listen carefully! Damascus will no longer be a city; it will be [only] a heap of ruins!
2 Derelictæ civitates Aroër gregibus erunt, et requiescent ibi, et non erit qui exterreat.
The towns near Aroer [city] will be abandoned. Flocks [of sheep] will [eat grass in the streets and] lie down there, and there will be no one to chase them away.
3 Et cessabit adjutorium ab Ephraim, et regnum a Damasco; et reliquiæ Syriæ sicut gloria filiorum Israël erunt, dicit Dominus exercituum.
The cities in Israel will not have walls around them [to protect them]. The power of the kingdom of Damascus will be ended, and the few people who will remain in Damascus will be disgraced like the people in Israel were disgraced.” [That is what] the Commander of the armies of angels says.
4 Et erit in die illa: attenuabitur gloria Jacob, et pinguedo carnis ejus marcescet.
“At that time, Israel will become insignificant. It will be [like] [MET] a fat person who has become very thin.
5 Et erit sicut congregans in messe quod restiterit, et brachium ejus spicas leget; et erit sicut quærens spicas in valle Raphaim.
The entire land will be like [SIM] a field where the harvesters have cut all the grain; there will be nothing left, like [SIM] the fields in the Rephaim Valley after all the crops have been harvested.
6 Et relinquetur in eo sicut racemus et sicut excussio oleæ duarum vel trium olivarum in summitate rami, sive quatuor aut quinque in cacuminibus ejus fructus ejus, dicit Dominus Deus Israël.
Only a few of the Israeli people will remain [MET], like [SIM] the few olives that remain on the top of a tree after the workers have caused all the other olives to fall [to the ground]. [There will be only] two or three olives in the top branches, [or] four or five olives on the other branches.” [That is what] the Commander of the armies of angels says.
7 In die illa inclinabitur homo ad factorem suum, et oculi ejus ad Sanctum Israël respicient;
[Then], at that time, [you] people [of Israel] will (turn for help to/look up to) God, your creator, the Holy One of Israel.
8 et non inclinabitur ad altaria quæ fecerunt manus ejus; et quæ operati sunt digiti ejus non respiciet lucos et delubra.
You will no [longer] seek to get help from your idols or worship the idols that you have made with your own hands [DOU]. You will never again bow down in front of the poles [where you worship the goddess] Asherah. You will never again worship at the shrines [that you have built for burning incense].
9 In die illa erunt civitates fortitudinis ejus derelictæ sicut aratra, et segetes quæ derelictæ sunt a facie filiorum Israël; et eris deserta.
The largest cities in Israel will be abandoned, like the land that the Hiv and Amor people-groups abandoned (OR, like the forests that the [Canaan people-group] abandoned) when the Israelis [attacked them long ago]. No one will live there.
10 Quia oblitus es Dei salvatoris tui, et fortis adjutoris tui non es recordata: propterea plantabis plantationem fidelem, et germen alienum seminabis;
[That will happen] because you have stopped worshiping God who is [like] [MET] a huge rock under which you can be safe. You have forgotten that he is the one who can hide/protect you. So, [now] you plant very nice grapevines and [even] plant very expensive ones that come from other countries.
11 in die plantationis tuæ labrusca, et mane semen tuum florebit; ablata est messis in die hæreditatis, et dolebit graviter.
[But] even if they sprout leaves on the day that you plant them, and even if they produce blossoms on that same morning, at harvest time, there will not be any grapes for you to pick. All that you will get is a lot of agony/misery.
12 Væ multitudini populorum multorum, ut multitudo maris sonantis; et tumultus turbarum, sicut sonitus aquarum multarum.
Listen! [The armies of] many nations will roar like the sea roars. It will sound like the noise of crashing waves.
13 Sonabunt populi sicut sonitus aquarum inundantium, et increpabit eum, et fugiet procul; et rapietur sicut pulvis montium a facie venti, et sicut turbo coram tempestate.
But even though their loud roaring will be like the sound of crashing waves, when Yahweh rebukes them, they will run far away. They will flee like [SIM] chaff on the hills scatters when the wind [blows], like tumbleweeds scatter when a windstorm blows.
14 In tempore vespere, et ecce turbatio; in matutino, et non subsistet. Hæc est pars eorum qui vastaverunt nos, et sors diripientium nos.
And, even though you people of Israel will be terrified, in the morning [your enemies] will all be gone/dead. That is what will happen to those who invade our land and [then] steal our possessions.
